BASICS Issue #22 (Sep/Oct 2010)
by Jeremias DeCastero
Since 1946, Colombia has been in a state of civil war. Violence is routinely deployed against trade unionists (since 1996 almost 3000 unionists have been killed), left-wing political parties (well over 3000 people including 3 Presidential candidates were killed from one party alone), indigenous, Afro-Colombians, women, peasants, students, workers, community organizers, and of course, the guerrillas in the countryside. In 2009, a mass grave of civilians was discovered that is without a doubt the product of killings committed by the military (see photo).
Recently, Colombia signed an agreement with the U.S., granting it usage of 7 Colombian bases, supposedly for the ‘War on Drugs’, but most certainly to be directed against the guerrilla groups and any future war with Venezuela.
Venezuela, which borders Colombia, has been undergoing a process of popular mobilization over the past decade.
In 1998, Hugo Chávez Frías was elected President on the promise to launch a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution through a referendum. In 2002, there was a coup against Chávez and he was kidnapped. But the masses rose up in rebellion to defend their president and the new constitution.
Since 2003, popular ‘Misiónes’ – community run programs directed towards feeding, educating, and providing healthcare to people who previously did not receive such services – have mushroomed across the country; and Community Councils and Cooperatives have emerged as part of the democratic basis of the new Venezuelan society.
These divergent histories in Colombia and Venezuela have strained the relationship between the neighbours. Chávez has been accused of supporting the FARC guerilla movement in Colombia, an accusation that he has always vehemently denied. Colombia, on the other hand, has repeatedly violated Venezuela’s sovereignty, flagrantly breaching international law. It continues to threaten its neighbours.
War has almost broken out between the two countries three times in the past three years. The latest incident took place in July 2010, when Colombia began mobilizing its army on the Venezuelan border. Chávez responded by curtailing trade with Colombia from late July to early August, but brought the two countries back from the brink of war when he visited his counterpart in Colombia in early August.
Was this simply a flare up between neighbours? The Colombian state, including new president Juan Manual Santos, backed by Canada and the U.S., are eager to destroy the popular power that is growing in Venezuela. The popular power developing in Venezuela threatens corporate interests in the U.S. and Canada. Part of the issue is that Venezuela sits upon an abundance of oil, and any changing internal relationships in that country will affect external relations with other countries.
But the prospect of revolution anywhere in Latin America has always threatened North American imperialists. The U.S. remains Colombia’s biggest backer, Canada has signed a free trade deal with Colombia’s murderous government, and Colombia’s new president has openly displayed his disdain for the sovereignty of other nations.
Canadian workers have more in common with the people of Venezuela than they do with the Colombian regime. Any future war against the masses of Venezuela would signal a major offensive, not only on the masses of Latin American, but on the working-class of North America, which the U.S. and Canada want to prevent from have any examples of revolution to emulate.
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