US Aid To Mexico For What?
During the teacher strike and ensuing rebellion in Oaxaca in 2006, tear gas cannisters dropped out of helicopters and found all over the city were manufactured in Jamestown, PA. And it is rumored that Mexico’s PFP (Federal Riot Control Police) are trained at the School Of The Americas. During the take-over of Oaxaca City by the PFP on November 25, 2006, nearly two thousand people, including many who were never involved in the rebellion but simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, were arrested, beaten and incarcerated without being charged. Nearly 25 people were killed in night-time raids last year…a couple in plain daylight during the marches. The women have marched against the killings, arrests and rapes. Many are still missing. The “dirty war” continues.
So when President Bush announced Monday in Washington that he will ask Congress to approve a $500 million package to help Mexico fight drug cartels, the largest international anti-drug effort by the United States in nearly a decade, human rights groups were alarmed.
The Washington Post reports that the much-anticipated Mexico aid plan, which is included in the president’s $46 billion supplemental budget request for war funding, would pay for helicopters, canine units, communications gear and inspection equipment, the State Department said.
The program also would include training and technical advice on vetting new police officers, and case-management software to track investigations in a nation where drug kingpins have infiltrated many state and local governments and infighting among drug traffickers has cost more than 4,000 lives in the past 22 months.
The aid packages are part of what the Bush administration hopes will be a multiyear, $1.4 billion initiative.
Bush administration officials have praised Calderon for deploying more than 20,000 soldiers and federal police officers to fight drug gangs, but human rights groups have complained about use of the military after a series of rapes and rights violations in which security forces were allegedly involved.
Joy Olson, director of the nonprofit Washington Office on Latin America, said Monday she is concerned that the Bush administration did not say which Mexican agencies would receive aid money.
“If they are allocated to civilian control structures, the funds are more likely to have a positive effect in strengthening the rule of law and civilian institutions,” Olson said. “If funds are sent directly to the receiving countries’ military forces, the plan could undermine civilian control of the armed forces and weaken efforts to strengthen civilian public security institutions.”
Many in Mexico and elsewhere suspect the aid will also be used to put down rebellions by Mexico’s poor who are fighting for better education and against the illegal confiscation of ejido land (owned by the people) by multinationals for mining and other activities.
Expect many more human rights abuses in Mexico in the future.
Tags: Mexico, Oaxaca
Zoe
From a Oaxaca Watcher:
This is my humble understanding of Plan Mexico’s importance, and I invite others to
comment as well.
Since the Bush Administration refuses to be forthright about this mysterious plan, the
few things that I’ve put together is that the majority of the $1.5 billion plan will go toward military/police training and equipment. The U.S. promises that there will be no U.S. military presence in Mexico, because Mexico is really touchy about its autonomy. The equipment may include things like radar surveillance equipment, arms, hummers, and Blackhawks, supposedly to help the Mexican military and police fight drug cartels. And there is zero to very little wimpy talk about human rights violations.
What this says to me is that the U.S. is basically going to hand all this destructive military weaponry to the Mexican government and say, “Go to it!” So next time Ruiz wants to send the PFP to Oaxaca to crush another uprising, for example, he will have all kinds of shiny new military equipment at his fingertips paid for by our tax dollars. Plus new surveillance equipment to spy on any kind of gatherings or activities by honest people trying to resist. All under the guise of fighting drugs/terrorism.
Ultimately that would be helpful for PPP and transnational corporations, because they
need assholes like Ruiz to remain in power so that all Mexico’s resources can be freely
given away. Not to mention that I bet much of that military equipment will mysteriously
fall into the hands of right wing paramilitaries both in Oaxaca and Chiapas.
I could be wrong, but from looking at what’s happening in Colombia, that’s what I think
would probably happen in Oaxaca and all throughout Mexico. But especially Oaxaca and
Chiapas.
Hope that’s somewhat helpful.
Peace,
Joy