The U.S. rulers' military presence in Latin America has nothing to do with these stated objectives. Rather, their military expansion throughout the northern part of South America is simply part of their preparations to confront the growing social instability in the area, fueled by the unpayable foreign debt, spiraling inflation, and massive unemployment.

As is the case at home, the U.S. imperialists know that the merciless drive of the capitalist market system to squeeze more out of workers and peasants in order to fill the coffers of the superwealthy bankers and bondholders cannot succeed without stepped-up police and military repression.

The capitalist rulers in Colombia have been emboldened to use their military more decisively, thanks to the arms, training, and logistical support they have received from Washington. Combined with paramilitary rightist squads that are used to terrorize sections of the rural population, the government of Colombia is seeking to reassert its authority over areas ceded to opposition guerrilla organizations over the past years.

Giving the military more muscle is also one reflection of the rulers' concern over the working class resistance that keeps arising in face of the economic crisis and the assault by the bosses on the standard of living and working conditions of workers and peasants. Such resistance includes protests by small coffee farmers and other growers last year that demanded government relief and cancellation of their debt; a strike of hundreds of thousands of education and health care workers against austerity measures; and actions by peasants demanding they be allowed to grow coca, a staple and cash crop in the area.

Seeking to deepen their involvement in the region, the U.S. rulers--as in the Philippines--are looking for opportunities to remove the thin line restricting U.S. military personnel from engaging in combat actions in their so-called wars on drug trafficking and terrorism. Both the Colombian regime and Washington are speaking more openly about using the military aid "to combat activities and organizations affecting national security," in the words of one Colombian minister. The latest military package announced by Washington includes more intelligence sharing against the guerrilla groups, and the training of a rapid reaction force to protect pipelines and other property of U.S. oil companies.

From Argentina to Colombia, the capitalist economic crisis and the system of imperialist exploitation and oppression is creating social instability and potential political explosions as workers and farmers seek to defend their class interests.

Workers and farmers in the United States can begin to forge an unbreakable alliance with their class brothers and sisters in the Southern Hemisphere by calling on Washington to withdraw its troops and end its flow of arms to the capitalist regimes there. At the same time, the demand for the cancellation of the foreign debt of the semi-colonial countries points in the direction of a common struggle against a common exploiter.  
 
 
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