Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean

This essay of mine was recently included in a collection by the magazine Mother Jones called "Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide."

What impresses about the sprawl of US bases and its reconstitution since 2001 is the lack of accountability. The US military presence overseas serves as an implicit threat of intervention to host countries and neighbors, and so enables the United States to defy international law and other obligations to the global community. The bases are also themselves unaccountable, especially as polluters, purveyors of sexual violence, and sites for torture. For most nations, it is an exercise in frustration to use political, diplomatic, or judicial channels to address the United States' abuses or extralegal demands, because Washington's military stands ready for aggression.

“Body guards are not going to protect our lives. What it’s going to protect us is understanding that our work is legal and legitimate… a strong rejection by those holding political power to (threatening) pressures” said yesterday Claudia López, a prestigious Colombian researcher with New Rainbow Corporation, now victim of threats for their work on links between paramilitary and politicians.

This coming weekend, communities across North America will participate in the annual "Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia." It is an opportunity to show solidarity with the Colombian people, who continue to endure war, violence, displacement, and political unrest. Indeed, another massive scandal struck the Colombian government this week, as President Alvaro Uribe's cousin and confidant, Mario Uribe, was accused by prosecutors in that country of ties to right-wing paramilitary death squads.

In some towns, the activities of military commands that manage nuclear weapons is a subject of downward glances and furtive conversation. In Omaha, Nebraska, according to Tim Rinne, director of Nebraskans for Peace, it's a matter of celebration. There, Offut Air Force Base house Strategic Command (STRATCOM), the place where George W. Bush landed on September 11 when he was reportedly hiding from suspected attackers.

Those who follow Colombian affairs know well that life there is anything but boring. Kevin Coulombe, a Canadian volunteer in our Colombia Peace Presence team told me yesterday "One day in Colombia is like one year in Canada." In Colombia, amazing events happen all the time and at a speed that often leave you breathless. So, I can't say that the current Andean crisis, with ambassadors expelled, embassies closed, tanks and troops moved to the border is that extraordinary. Do you remember when the now all but forgotten para-politics scandal broke?