Costa Rica is the only nation which abolished the army, the army since 1948 no longer exists and the operations of territorial control of public order are carried out by the police.
But by the middle of September 2009 in the Central American country an army reappeared, this is the United States.
is not an attack but the result of an agreement signed in 1998 between the two countries to counter drug trafficking.
In Costa Rica landed about seven U.S. soldiers, fifty warships of the U.S. Navy and about two hundred helicopters and aircraft. The U.S. commitment to expire at the end of December 2010 but according to sources close to the government is starting to deal with an extension of the mission.
This 'invasion' has sparked bitter controversy among those who do not want the U.S. military presence, the pacifists and the opposition Parliament, questioning the validity of the Agreement, on the one hand and the government, which has ratified the agreement on the other.
Even a police officer, Commissioner Boraschi Drug Mauricio, told a national newspaper that "we must not and can not misinterpret the permission granted to the U.S. military patrols as the intention to militarize the fight against drugs . The presence of U.S. troops does not represent a danger to the Costa Rican national sovereignty. It 's impossible for the U.S. military operations on the ground: their task will take place entirely in the waters that flow through the country. "
The pacifist organizations such as Amigos para la Paz are mobilizing to express their disagreement with the agreement that led the U.S. army in Costa Rica
spokesman Amigos para la Paz talking to a radio broadcast he said: "The Costa Rica is a country born for peace I do not like to see U.S. warships in our sea. To combat drug trafficking in our country really has to start changing the culture in young people. bring on the path of discipline. In any case the presence of so many military appears to be disproportionate. "
Staying in the fight against drug trafficking, the President of Peru, Alan Garcia, during a television interview about the issuer CNN blatantly complained of scarcity of funds that the U.S. government allocates to the country to combat drug trafficking. The U.S. government for the year 2010 has allocated approximately $ 37 million.
interview Garcia said: "In what are the human and universal themes, I do not question the sovereignty and patriotism, if the Americans want to send troops for training, as well as they have helicopters and observation points and satellite communications, are welcome. [...] I have already said that once President Obama was her fault, because he put all the money in Colombia, Plan Colombia, and Peru at the moment. "
Even in Peru has a large open front against claims that Garcia has done to the U.S., a former general, now retired Edwin Donayre, intervened in the debate saying he was the opposite opinion than the president because the army and the police are trained to fight drug trafficking. Giving Garcia added that in doing so shows you do not have a policy against drug trafficking.
The thought of Samuel Tamayo Flores, anti-nuclear activist and pacifist, takes as its subject the Costa Rica but We can also extend to Peru. These are the words spoken in a radio interview: "Costa Rica has the distinction of not having an army. One thing really great, unique. If our government wants to fight drug trafficking from the south of the continent come to north due to the shift in the waters of countries like ours, should not militarize the sea but to provide money for building projects for young people. Only by changing the mindset of the younger generation, you can change the tables. Maybe, though. There is a latent interest in continuing to live in this situation. Finally, I would say that instead of calling the U.S., I would have trained our men: la sovranità nazionale non sarebbe stata messa in dubbio e si sarebbero evitate polemiche inutili."
0 comments:
Post a Comment