On 29 and 30 June in the Colombian Pacific waters near Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, the US Southern Command's Fourth Fleet deployed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington to conduct naval exercises with the Colombian Navy.
Popular, social, human rights and feminist organizations, as well as international platforms, rejected these military exercises as an attack on sovereignty and independence, and a threat to the peoples of the American continent.
The more than 25 organizations state that they condemned the meetings and the coordination of actions between the Colombian government and the commander of the US Southern Command, Laura Richardson.
The USS George Washington is the largest aircraft carrier in the world, equipped with a capacity of 75 military aircraft and more than 5000 personnel on board.
“This generates an escalation of the internal conflicts we are still living and that threatens popular processes, while ignoring the will of the people who are building a path to peace. Furthermore, it prevents our region from a continental integration of the peoples and their governments at the economic, cultural and political levels”, the organizations affirm.
The organizations also condemned the historical presence of military bases, exchanges and military intelligence, which they consider to be an expression of imperialism that undermines the independence and sovereignty of all the countries of the Americas.
The organizations demanded that the government of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez suspend this type of war exercises. They consider that “they strengthen the doctrine of intervention in Colombia and in all of our America. From the peoples of the world, we say to Yankee imperialism that it is not welcome”.
The organizations also pointed out that Colombia is considering the entry point of US interventionism in the region. They stress that this type of action threatens national projects and controls ecosystems and natural resources like the Amazon and Gorgona, within the framework of the so-called green militarisation.
“The popular movements consider unacceptable the military actions that took place this Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June in the waters of the Colombian Pacific. Colombia sufferers a long history of US interventionism, excused by supposed support, which has only generated a deepening of the war, dispossession of territories, poverty, sexual aggression and degradation of ecosystems”, states the organizations' pronouncement.
Among the organizations signing the statement are: Frente Popular Dario Santillan from Argentina and Collectif Saya Bruxelles from Belgium. For Brazil, the Movimiento dos Trabalhadores Sem-Teto (MTST) and the Movimiento dos Pequenos Agricultores (MPA) have signed.
For Chile, the Movimiento Social y Popular UKAMAU and the Movimiento Político Izquierda Libertaria. From El Salvador, the communiqué is signed by the Bloque de Resistencia y Rebeldía Popular (BRP), the Community San Francisco de AYUTUXTEPEQUE, the Instituto de Investigación, Capacitación y Desarrollo de la Mujer (IMU), as well as the feminist organisation Las Melidas.
Honduras is represented by the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (COPINH). For Venezuela, the Unión Comunera, the Fuerza Patriótica Alexis Vive, the Comuna El Panal and the communication platform Huele a Azufre.
The Internationalist Committee of Zaragoza and the Centre for Documentation and Solidarity with Latin America and Africa (CEDSALA) also spoke on behalf of Spain.
The statement rejecting US military exercises between the United States and Colombia was signed by the international platforms of the Red de Hermandad y Solidaridad con Colombia (REDHER), the Movimiento Internacional World Beyond War and the International Peace Bureau (IPB).
Signing for Colombia are the Grupo de Investigación Gidpad Universidad de San Buenaventura-Medellín, Corporación Tejiendo Libertad, Grupo de Investigación y Editorial Kavilando, Juntanza Popular, Red Interuniversitaria por la Paz (REDIPAZ), Congreso de los Pueblos and Asociación Cultural Disparate Magdalena.
The signatories also invited other organizations to join in by signing the public statement in rejection of US military activities with Colombia.
