12-04-2007
NO FOREIGN MILITARY
BASES,
A COMMITMENT TO PEACE
Speech for the Japanese
Peace Conference
Paulina Ponce
Member of the No Bases
International Network, the No Bases
Coalition - Ecuador
and the Ecumenical
Human Rights Commission (CEDHU).
November
2007, Japan
Peace Conference, Okinawa, Japan
Compañeros and
compañeras:
I come from
Ecuador, in Latin America, to bring
greetings to all of you and to the
struggles that gather us today at the
Japanese Peace Conference. I come with
a message of peace and solidarity from
the No Bases International Network,
the No Bases Coalition in Ecuador and
the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission.
I have prepared
a paper that highlights key elements
in the US military strategy and its
impacts in Ecuador, particularly in
Manta, where a military base is located.
I will also share with you the experience
of local, national and regional struggles
against military bases and against
militarism in general. Finally, I will
speak about some work priorities agreed
on by several peace movements at the
International Conference for the Abolition
of Foreign Military Bases, held in
Ecuador on March 2007.
1. US military
strategy and the policy of military
alliances: dangers, problems and contradictions
The US dependence
on foreign oil is on the rise because
of the growing energy demand by the
largest consumer society in the world.
By 2020, the US will import 66 per
cent of overall world oil production.
The focus of US foreign
policy and its military strategy are
closely related to its energy policy,
hence its interventions in Afghanistan
and Iraq. The US defence policy has
put behind nuclear deterrence and the
atomic threat, and now aims to have
an army that can fight simultaneously
on several military fronts. To achieve
this goal, the US must build up enemies,
watch them, and threaten them. It must
also protect and strengthen all information
networks, and use all available technology
to coordinate operations that can deliver
accurate strikes. Soldiers are expected
to be trained for these new scenarios.
The US also needs to improve all its
current available arsenal and train
necessary human resources to prevail
with its strategic and precision weapons.
Another crucial factor
in this strategy is fear. The idea
is that of creating a situation characterised
by global insecurity, and persuading
the world that terrorism is a common
enemy. But this is not true. There
are global problems that have been
caused by the empire itself, such as
global warming, whilst countries in
the South have urgent and real problems
to deal with, such as hunger, lack
of access to health services, education,
and basic infrastructure, amongst others.
As a result, the United
States of America has become a rogue
state. A state that believes it has
the legitimacy to forcefully change
any government it dislikes in any country.
A state that creates centres to manipulate
world public opinion, to spread lies.
A state that ignores international
institutions whenever it deems convenient,
as is the case with the International
Criminal Court, and that sabotages
agreements for the planet's preservation,
such as the Kyoto Protocol, despite
being the world's largest polluter.
A state that uses torture, as exemplified
by Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
The
United States is the only country
in the world that has bombed civil
populations in dozens of countries
in four different continents. Its
peculiar love for freedom often transforms
itself into “smart
bombs” that devastate towns,
and into cluster bombs that only leave
a trail of grief and destruction. The
U.S. seeks the unilateral disarmament
of the rest of the world, while expecting
to keep increasing its own military
power. It does not seek peace - it
demands submission amidst the most
terrible impunity.
If we agree on the
idea that the US is an empire, then
it does not have allies, but vassals.
Military alliances must therefore be
understood in this sense.
The
international instruments that allow
the establishment of military policy
are, on the one hand, financial tools
- concentrated in the World Bank,
the International Monetary Fund and
regional development banks - and, on
the other, military alliances such
as NATO, the Pact against International
Terrorism, the Asian Defense Treaty,
the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal
Assistance (TIAR), and several bilateral
agreements. At the same time, the role
and legitimacy of institutions such
as the United Nations and the Organisation
of American States has been eroded.
Countries that oppose the US strategy
are threatened with marginalisation
if they do not accept the US conditions,
and even run the risk of being classified
as enemies. It has recently been suggested
that all countries that have signed
the International Criminal Court Treaty
will not be considered for the sale
of military munitions and supplies.
The US has created
a false dilemma between human rights
and security, because all rights enshrined
in international treaties, such as
the right to life or the right to not
being tortured and to having a fair
trial, are absolute and must be respected
at all times, even in situations of
public emergency. Human rights are
not a hindrance to security, but the
key to achieve it.
The US government is
threatening all achievements in the
field of human rights as well as harmony
in international relationships, it
is militarising its country and the
world, and it is transforming its administration
into a police state with unpredictable
consequences.
2. The case of Ecuador:
impact of the US military base in Manta
In
Latin America, there are three Forward
Operating Locations (FOL): El Salvador,
Curaçao
(Caribbean), and Manta (Ecuador). These
outposts were established to replace
a base in Panama, which was handed
back to the Panamanian authorities
in 1999. The operations base is located
in Key West, Florida, under the US
Southern Command.
In
1999, Ecuador & the
US signed a 10-yr agreement for the
establishment of a FOL in the Ecuadorian
Air Force base in Manta, where the
US would conduct activities focused
on gathering intelligence information & the
war against drug trafficking in the
region.
Nevertheless, since
the agreement came into effect eight
years ago, the US military operations
in Manta have also targeted boats with
migrants that were leaving the Ecuadorian
coast, and local fishermen who have
suffered at least 45 boardings by US
military ships (even if, according
to the official agreement, only the
Ecuadorian Navy has the authority to
undertake this kind of operations).
Another indirect impact of the US military
presence affects women and their bodies:
the establishment of the military base
has increased the number of night clubs
and sex work, whose victims are girls
and women.
Besides immunity, the
US troops and personnel in the Manta
base have amongst other privileges,
tariff exemptions, the ability to import
goods and services tax free, the freedom
not to pay any taxes, and to enter
without visas and passports.
The Manta base hosts
aircraft such as the E3 AWACS, the
P-3 Orion, and the KC-135 Stratotanker
for air, sea and land surveillance.
The P-3 Orion, for example, depending
on specific needs, can become a bomb
and missile carrier. These airplanes
can also fly over the sea and the coast
in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean
up to Florida. The base radars also
allow the Americans to gather live
intelligence information.
Since
the agreement was signed, social
and human rights organisations in
Ecuador have denounced that one of
the hidden aims of the Manta base
is to give support for the implementation
of Plan Colombia, which would entail
regionalising the Colombian armed
conflict. The FOL commander in Manta,
Javier Delucca, said in August 2006: “Manta is very important
within Plan Colombia. We are very well
located to operate in that area”.
In March 2007, he also declared: “We
are not flying over Ecuadorian soil,
but we are flying over Colombia, in
coordination with a Colombian special
military unit.”
The establishment of
the Manta base is linked to the continuous
and increasingly serious incidents
led by the Colombian army in the Northern
Ecuadorian border, which have resulted
in dead and wounded Ecuadorian citizens,
hundreds of Colombian refugees in the
border provinces of Ecuador, severe
damage to the population's health and
the environment because of aerial fumigations
with glyphosate, and a spread of violence
in the area.
There
have also been warnings about the
presence of companies who are hiring
mercenaries. The report on Ecuador
written by the UN Working Group about
the use of mercenaries as a means
of violating human rights and impeding
the exercise of the right of peoples
to self-determination recommended
that the Ecuadorian government, amongst
others, takes the following measure: “Complete
promptly the investigations surrounding
the PMSC [private military security
company] 'Epi Security and Investigations'.”
Besides EPI Security,
we also find Dyncorp, the largest beneficiary
of US military contracts for private
military services over the last 50
years, and world-renowned for being
the largest mercenary company. Dyncorp
was hired by the Manta base to operate
in the fields of air traffic control,
civil engineering, logistic support,
fire control, security, health coverage,
accommodation and food services, etc.
Dyncorp is also in charge of fumigation
and surveillance tasks in Colombia.
