While I would LOVE to see the U.S. helping people in need, instead of bombing them, destroying their societies with the corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs," and overthrowing democratic leaders, we have seen U.S. purported "aid" programs far too often used for these horrendous purposes. It is no accident that the most democratic leaders in Latin America throw the U.S. military and its attendant spying and dirty tricks agencies--for instance, the DEA and the USAID--out of their countries. They KNOW what is going on and have democratic mandates to put a STOP to this kind of U.S. interference.
I don't know anything about this particular operation--Maine's National Guard going to El Salvador--and need to find out more, but one thing the Bush Junta showed us is that our national guards are not our own--they are merely tools of the U.S. war machine. Operations like this by our war machine are used to infiltrate other countries' military and police forces, to add controlled territory to the Pentagon's "Southern Command" and to serve the interests of transglobal corporations, banksters and war profiteers. And they are often used for outright collusion with local fascist coupsters.
I also wonder about El Salvador's leftist government encouraging more U.S. boots on the ground in El Salvador. It is a hobbled leftist government, for sure. El Salvador is part of the U.S. "circle the wagons" region--Central America/the Caribbean--against the awesome leftist "tide" in South America, in countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay, where poverty is being SERIOUSLY addressed and where U.S. "free trade for the rich" agreements have been rejected in favor of independence, sovereignty and social justice.
One of the Honduran coup generals put it this way: The purpose of the coup was "to prevent communism from Venezuela reaching the United States." (--quoted in a report on the Honduran coup by the Zelaya government-in-exile). (By "communism," he means universal free medical care, universal free education through college, strong labor unions, good wages and benefits, etc.)
El Salvador is small and vulnerable--right next door to Honduras, which is undergoing U.S.-ification (rightwing coup d'etat; murders of teachers, labor leaders, journalists and others). El Salvador's leftist president, Mauricio Funes, certainly knows that Honduras is the traditional U.S. footstool for wars against its neighbors, in the interest of U.S. corporations. The Honduran coup was a WARNING to Funes--who, immediately after the Honduran coup, withdrew El Salvador's application to join ALBA (Venezuela-Cuban organized trade group). He is "under the gun," so to speak.
El Salvador is also probably the most dependent country on the U.S. as to remittances from El Salvadoran workers in the U.S. It is a big chunk of their economy. So there are many ways that the U.S. can hurt Funes and El Salvador. He has to cooperate with U.S. "free trade for the rich" and with U.S. militarization, or else. And the "or else" is horrible--bishops slain on their altars for speaking out for the poor; nuns raped and murdered, their bodies left in the road as a "lesson" to all; teachers, labor leaders, honest journalists, the poor and their advocates, hunted and murdered.
So El Salvador's cooperation with a U.S. military unit supposedly doing civilian "help" work does not surprise me. I would like to know more about the discussion of this in El Salvador, as well as about the discussion of it in Maine (if there was any). It is worrisome--and among hundreds of things that are worrisome--not to mention alarming (and appalling)--about U.S. activity in Latin America.
= new reply since forum marked as read
