How will Argentina be with two US Military Bases?

By Carlos Aznarez on June 29, 2016

The question of the installation of U.S. bases is being floated around in the air and there are very valid reasons to be concerned about it. Argentina can become in a very short time a militarized colony of the United States as Paraguay effectively is. Argentina is going in that direction on the basis of the agreements of the current government of Mauricio Macri who has already started the process through the Ministry of Defense. It consists, in principle, to install two NSA (National Security Agency) bases in Misiones and Tierra del Fuego, and it would also generate exchange missions with American troops for joint exercises in the Argentinean territory and in other countries of Latin America. All of this is clearly showing the current Government’s notorious sellout of its foreign policy, away from the CELAC, Unasur, and the BRICS. Macri is also ignoring the recommendations made by the head of Unasur, Ernesto Samper, that it is time for the US bases “to leave the continent”. Simultaneously, both Macri and his foreign minister Susana Malcorra attacked Venezuela and the ALBA countries as part of refiting their carnal relations with the United States. They are now asking dutifully to be part of the Alliance for the Pacific, a coalition of countries that not only apply economic themes but also help put in place interventionist actions.

In that context all seems to indicate that what former Governor of Chaco, Jorge Capitanich, tried to implement during the Kirchner government in his province is now coming back to life. Capitanich’s plans were to allow foreign bases in airports located in that province but fortunately that project was shot down by a popular mobilization and the good judgment of members of the local foreign ministry. The new projects being promoted by the Macri regime are targeting two strategic areas which would dramatically affect the national sovereignty of Argentina.

The first is in the province of Misiones near the border with Brazil and Paraguay where the Guaraní aquifer is, one of the most important sources of water in the world. Washington has been lusting over this area since the time of Ronald Reagan and was almost put on a US military target to bomb by George Bush with the ridiculous pretense that Palestinian militiamen and Hezbollah militias were being trained there.

What Macri and his accomplices have done here is to give a green light to install a radar observation base “to combat drug trafficking and international terrorism” (sic) which is bad news, not only for the people of Misiones, who have already begun to mobilize, but also for the troubling situation being experienced in South America today. Indeed, several “observers” of the U.S. Southern Command and NSA, who are touring the area, apparently are leaning towards the Port of Iguazu (on the border with Brazil) as the ideal place to install this sanctuary of U.S. intervention. Even some of the media in Misiones’ has reported that this decision has generated a stir amongst some of the Argentine Military since they have not been consulted. Other unconfirmed, but frankly credible rumors, indicate that for several years this territory has been visited by officers of the U.S. Army with the intention of observing what is now about to become a reality. It is similar to the invasion of Israeli soldiers that is happening in the southern Argentina and southern Chile who arrive under the guise of “vacation” from the brutal invasions against the Palestinian people.  Like their American counterparts, they take this opportunity to do “intelligence” work for Tel Aviv in this very coveted and sensitive area of the national territory.

Confronting this panorama, and knowing full well  the danger of Macri in attacking national interests, are several popular organizations in Misiones who are already mobilizing the issue on a national level as was done with the failed base in Chaco.  They are working first on creating an informational awareness campaign to back up demonstrations on site. Through the local parliament Deputy Daniel Di Stefano has presented the national congress a draft resolution requesting the national executive power for details on the installation of two military bases in the Argentine territory.

The other project is an “observation” and “scientific experimentation” base in Terra Del Fuego in the vicinity of Ushuaia.  This is an obvious “Trojan Horse” considering the importance for the empire to have influence at this highly strategic territory of extreme geopolitical importance. The military consequences would be unpredictable considering its close proximity to the NATO Falkland base and also the Argentine Antarctic Territory, a bastion coveted by the United States for its important continental ice and its provision for water in the future.

Finally, it is worth remembering that the United States has used several methods to carry out their military interventions under so called advice and humanitarian assistance campaigns against dengue, zika etc. Feigning all sorts of concern, the first to arrive are the nurses, physicians and paramedics, and then right behind the military observers appear whose tasks have nothing to do with the advertised primary objectives.

This is the same thing that has happened in many other countries like Honduras, Peru, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic to name a few. In other cases without much announcement, they “make agreements” with allied governments or submissive ones (or ones co-opted by substantial economic agreements). The installation of observation bases, placing radars and other technological gadgets without providing public information is normal. At this time there are 36 (761 globally) U.S. military installations with landing and takeoff capabilities for aircraft bombers and the presence of armed uniformed troops in Latin America. These appear in Colombia, Panama, Peru, Chile (with its “peacekeeping troops” in Concón), Curaçao, Guatemala and several more scattered on small islands in the Caribbean.

Now, the government of Mauricio Macri wants to add to this dangerous habit by giving up territory and ensure the impunity of the performance of U.S. civilian and military troops in the North and South Argentina. If we don’t radically confront this issue now before it is completed, then there will be no opportunity to mourn for what we have not done.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano