US-trained troops intensify Colombian war

Members of the Colombian Anti-drug group show their skills during a graduation ceremony at the Larandia military base, Caquaeta province, May 24, 2001.

By Yadira Ferrer

Bogota, Colombia, May 24 (IPS)— A new anti-drug battalion trained by US instructors began to function Thursday, completing the military component of Plan Colombia, the multibillion dollar program with which the government of Andrés Pastrana is fighting drug traffickers and the irregular armies involved in the country’s civil war.

The 698-troop battalion will operate out of the Larandia base in the southeastern department of Caquetá, the epicenter of Plan Colombia, which the United States is helping to finance with a 1.3 billion dollar contribution, 70 percent of which has been earmarked for the fight against drugs.

The United States has provided 25 helicopters, which sprayed and eradicated 30,000 hectares of coca crops from December to March, 40 percent of them located in southeastern Colombia. The spraying has also affected food crops.

The new battalion is part of the “Southern Task Forces,” made up of 10,000 army and navy troops and police agents posted at the Tres Esquinas military base in Caquetá, said brigade commander General Mario Montoya.

The aim of Plan Colombia is to totally wipe out drug trafficking in this country, which has become the world’s leading supplier of cocaine, within five years.

The anti-narcotics battalion will concentrate its operations in the departments of Putumayo and Caquetá, a region with a heavy paramilitary and guerrilla presence, where 70 percent of the coca used to produce cocaine is grown, said Montoya. It will then move on to fight drug trafficking in other parts of this country of 40 million.

The battalion is equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and technology, and has received military training from Washington in the framework of Plan Colombia, which was designed by US and Colombian policy-makers and put into effect last August.

There are currently 170 US military trainers and 60 advisers in Colombia, said Montoya.

The US military presence and the uses given to most of Washington’s aid for Plan Colombia have stirred up a storm of opposition at home and abroad.

An alliance of 60 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Colombia, the United States and Europe, for instance, argues that the mostly military aid will only lead to a further escalation of the decades-old war, and could turn Colombia into a new Vietnam.

Independent Senator Rafael Orduz told IPS that the launch of the new battalion completed ‘’the foundation of force of Plan Colombia, a strategy designed by Washington and the Pastrana administration that combines military strength and the eradication of illicit crops.’’

But Orduz maintained that the US presence could not be considered an act of “interventionism,’’ because it was based on a US law that was accepted by the Pastrana government.

The legislator said the strategy, which consists of fighting drug traffickers, right-wing paramilitaries and guerrillas -- with which the government is involved in peace talks -- alike, is a “fatal combination’’ which will end up displacing the civilian population from areas where coca crops are being sprayed.

The US presence is part of “a long-term, continent-wide strategy of the Pentagon (US Department of Defense), which is seeking to gain control over the territory for its global free trade policy,’’ said Jorge Rojas, with the coalition of local NGOs, Paz Colombia.

The US State Department is pressing for congressional approval of a “Regional Andean Initiative’’, secretly negotiated with Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, according to press reports.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell argues that the Andean initiative would enable Washington to focus on the drug trade in Colombia, without losing sight of the fact that it is a “regional problem.’’

The government of George W. Bush plans to assign 731 million dollars to the Andean region initiative in next year’s budget. Half of the funds would go to Colombia, and the rest to the other five countries, which fear the spill-over effects of Plan Colombia, already felt by Ecuador and Venezuela.

Activists fight Nestle’s genetically altered food

Hong Kong, May 28— About 10 Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the entrance of a Nestle factory in Yuen Long (pictured left) in a pre-dawn action today to prevent its products from leaving the compound and getting into the market in order to “halt genetically engineered food contamination” in Hong Kong. Greenpeace decided to “close” Nestle this morning after the company repeatedly broke its promise to phase out GE ingredients in its food products.

In 1999, Greenpeace found two Nestle products -- a fresh soya milk and a beancurd dessert both marketed under the brand Pak Fook -- to contain GE ingredients, Monsanto’s Roundup Ready-Soya. This year, Pak Fook fresh soy milk has again been found to contain the same GE ingredients in two separate tests while another Nestle product -- Pak Fook Hi-calcium Life Soya Milk -- also has GE materials.

In a letter to Greenpeace, dated February 8, 2000, Nestle stated: “For Nestle in Hong Kong, a majority of our products do not contain GMO ingredients. We are in the process of substituting GMO derived ingredients in any remaining products where possible...” In the same correspondence, it said “...we support a responsible use of gene technology but will refrain from using GMO derived ingredients where consumers are reluctant to accept.”