The
presence of the US army in Ecuador
is not limited to the Manta base,
which hosts an average of 300 troops.
According to the US State Department: “Ecuador is
the second country in the region, after
Colombia, with the largest presence
of US troops.” Ecuador is used
as a military training ground in provinces
such as Esmeraldas and Orellana.
According to the US
Embassy in Ecuador, the Manta base
injects an annual figure of US$ 6,5
million into the local economy, but
this budget is allocated based on the
operational costs derived from the
missions undertaken by the military
staff in the base. Therefore, far from
having boosted development in Manta,
the base has resulted in farmers losing
their lands and fishermen losing their
boats.
During the International
Conference for the Abolition of Foreign
Military Bases held in Quito and Manta
in March 2007, the US Embassy in Ecuador
launched a media campaign to highlight
the 'success' in drug interdiction
operations. According to the US army,
interdiction activities this year have
been the most significant since 1999.
The government led
by president Rafael Correa thinks that
the US military presence does not benefit
Ecuador and undermines its sovereignty,
and it has declared it will not renew
the current agreement, which will expire
in November 2009. Sovereignty and peace
are seriously threatened by the presence
of US troops on Ecuadorian soil.
3. Anti-bases and peace
movements in Ecuador and the region
In Latin America, movements
are mobilising on several fronts. Besides
leading anti-militarism and anti-bases
campaigns, movements are opposing free
trade agreements with the US and Europe,
the privatisation of natural resources
(mainly water and the construction
of giant hydroelectric dams), and the
impacts of mining and oil activities,
to name but a few. The issue that probably
demands a united front of many forces
is the construction of mega-projects
such as the South American Regional
Infrastructure Integration Initiative
(IIRSA), which seeks to create axes
of transit which crisscross the continent
for the extraction of natural resources,
and which could potentially be used
for troop flows.
Latin American movements
also have other priorities, such as
launching a campaign on the impending
closure of the FOL in Ecuador and ensuring
that another FOL is not established
in the region; launching a campaign
so that governments withdraw their
troops from Haiti along with solidarity
campaigns with the Haitian people;
starting legal and lobbying efforts
for the return of lands and goods,
and for the compensation of populations
affected by military bases and foreign
troops; to boost the campaign for the
closure of the School of the Americas,
where Latin American troops are trained;
reporting and denouncing the impacts
of Plan Colombia on civil populations
and organising an international observer
mission in that country; opposing the
establishment of military forces on
the border of Paraguay, Brazil and
Argentina; and boosting the campaign
for the closure of the Guantanamo prison,
well known for its serious human rights
violations, including torture.
In Ecuador, the political
juncture is certainly favourable to
social movements, though it is impossible
to foresee how long it will last. There
are positive statements and proposals,
such as the Strategic Plan, Planex
2020, a document issued by the Foreign
Affairs Ministry and agreed on by all
social forces declaring Ecuador a country
for peace that will not host foreign
troops. There is also Plan Ecuador,
the Ecuadorian alternative to Plan
Colombia, stating as its main principles:
peace and cooperation as a system of
co-existence among states, the rejection
of foreign aggression, the principle
of non-intervention in other countries'
internal affairs, and equality of sovereignty
in relationships with neighbouring
countries.
In Manta, the population
has gradually joined the struggle against
the military base. Civil mobilisation
was in the beginning neutralised by
promises of economic prosperity. Nevertheless,
against the background of the base's
destructive impacts, and thanks to
the work of local and national organisations,
awareness on this issue has risen and
has resulted in specific actions to
reflect on and denounce abuses.
Organisations such
as the Manabi Farmers Organisation
(UPOCAM), the Tahali Movement, the
Young Christians Association YMCA-Ecuador,
the Regional Foundation for the Assessment
of Human Rights (IREDH), the Anti-corruption
Network, the Peace and Justice Service
(SERPAJ), and many others have organised
important demonstrations, public debates
and cultural activities to raise awareness
of the impacts of military bases.
