Latin American Solidarity Coalition/School of the Americas Watch Conference Beyond Solidarity by Laura Carlsen http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/4380

The drug war has become the major vehicle of militarization in Latin America. It’s a vehicle funded and driven by the U.S. government and fueled by a combination of false morals, hypocrisy and a lot of cold, hard fear. The so called “war on drugs” is really a war on people, especially youth, women, indigenous peoples and dissidents. The drug war has become the main way for the Pentagon to occupy and control countries at the expense of whole societies and many, many lives.Militarization in the name of the drug war is happening more quickly and more thoroughly than most of us probably anticipated under the Obama administration.

The agreement to establish bases in Colombia, later suspended, sent out one of the first signals of the strategy. And we’ve seen the indefinite extension of the Merida Initiative in Mexico and Central America, and even, sadly, war boats sent to Costa Rica, a nation with a history of peace and no army.

Again, the drug war is a classic example. The Merida Initiative funds U.S. interests to train security forces, provide intelligence and war technology, give advice on reforming the justice and penal systems and promoting human rights in Mexico, when the best things we could do in the U.S. would be to reduce the demand that funds cartels through health programs and legalization, stop the corruption and money-laundering here, and, most of all, end the drug war that caused the violence.The drug war is a model designed to repress populations and militarize other countries. You can’t improve it; it has to be replaced. That’s why we have to END the Merida Initiative.

[I agree with everything sister said,however,she made one small error,wich is on issue of US BASES IN COLOMBIA,though yes shes correct the suspension was indeed announced however,development and progress on new bases has indeed continuedr...UNDER-RADAR-WATCH-Pentagon Building Bases in Central America and Colombia Despite Constitutional Court Striking Down Base Agreement http://forusa.org/blogs/john-lindsay-poland/pentagon-building-bases-central-america-colombia/8445#