“Nestle has reneged on its promise to go GE-free and it has also contradicted its own corporate business principles that it will not use GE ingredients if consumers do not want it. In a survey conducted in October 1999, more than 80% of respondents said they would prefer non-GE food if given a choice while 95% demanded a labeling system. People in Hong Kong clearly do not want GE food but are still being forced to accept it. Greenpeace wants this to stop right now,” said Lo Sze Ping of Greenpeace China.

In today’s action, activists were chained to the front gate of the Nestle plant while a vehicle was parked at the back to block the rear entrance in order to blockade the factory to prevent its daily distribution from taking place. A banner which read “No more lies. No more GE food” was displayed at the front entrance. The environmental group also made a satirical modification of Nestle’s internationally recognizable logo by depicting one of the birds with “a long Pinnochio nose” and “losing its teeth.” Losing teeth, in colloquial Chinese culture, is jokingly interpreted as one of the consequences of lying.

“At present, there is no labeling system in place in Hong Kong and Nestle, which claims to be the world’s largest food company, has been lying through its teeth about a GE phase out. Because nobody is willing to do something constructive to protect public health, Greenpeace has decided to step in to barricade Nestle in order to stop GE food from hitting the market and contaminating Hong Kong, even for just a day,” added Lo.

“Some Nestle baby food products in Thailand are also found to have GE ingredients but Nestle in some countries in Europe has already gone GE free. Nestle is obviously applying double standards in Asia by dumping GE food in this part of the world. This kind of trade practice is despicable, immoral and unethical,” said Lo.

Greenpeace opposes genetic manipulation of food because of its possible danger to the environment and human health. There are concerns that GE foods may trigger new allergic reactions, affect antibiotic treatment, or alter nutritional value.

Source: Independent Media Center: www.indymedia.org

Corporate taxes may be eliminated

May 21— Paul O’Neill, US Treasury Secretary, has laid out a vision for a radical reform of the US tax structure, including a sweeping revision of the Social Security -- or public pension -- system and abolition of corporate income tax and capital gains tax on businesses.

In an interview with the Financial Times at his Treasury office, Mr. O’Neill espoused changes that would reach far beyond the legislation currently before Congress.

As the Senate moved ahead with the Bush administration’s initial $1,350 billion tax reduction plan [signed into law on Sat., May 26], he expanded on his previous piecemeal attacks on America’s tax system.

The present system was “an abomination” that required changes to its “very structure.”

“Not only am I committed to working on this issue, the President [George W. Bush] is also intrigued about the possibility of fixing this mess,” said Mr. O’ Neill.

One of the most important moves, he suggested, would be abolition of taxation on companies. Corporate income tax, the main form of tax on US businesses, accounts for 10 percent of federal revenues and has a top rate of 35 percent.

Among other controversial ideas, Mr. O’Neill questioned the guarantees the government provides for full public subsidy of senior citizens’ health care and retirement programs.

“Able-bodied adults who have the ability to earn income have an obligation not to pass part of their own responsibility on to a broader population,” he said.

His remarks are bound to reverberate in Washington, where speaking about reductions in elderly care programs has been taboo.

Mr. O’Neill’s remarks reflect growing determination in the Bush administration to show its willingness to propose radical change to try to secure growth.

Abolishing corporate tax would inevitably lead to higher personal income taxes, but Mr. O’Neill believes such a move would reduce the overall tax burden and promote economic growth.

Current corporate tax levels -- and their administrative costs -- were too high, he said.

The system would work better if the government “collected taxes in a more direct way from the people, who were paying the taxes in any event.”

Mr. O’Neill said simplification of the tax code would also improve US global competitiveness. “It would certainly make us more formidable if we had a simplification of this sort.”

Any increase in personal income tax would undoubtedly provoke strong voter opposition. Mr. O’Neill, however, says he “absolutely” wants to eliminate corporate income tax.

He also wants to do away with capital gains taxes on businesses, and indicated the administration was prepared to put this on a shorter-term agenda.

It is highly unlikely that other members of the Bush administration share every aspect of Mr. O’Neill’s reformist visions.

But the fact that one of the most senior cabinet members would lay out such a detailed and radical program is a sign that the administration has not been deterred by opposition to its initial tax-cut plan.

Source: Common Dreams: www.commondreams.org