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| Oil a Key to U.S. Role in Colombia |
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Posted by FoM on March 04, 2002 at 13:53:48 PT By Letta Tayler, Latin American Correspondent Source: Newsday 
Arauca, Colombia - Snaking beneath Colombia's northern border, the Caño Limón pipeline would be invisible if it weren't for the soldiers who patrol it and the glistening oil spills that flank its route - spills wrought by nearly 1,000 guerrilla attacks on the duct in the past 15 years.At the front gates of the oil field near here, where giant pumps extract the black liquid that flows into the pipeline, dogs sniff cars for explosives as army tanks rumble by. Even a shrine to the Virgin Mary is barricaded by camouflage oil cans filled with sand. On paper, the Caño Limón pipeline is a business venture that supplies oil to the United States. In reality, it's a battle zone. If President George W. Bush has his way, Caño Limón soon may become much more: the symbol of the first direct U.S. aid to the Colombian military in this country's 38-year-old civil war. The State Department wants to spend $98 million to train and equip Colombian units to defend the pipeline, which was closed for two-thirds of 2001 because of leftist guerrilla attacks. A secure Caño Limón means more social and economic stability in Colombia and a reduction in U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East, administration officials say. But some observers and U.S. lawmakers fear the project could usher in longterm U.S. involvement in the bloody civil war involving the Colombian armed forces, two leftist guerrilla groups and a rightist paramilitary organization widely accused of committing human-rights abuses with the military's tacit knowledge. Until now, U.S. aid to Colombia has funded counter-narcotics programs. Colombia is the primary source of cocaine sold in the United States. "It would be a step toward a broader U.S. role - not limited to counter-narcotics but focused increasingly on fighting the guerrillas," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who is chairman of a subcommittee overseeing U.S. aid to Colombia. "That is something that may or may not make sense." The project also has raised questions about whether the United States is trying to use public funds to protect a private interest, in this case the Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum, the pipeline's co-owner. Colombia provides 2.8 percent of oil imports to the United States, much of it from pipelines other than Caño Limón. Proponents counter that Occidental receives only 15 percent of the revenues from Caño Limón, while the rest go to Colombian-owned Ecopetrol. The Colombian government lost more than $400 million in revenues last year alone because of guerrilla attacks. "This has had a very significant impact on Colombian exports, on the ability of the government of Colombia to generate the funds and resources it has needed for economic growth and social development," said Curt Struble, an official with the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Colombia also has vast, untapped oil reserves and is in a position to become one of the top foreign oil suppliers to the United States, according to Luís Alberto Moreno, Colombia's ambassador to the United States. Without pipeline security, foreign investors won't come to his country, he said. For now, Washington does not appear to be planning massive military assistance in Colombia's war on a par with past involvement in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Colombian and U.S. officials rule out the use of U.S. troops, and Bush emphasized last week that the bulk of funding for Colombia will remain in counter-narcotics. Colombia has received $1.7 billion in U.S. counter-narcotics aid in the past three years. However, the pipeline proposal coincides with the Bush administration's broader counter-terrorism initiatives in such countries as Afghanistan and the Philippines. Washington has labeled all three Colombian insurgent groups operating in the pipeline area and throughout the nation - the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) and the rightist paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) - as terrorists. Because those three groups also are accused of involvement in Colombia's burgeoning drug trade, some critics fear U.S. counter-narcotics aid already may amount to insurgency aid. Although details are still in the works, the $98 million would pay for U.S. military officials (or contract employees) to train at least 2,000 troops and a mobile infantry unit in surveillance and rapid-deployment techniques. Two-thirds of the funds would buy the troops equipment, including 10 Huey helicopters, according to Colombian and U.S. sources. U.S. officials say the mission would be confined to the pipeline and oil field, at least initially. But Gen. Carlos Lemos, commander of the 18th Brigade, said he envisioned the small, mobile units playing a "proactive" role in protecting the Arauca region and its infrastructure, particularly electric pylons, water supplies, bridges and other favorite guerrilla targets. "The idea would be to have sufficient troops to protect both the pipeline and the civilian population," Lemos said. A