The urgent need to
prevent the agreement being renewed
in 2009 led to the establishment of
the No Bases Coalition - Ecuador, an
alliance between national human rights
organisations and local social movements
who cooperate to get more visibility.
One of its aims is to link the local
struggle for the closure of the Manta
base with the wider global struggle
against foreign military bases. The
International Conference for the Abolition
of Foreign Military Bases, held in
Ecuador on 5-9 March 2007, was a key
step for the national and international
network against bases.
The
No Bases Coalition - Ecuador has
submitted a proposal before the special
commission that will prepare a draft
constitution for the National Constituent
Assembly that will take place in
November. The proposal seeks to include
the following paragraph in the Constitution,
under the “fundamental
sovereignty principles” section:
“Ecuador
is a land of peace and, pursuant
to its sovereignty, will not host
foreign military bases or troops,
and will not adopt any agreement
that implies other forms of foreign
military presence. Ecuador will not
militarily engage in other countries'
conflicts, be it unilaterally or
in coordination with other states.
It will not undertake military practices
or exercises with other states. ”
The proposal was signed
by 16 local and national organisations.
Before the National Constituent Assembly
takes place, the No Bases Coalition
- Ecuador is actively working on raising
public awareness to guarantee that
the new Constitution will include the
whole of the proposed text.
4. The
significance and perspective of international
cooperation and solidarity amongst
movements on the basis of the results
and experiences of the International
No Bases Conference
We feel the grief,
the death and the tears in Ecuador,
Henoko, Afghanistan, Uganda, or Greece
as our own, because every abuse is
committed against humanity. Amidst
the death represented by war, we are
only left with solidarity amongst human
beings and between peace and justice
movements. That is our strength and
what gives sense to our cooperation
in solidarity.
After the International
Conference for the Abolition of Foreign
Military Bases, we became fully aware
of the need to come together in our
struggle for justice, peace, the self-determination
of peoples, and environmental sustainability;
and to work on strengthening the No
Bases International Network to denounce
the impacts of military bases, to support
local struggles that pursue the closure
of bases and to prevent the establishment
of new bases.
The strategic
aims of the Network are: to strengthen
and unite local and global movements
against foreign military bases and
other forms of military presence; to
become a global actor generating common
actions and influencing global public
opinion; to establish a policy of alliances
with similar organisations and networks
that work for peace and justice all
around the world.
Some of the
highlights of our action plan are:
developing a global watch organisation
to work with academics on the study
and public awareness of the impacts
of foreign military troops and bases,
and anti-bases struggles; political
advocacy activities with non-governmental
organisations and international institutions
such as the United Nations and the
Non-Aligned Movement; and to establish
an international convention on the
prohibition of foreign military bases.
During the Conference,
several resolutions were passed on
local and national struggles against
foreign military bases (Vicenza in
Italy, Colombia, Czech Peace Movement,
Asia-Pacific Community).
One of those
resolutions dealt with US bases in
Japan and Okinawa, and it was presented
by the Japanese Peace Committee, that
expressed solidarity with Manta and
with Japanese municipalities in their
local struggles, particularly communities
in Okinawa, Yokosuka, and Iwakuni,
seriously affected by military bases
and other forms of military presence.
Today, I am bringing here from Ecuador,
and on behalf of the No Bases International
Network, our solidarity with all of
you.
The
biggest challenge lies ahead: opposing
impunity without letting up in our
struggle. It is urgent to act to
reinforce regional and international
mechanisms that can oversee the consequences
of the 'war on terror'. We must keep
on struggling for the establishment
of an efficient & independent
international justice system. In this
context, getting together to coordinate
our actions to have an impact on our
societies and the world is vital.
Force is
never fair. Our challenge is momentous:
to build humanity with justice and
peace.
Original
text in Spanish. Translation to
English by Beatriz Martinez of TransNational
Institute (bea@tni.org)
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