POLITICS-CENTRAL AMERICA: US Identifies New Security Threats

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

TEGUCIGALPA, Mar 8 1999 (IPS) - U.S. President Bill Clinton will take advantage of his four-day tour in Central America, that began Monday, to warn his counterparts in the region of new threats to security identified by his government.

Clinton reached Nicaragua Monday, with the reconstruction of Central America and aid in the wake of the damages caused by hurricane Mitch in late October high on his agenda.

Also to be addressed are the questions of drug trafficking, immigration, natural disasters, terrorism, instability, the environment, defending the Panama canal, democracy and human rights.

Clinton has come to Central America with empty hands, having failed in his bid to secure from the Senate the one billion dollars in aid he sought for the region, that was devastated by what has been described as the worst Atlantic storm in 200 years.

Nevertheless, he will seek to demonstrate Washington’s concern for Central America, for decades a staunch political ally that now hopes to boost its status as a trading partner.

The concerns Clinton is bringing to the sub-region differ widely from those mentioned by the governments here, and “the interesting thing will be to see how they are able to agree on points in common in order to work out concrete actions,” said Honduran political analyst Victor Meza.

The question of immigration and the “war on drugs” are, according to Meza, Clinton’s key concerns. The president also aims to improve his image “after the scandal and headaches Monica Lewinsky caused him.”

Central Americans, meanwhile, are more interested in discussing access to U.S. markets, a halt to deportations of illegal immigrants, and funds for reconstruction.

Reconstruction has been accorded “slightly lower priority on Clinton’s agenda, and now that he has failed to obtain the one billion dollars in aid he promised, things are getting a bit touch and go,” said Meza.

“But that does not mean that sooner or later he won’t secure a good part” of that sum, he added.

Adam Isacson with the Washington-based Centre for Foreign Policy, which analyses U.S. strategy toward Latin America in terms of security and civic-military relations, believes disasters like hurricane Mitch constitute threats to U.S. security.

The fallout from such storms jeopardises U.S. interests in terms of investment and democratic stability, said Isacson.

Moreover, Washington perceives immigration from Central America as a major threat to its interests and security, with U.S. State Department reports arguing that the flow will be unmanageable in the future.

The Centre for Foreign Policy warned that Washington was interested in reviving the role of the armies in the area using joint “humanitarian” military exercises, to express “solidarity.”

Isacson cited the New Horizons exercises that got underway Feb 20 in the four countries which suffered the greatest damages from the storm: Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The U.S. Department of Defence plans to spend 88.3 million dollars on the exercises, which are to wrap up Sep 30 – although according to the Centre for Foreign Policy, they could be extended.

With the exercises, on the average day 500 U.S. troops will be involved in reconstruction projects in Honduras, 350 in El Salvador and a similar number in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

As the participants will be rotated, troops will be moving in and out of the countries of Central America, the Centre for Foreign Policy pointed out.

Clinton is also expected to suggest the creation of a multilateral anti-drug centre in the sub-region. Honduras looks like one of the likeliest candidates for hosting new military bases, once the U.S. pulls out of Panama by year-end, as stipulated by the 1977 canal treaties.

The U.S. magazine ‘Fortune’ reported that Washington had already begun to discuss the issue with Honduras, Ecuador and Peru.

Isacson said the Honduran base in Palmerola would become, over the next few months, the hub of Washington’s security strategy in Central America.

In Honduras, Clinton’s visit is seen as an important show of support for the country hit hardest by hurricane Mitch. But the government has refused to express its position on the anti-drug centre.

“Clinton is once more looking toward Central America. We will discuss reconstruction, free trade and immigrants,” said Honduran Foreign Minister Roberto Flores. “To touch on or insinuate anything else seems unnecessary, as it would only be speculation.”

Clinton will spend six hours in Honduras Tuesday after reaching the Palmerola base in the Comayagua valley, 170 kms from the capital. Some 1,200 U.S. troops have been permanently posted in Palmerola since 1982.

Clinton will meet Honduran President Carlos Flores at the Palmerola base, deliver a speech and greet U.S. troops stationed there.

Meza said it would be in Palmerola that “Clinton’s real agenda will take shape, where the problem of the anti-drug base will be, I believe, impossible to avoid.

“Whatever happens after that will be pure public relations. The future of the relations between Honduras and the United States will be defined in Palmerola.”

On Thursday, Clinton will attend a meeting of Central American presidents in Guatemala.