SOAW Condemns the Deployment of the U.S. Army SFAB to Colombia
Colombia: The Army in the Crosshairs of Justice
A Call to Stop the War
Video l ABC’s of Geopolitics: Biological Warfare
Letter for Peace and security of our peoples
75 years of Pax Christi International
The danger of nuclear war advances
Does NATO protect us?
The Sanctions Kill
SOAW Condemns the Deployment of the U.S. Army SFAB to Colombia
«SOA Watch condemns the recent increase of U.S. militarization in Colombia and nearby bodies of water, including the June 1, 2020 deployment of the U.S. Army 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) from Ft. Benning, GA to Colombia. SFABs are specialized units that ‘advise and assist operations in foreign nations.’ The 1st SFAB was established at Ft. Benning, GA in October 2017, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2018. Now it has been deployed to Colombia as part of the ‘Enhanced Counternarcotics Operations’ announced by Trump on April 1, 2020.
In addition to deployment of the 1st SFAB, Trump’s ‘Enhanced Counternarcotics Operations’ also includes militarization of the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, including the deployment of Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft, and helicopters. This significant increase in militarization in the name of stopping drugs also seems to be part of the latest incarnation of U.S. imperialist efforts to topple Venezuela’s government…»
Web site: www.soaw.org
Colombia: The Army in the Crosshairs of Justice
The magazine Semana de Colombia revealed that the real reasons that led President Iván Duque to announce, in December 2019, the departure of the Army Commander, General Nicacio Martínez a graduate of the School of the Americas, was because of the scandal that became known weeks later about the army carrying out illegal espionage with sophisticated equipment donated by the United States against journalists, human rights defenders, social leaders, trade unionists, members of political parties and public officials.
Nicacio Martínez has also been accused of “false positives” extrajudicial crimes, where civilians were passed off as guerrillas killed in combat. This is the case, for example, of the bombing by the army in San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá, in August 2019 where it was said that they had killed guerrillas but months later it was learned that they had killed eight children
A Call to Stop the War
Last April, Rigoberta Menchú and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, both Nobel Peace Prize winners among others launched an appeal to the people.In the declaration they point out that the COVID-19 pandemic has no borders, no ideology, no social class and that «it has claimed and continues to claim as many lives as a war, deepening the economic crisis that was already punishing the world. They call for the «immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions against Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Syria, Palestine and Zimbabwe» so that when the pandemic ends «we can come together in peace and rebuild together what will be left after this tragedy.They also point out that they support “the historic call of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, demanding that the hand of the war be stopped and that the United States listen to the voice of reason of the people of the world.”
Video l ABC’s of Geopolitics: Biological Warfare
At this time, we do not know for sure whether COVID-19 is natural or intentionally made in the laboratory. The truth is, nothing can be ruled out. Biological warfare has existed in the history of mankind and, at present, the United States has military bases (NAMRU-6 ) that study the pathogenic, infectious agents whose research could be used to create biological weapons, which are prohibited. We invite you to watch on youtube or read here about “Biological War”, a work by researcher Olga Pinheiro from SOAW Chile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woULn-0Gji0&feature=emb_logo
Letter for Peace and security of our peoples
Last June, peace activists sent al letter to the Chief of the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the Biological Weapons Convention, Daniel Feakes, and the Director General of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asking them to visit a US military base called NAMRU-6 in Peru which carrious out research into infectious diseases. There is concern that their research could be used for biological warfare.
“We request that you inspect the NAMRU-6 facilities to clarify our doubts and see if all the necessary security measures are being taken so that the experimentation of infectious diseases cannot be used against civilians and soldiers and if their operations are complying with WHO regulations and international laws”, says the letter.
The signatories include Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize Winner from Argentina; Martin Almada, Alternative Nobel Prize Winner from Paraguay; Richard Arce, former congressman from Perú; Alicia Lira of the Chilean AFEP (Agrupación de Familiares de Ejecutados Políticos – Grouping of Relatives of Executed Politicians). From the USA, the letter is signed by Judith Kelly, of Pax Christi Pentagon; Martha Hennessy, Member of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7; Medea Benjamin, Co-director, CODEPINK; and Alfred L. Marder, President, US Peace Council, among other signatures.
Read the letter at https://www.derechoalapaz.com/letternamru6/
75 years of Pax Christi International
Last march, Pax Christi International, a catholic organization working for world peace, celebrated its 75th anniversary. It was founded in the middle of the Second World War. “Pax Christi was officially founded on 13 March 1945. At that time, Southern France was already liberated from the grasp of the Nazis. Pierre Marie Théas, bishop of Montauban in Southern France gave Marthe Dortel Claudot his full support to start a Christian movement for reconciliation and peace. On the evening of March 13th this movement was baptized as Pax Christi in a flat in Montauban”.
Web site: www.paxchristi.net In the U.S.: https://paxchristiusa.org
The danger of nuclear war advances
In may, president Donald Trump announced that The United States will withdraw from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) “Open SkiesTreaty,” an arms control pact involving 34 countries that allows States Parties to conduct observation flights over the territories of other State Parties. This treaty is considered one of the most important international arms control efforts and aims to promote transparency in military forces and activities.
It should also be recalled that the United States abandoned the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in August 2019. This treaty achieved that Russia and the United States will eliminate 2,600 nuclear missiles. Everything seems to indicate that the United States is abandoning all treaties in these areas to restart a dangerous nuclear military race “without control”. The world is in danger.
Does NATO protect us?
“When the pandemic broke out in Europe, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was concerned: “I hope the allies will remain committed to their defense investments,” he said in mid-March.He was right to be alarmed: the populations of NATO countries would risk having the absurd idea of reconsidering their “security and defense” problem and not end up wondering whether their real security, their real defense, would not be more assured by investments in the public sector, health care, medical materials, hospitals rather than nuclear bombs and bombers.”
(From Editorial Alerte OTAN issue 76 – 1st quarter 2020 of “Comité Surveillance OTAN” in Belgium) https://www.csotan.org/
The Sanctions Kill
Last may, the Us Peace Council reported that “The Sanctions Kill Coalition Webinar” had taken place.
On their website, they said that: “The US has imposed economic sanctions against 39 countries. In many cases, this denies them access to medicine and medical equipment as well as access to world markets for food and other necessities. During the coronavirus crisis the US, with the highest death count in the world, has upped the sanctions against countries like Iran and Venezuela, and has tried to weaponize COVID-19 to bring down governments that will not follow the dictates of Washington and Wall Street”.
“The UN has asked that sanctions be loosened during this crisis but the US has done the opposite. Many US allies have broken with them and sent medical aid to some of these countries. Now is an important time for the people in the US to come out strongly against these sanctions, which are simply war by other means”.
Web site: https://uspeacecouncil.org/
PDF: Newsletter
