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> --------- Forwarded Message ---------
> From: IGC News Desk <newsdesk at igc.apc.org>
> Subject: CENTRAL AMERICA: Rights Groups
> Protest Expanded US Presence
>
> Copyright 2000 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
> Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
>
> 20-Jun-00
>
> CENTRAL AMERICA: Rights Groups Protest Expanded US Presence
> By Nefer Munoz
>
> SAN JOSE, Jun 20 (IPS) - The "war on drugs" has replaced the
> 1980s argument of the need to crack down on political insurgency
> to justify a continued United States presence in Central America,
> according to an influential regional human rights umbrella group.
>
> "If in the 1980s the justification for US interventionism was
> to combat insurrection, today it is the fight against drug
> trafficking," Celia Medrano, general coordinator of the
> Commission for the Defence of Human Rights in Central America
> (CODEHUCA), told IPS.
>
> Medrano's statements came at a time when the parliament of El
> Salvador is debating whether to ratify an agreement that would
> allow the US armed forces to use the San Salvador international
> airport in the fight against drug trafficking.
>
> CODEHUCA, which groups around a dozen non-governmental human
> rights organisations in Central America, is opposed to the
> agreement, which it sees as a threat to Salvadoran national
> sovereignty.
>
> "We agree on the need to fight drug trafficking, but not this
> way," said Medrano.
>
> The activist said US aid should focus on strengthening Central
> America's democratic institutions and supporting purges of police
> forces and political elites of elements linked to international
> drug cartels.
>
> "Our big concern is that once the agreement has been approved,
> the United States will take advantage of the situation to
> militarise the area around the Comalapa airport in San Salvador,"
> said Medrano.
>
> The agreement has been signed by representatives of the US
> government and the Salvadoran security ministry, but is pending
> ratification by the Salvadoran parliament.
>
> Salvadoran security minister Francisco Bertrand rejected
> CODEHUCA's arguments. He told IPS that the pact allowing US forces
> to use the Comalapa airport did not imply "the establishment of a
> military base.
>
> "I do not agree with the idea that this is a new kind of
> intervention. That is a contaminated, exaggerated version," he
> maintained.
>
> Bertrand told IPS that the agreement would permit US aircraft
> to participate in anti-drug surveillance activities.
>
> He refuted assertions that the accord would hurt the national
> sovereignty of El Salvador, underlining that the agreement had
> been freely signed by both countries. Washington has also denied
> that the pact would entail any violation of sovereignty.
>
> The aircraft that would refuel and whose crews would lay over
> in San Salvador would be P-3 planes, which are not considered
> fighter craft because they have no weapons, but rather radar and
> equipment for tracking planes and watercraft suspected of illicit
> activity.
>
> Ratification of the accord would allow the installation of a
> centre for the monitoring of drug trafficking activity in the
> Comalapa airport, in which US military personnel and aircraft
> would participate.
>
> The pact states that El Salvador will put at the disposal of
> the US government, for its use free of cost, the installations,
> grounds, right of way and any constructions in the international
> airport or other governmental installations agreed on as
> necessary.
>
> It also stipulates that US officers will be authorised to wear
> their uniforms and carry arms while in service, while their
> vehicles will be exempt from inspections by or registration with
> Salvadoran authorities.
>
> But Ana Ester Posada, a coordinator of CODEHUCA's protection
> and prevention activities, commented to IPS that "this kind of
> treaty violates the constitutions and sovereignty of countries in
> the region."
>
> Costa Rica has already signed and ratified an agreement on
> joint patrols permitting US aircraft to ply its national airspace
> in the fight against the drug trade.
>
> On Jun 14, meanwhile, the Honduran and US armed forces
> initiated two weeks of military maneuvres, involving anti-drug and
> aquatic rescue exercises, in Honduras.
>
> The head of the Honduran chiefs of staff, Daniel Lopez, and US
> Ambassador Frank Almaguer are supervising the maneuvres.
>
> Activists in El Salvador, in the meantime, are gearing up for a
> heated debate on the possible expansion of the US military
> presence based on the anti-drug agreement under study in
> parliament. (END/IPS/tra-so/nms/mj/sw/00)
>
> Origin: Montevideo/DRUGS-CENTRAL AMERICA/
> ----
> [c] 2000, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)