Vol. 72/No. 45      November 17, 2008

It is no accident that during the same period more than 750 trade unionists have been assassinated in Colombia and at least 100 more “disappeared.”

The latest revelations that the Colombian military lured unemployed workers with promises of jobs, murdered them, and then claimed they were guerrillas killed in battle, has sparked international outrage.

Gen. Mario Montoya, the top commander of Colombia’s army, resigned in the wake of the latest news, including revelations that military officers were promoted and informants given rewards based on the number of alleged guerrillas killed, even when they knew the charges were false.

Long known for his ties to right-wing death squads, Montoya was a “favorite” of U.S. officials. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe called him “one of the best generals the republic has had.”

Under the guise of fighting “terrorism” and “drug-trafficking,” Washington and its allies in Bogotá seek to intimidate workers and peasants there who continue to fight for better wages, work conditions, and their rights to organize. At the same time Washington uses the Colombian regime as a watchdog for U.S. imperialist interests in Latin America.

As a result of the U.S. assistance, the Colombian army is more than twice the size of the Venezuelan and Ecuadorean armies combined. Washington hopes that Bogotá will be a reliable ally in its attempts to push back workers and farmers in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and other countries where toilers are challenging U.S. imperialist domination of the region.

U.S. training and direct support for military and paramilitary groups that wage war on working people in Latin America is nothing new: From El Salvador to Argentina, Democrats and Republicans in the White House have backed dirty wars against Latin American workers. This has also been part and parcel of Washington’s 50-year war against the Cuban Revolution.

As the worldwide economic crisis continues to unfold, there will be more resistance by workers and farmers in Latin America. They will continue to fight to get the U.S. boot off their necks.

Working people the world over should demand that Washington end its military aid to Colombia, remove its troops, bases, and military advisers from all of Latin America, and end the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
 
 
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