"No More Foreign Military Bases"

Social Forum of the Americas

August 14, Asuncion, Paraguay

With the presence of more than 200 people representing numerous organizations, movements, continental and national networks, the second continental meeting of the campaign "America Latina, A Region of Peace: No More Foreign Military Bases" was held on August 14, 2010, in Asuncion, during the fourth Social Forum of the Americas.

PUNTOS DE UNIDAD

Quién es: El grupo de trabajo en Estados Unidos de la Campaña Continental representa y coordina los esfuerzos de diversas organizaciones de los EEUU cuya misión incluye: el apoyo de los movimientos sociales en América Latina, el mantenimiento y promoción de la paz en todos los países del hemisferio, la defensa de las soberanías nacionales, la abolición de bases y enclaves militares extranjeros y la desmilitarización de la política de los Estados Unidos. Igualmente, nuestras organizaciones propenden por el fortalecimiento de la democracia, el mejoramiento de las condiciones de vida y de trabajo de la población y en particular, por mejores relaciones entre los Estados Unidos y Latinoamérica. Nuestras organizaciones tienen como principio buscar el cambio político a través de medios no violentos.

POINTS OF UNITY

Who: The Continental Campaign US Working Group represents and coordinates the efforts of diverse US-based organizations supportive of Latin American social movements; the maintenance and promotion of peace in all countries in the hemisphere; the defense of sovereignty; abolition of foreign military bases and enclaves and demilitarization of U.S. policy; the strengthening of democracy; the improvement of labor and living conditions; and better relations between the United States and Latin America. Our organizations embrace the pursuit of political change through nonviolent means.

Sábado, 17 de Julio de 2010

Escrito por Coalición no bases

[Text in English below]

Los abajo firmantes manifestamos nuestro contundente rechazo a la decisión del gobierno de Laura Chinchilla de permitir entre el 1 de julio y hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2010 el ingreso de 7000 marines y 46 buques de guerra a Costa Rica bajo el argumento de combatir el narcotráfico. Esta decisión es una violación de la soberanía territorial y política del pueblo costarricense y una afrenta a la democracia latinoamericana.

Raul Fernandez

[Texto en español a continuación]

The President of the United States has announced a push to sign “free trade” treaties, South Korea being first in line. Two things to note about the announcement: first, that Obama put it in the context of doubling American exports in the next five years; second, that he described it as the United States coming to the defense of South Korea from military threats from North Korea.

By Noam Chomsky

Source: Orinoco International, March 24, 2010

The United States was founded as an "infant empire," in George Washington's words. The conquest of the national territory was a grand imperial venture, much like the vast expansion of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. From the earliest days, control over the Western Hemisphere was a critical goal. Ambitions expanded during World War II, as the US displaced Britain and lesser imperial powers. High-level planners concluded that the US should "hold unquestioned power" in a world system including not only the Western Hemisphere, but also the former British Empire and the Far East, and later, as much of Eurasia as possible. A primary goal of NATO was to block moves towards European independence, along Gaullist lines. That became still more clear when the USSR collapsed, and with it the Russian threat that was the formal justification of NATO. NATO was not disbanded, but rather expanded, in violation of promises to Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not even fully extend to East Germany, let alone beyond, and that "NATO would be transforming itself into a more political organization." By now it is virtually an international intervention force under US command, its self-defined jurisdiction reaching to control energy sources, pipelines, and sea lanes. And Europe is a well-disciplined junior partner.

By Benjamin Dangl

Source: The Progressive, March 2010 issue

On the shores of the Magdalena River, in a lush green valley dotted with cattle ranches and farms, sits the Palanquero military base, an outpost equipped with Colombia’s longest runway, housing for 2,000 troops, a theater, a supermarket, and a casino.

Dear friends:

Nearly 100 grassroots organizations from the U.S. and Canada signed the
letter initiated by the Mingas Network asking President Obama to
withdraw the agreement for U.S. use of seven military bases in Colombia.

Attached you will find a pdf file with the letter and signatures, as it
was delivered on Tuesday February 9. Warm thanks to those that signed
and encouraged others to do so.

Now it is time for you to take further action and forward this letter to
your U.S. senators and House member. Make sure they know of your
opposition to the U.S.-Colombia military base agreement!

For peace,

Raul Fernandez
Member of Executive Committee
The Mingas Network
http://mingas.info

We, the social and popular movements, organizations and networks from the entire hemisphere gathered together in Porto Alegre, Brazil, as participants in the 10th anniversary of the World Social Forum, are hereby launching a campaign similar to the one carried out against the FTAA. We proclaim Latin America a region of peace and insist that the foreign military bases be removed!

[Alianza Social Continental: http://asc-hsa.org/node/772]

Reunidos en Porto Alegre, Brasil, en el marco de los eventos celebrados durante el 10º aniversario del Foro Social Mundial, frente a una nueva escalada agresiva del imperialismo, nosotros los movimientos sociales y populares, redes, organizaciones, de las más diversas latitudes, nos encontramos nuevamente al frente de una campaña como la que realizamos contra el ALCA, para decir que América Latina es una región de paz, para decir fuera las bases militares extranjeras!