The Militarization of Latin America
Seven US military bases in Colombia


by Prof. Atilio Borón
Global Research, August 28, 2009
- 2009-08-27



The UNASUR summit in Bariloche, Argentina will have to face two grave problems weighing heavily on Latin America: the military coup in Honduras and the militarization of the region as a result of the installation of not one but seven U.S. military bases in Colombia.

In regards to the first problem, UNASUR ought to demand consistency from Barack Obama with respect to his statements in support of a new era of inter-American relations. As has been emphasized on numerous occasions, the coup is a test balloon to check the reactions of the peoples and governments of the region. And that it happened in Honduras is precisely because that is the country most intensely subjected to the ideological influence and political dominance of Washington.

With OAS negotiations having failed, Washington has proceeded to suspend the issuance of visas to Honduran citizens, a very lukewarm measure but an indicator of the fact that it is taking note of the prevailing political atmosphere in the region. But Obama ought to do much more, and abandon the fallacious argument he expressed a several days ago when he referred to the contradiction that critics of imperialism enter into when they demand that the U.S. intervene in Honduras. It is “ironic," Obama said on that occasion, “that the people that were complaining about the U.S. interfering in Latin America are now complaining that we are not interfering enoughâ€