recent visit to Arauca underscored the extent of the problems. The sweltering city and its 80,000 residents were without power because the FARC, which is responsible for most of the recent attacks on the pipeline and is the largest Colombian rebel group, had dynamited an electrical substation. Most businesses were shuttered and public transportation was halted because the ELN, which the military says had spearheaded attacks on the pipeline until FARC began muscling in on its turf, had ordered a strike. ELN called the strike partly to support a group of farmers in a nearby town who were protesting massacres earlier this year, allegedly by the AUC. "Everyone is terrified," said one resident who, like everyone interviewed here about the insurgents, was afraid to reveal his name. "We need help, and fast." However the money is distributed, even military officials concede that protecting the pipeline, which transverses 480 miles of remote, lawless terrain, will be tough. "The FARC can act a lot faster than Washington and Bogotá," said Michael Shifter, an expert on Colombia with the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank in Washington, D.C. Some of the U.S. aid should go to residents victimized by the pipeline attacks, which have caused massive oil spills that poison fish and pollute farmland, Arauca Mayor Jorge Cedeño said. The attacks also have cost residents oil-related jobs, he said. "Unless we reduce the gap between rich and poor, we'll never get at the root of violence in this country," Cedeño said. Note: Protecting pipeline big part of equation. Source: Newsday (NY) Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News US To Help Colombian Troops Defend Pipeline When War is Over, Oil Dealers Will Be Winners Oil Rigged - Americas.org Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on March 05, 2002 at 05:41:20 PT:
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| Many, many years ago there was a TV series about super-rich oil people called "Dynasty". I remember very clearly in the pilot episode, a foreign country has just 'nationalized' the big shot's oil production facilities. In a rage, he asks a flunky on the phone, "Well, where were the Marines?" As if the Marines existed only to maintain his profits. I can only imagine what my father, an 'ex'-Marine, would have said if he had heard that. But that one line illustrates something. Whether it was intentional or a goof, it points out something. Namely, the extent to which the military has been used for corporate gain. It was staring at them the whole time, and the media didn't say 'boo' about it...until now. The REAL reason why we are there: "Colombia also has vast, untapped oil reserves and is in a position to become one of the top foreign oil suppliers to the United States, according to Luís Alberto Moreno, Colombia's ambassador to the United States. Without pipeline security, foreign investors won't come to his country, he said." Follow the money, children, always follow the money. Before 9/11, Shrubya was loathe to consider US involvement beyond the already questionable one of using 'contractors' to do his dirty work. But now, he is probably thinking that it's time to kill two birds with one stone. Yepper, Shrubya is so cocky now, he thinks he can take on every 'terrorist' hotspot...replete with oil, of course...and move in while waving the flag and robotically chanting "Kill the terrs! Kill the terrs!" to reinforce the Pavlovian reflex of bloodlust we Americans get when we think 'our' interests are threatened. But whose interests are being threatened? Ain't really mine; doubtful they're yours, either. Nope, have to look elsewhere...like the boardrooms of banks and oil companies. Look there for the culprits. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Patrick on March 04, 2002 at 18:35:41 PT |
| Watching Larry King interview John Walsh tonight and listen to John describe the sick people in this world who are predators of small children is heart breaking. It becomes infuriating to me when I consider how much time the DEA and other law enforcement officials spend busting cannabis centers and non-violent drug users instead of hunting sexual predators and the missing children in this county. Priorities are way off in this land. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 04, 2002 at 16:32:29 PT |
| If it doesn't work try try again and you did and you got it. I like determination. Thanks. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on March 04, 2002 at 16:26:27 PT |
| One more time [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on March 04, 2002 at 16:22:50 PT |
| it's right [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on March 04, 2002 at 16:15:28 PT |
| It's more about sapping the resources of the region, than about oil or cocaine. Capitalism getting down to the nitty gritty. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on March 04, 2002 at 14:44:22 PT |
| The cover story down there was always the moral fight over drugs. But since the war on terror it has become politically correct to label them not drug runners, but terrorists, and even go after these supposed terrorists. Does anyone hear the word Vietnam as I do? God save us! [ Post Comment ] |
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