US main promotor of war in Colombia: FARC
US main promotor of war in Colombia: FARC
Oct 31, 2014 posted by Piotr Wojciak
The FARC has claimed that the United States has “central responsibility” in perpetuating the conflict that has ravaged Colombia for the past 50 years.
A representative of the rebel group, Luis Eliecer Rueda, alias “Matias Aldecoa,” said Washington and other foreign powers contributed to “the origin, persistence and decay” of the Colombian conflict. According to the FARC representative, the US can be blamed “due to its imperialist conception of being the ruler and police agent of the world, which is materialized in the imposition of the National Security Doctrine.” Rueda also pointed to the “training of officers and its direct participation in the conflict with troops, military bases, funding of specific war plans, intelligence, among other aspects.” The comments came in a press conference in which the FARC also asked that political parties, the Church, and sectors of the economy recognize their role played in the Colombian conflict.
Background
The US has played an active part in Latin American affairs since the 19th century. In 1823, US President James Monroe introduced an eponymous doctrine which asserted that the US military would militarily intervene in any perceived attempt by a European country to “interfere” in Latin America. The Monroe Doctrine was put into practice for the next century before becoming codified in the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) in 1947 as part of a policy of “hemispheric defense.”
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During the Cold War, US foreign policy in Latin America shifted toward the stated goal of stopping the spread of communism, a policy known as “containment” to which became central to US national security doctrine. Under the pretext of fighting communism, the US supported right-wing military dictators and the coup d’etats which put many of them in power across the continent. In Colombia, the US provided assistance to counter-insurgency efforts starting in the 1950s against Liberal and communist guerrillas.
Much of the military training and equipment provided by the US to Colombia over the next half-century became part of the “War on Drugs.” A good portion of that assistance, however, was also used as part of the conflict with insurgent groups like the FARC. In 1999, the US approved a security aid package known as Plan Colombia which was aimed at aiding the Colombian government’s fight against drugs and leftist guerrilla groups. Billions of dollars in aid were subsequently provided.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/imperialist-us-main-advocate-war-colombia-farc/