O
n May 16, 2006 a small article in Colombia’s
largest circulation newspaper,
El Tiempo
, reported that the
United States government was discussing with Colombia’s Ministry
of Foreign Relations the possibility of Colombia becoming part of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Only the United States
is capable of conjuring geographical misfits of this magnitude,
given its military and economic power. Other members of NATO, such
as Israel, Egypt, and Australia, like Colombia, have no North Atlantic
coast. The decision in 1997 to make Menem’s Argentina part
of NATO was a unilateral proposal of the United States, which the
Europeans accepted.
It is an interesting coincidence that this proposal was made public
when Colombia was just a week away from its presidential elections,
an election in which for the first time a sitting president, Alvaro
Uribe Velez, after producing a change in the constitution to permit
re-election, decided to run for a second term.
If Colombia were to become part of NATO, it could receive U.S. troops
and arms without Congress’s prior approval. This would be a
dangerous matter for a country with an internal conflict of more
than 40 years. It would also be dangerous for the region because
it could suggest that an invasion of Venezuela is being prepared.
Ecuador recently cancelled a government contract with Occidental
Petroleum Company for violation of the contract’s terms and
President Morales’s government nationalized Bolivia’s
natural gas deposits. Alvaro Uribe Velez would not only convert
Colombia into the pawn of the United States in Latin America, but
Colombia would thereby be forced to participate in any military,
political, or economic aggression that Washington carried out in
its backyard.
A
Colombian observer argues that Colombia “would reinforce any
peaceful operation” by the United States, as if it were not
obvious that what the United States government calls peace signifies
war. The decision to include Colombia in NATO would break up Latin
American unity, create an arms race, and deliver Colombia even more
completely to the political interests of the United States, effectively
sacrificing its sovereignty. This error would create enormous anxiety
and distress throughout the continent.
Cecilia
Zarate-Laun is a member of the Colombia Support Network.