Breaking--46 US Warships Plus 7,000 US Marines On Route To Costa Rica!

by Joseph Shansky
Thursday, 15 July 2010 10:51

Tensions are high in Costa Rica following the announcement of the impending arrival of US military vessels. In the past year alone, a sudden expansion of United States military presence around Latin America has alarmed many in the region. Now it is spreading to the one nation which had previously been known for the absence of any standing permanent army, foreign or national.

After receiving a diplomatic request from the US Embassy, on July 1 the Costa Rican legislative assembly approved a measure to grant unprecedented access to a U.S. military fleet in Costa Rica’s waters. The vessels will arrive for at least six months to assist counter-narcotics operations by Costa Rican authorities. Costa Rica has long been used a stopping point of entry for drugs coming from Colombia and Panama on their way further north.

This type of partnership between the U.S. and Costa Rica is not new. Since 1999, a maritime agreement titled the “Joint Patrol” between the United States and Costa Rica has allowed the U.S. Coast Guard to operate in the waters of Costa Rica for similar purposes. However, this particular agreement goes far beyond previously established boundaries. The Joint Patrol agreement limited U.S. personnel to Coast Guard only, allowing for Costa Rican law enforcement to ride on U.S. ships if they have reason to suspect suspicious activity, and vice versa.

Under the new agreement the ships, which can occupy up to 7,000 Navy personnel and 200 helicopters, will join the Coast Guard and according to the Embassy letter, will “enjoy freedom of movement and the right to carry out activities they consider necessary for the fulfillment of their mission, which includes wearing their uniforms while exercising official functions.”

In other words, immunity from any actions they deem appropriate in the name of policing the waters.

The contract has drawn confusion about the intent of the ships more than anything else, stemming from a general distrust of US action in the region, likely based on recent events like the tacitly-approved military coup in Honduras (and news emerging last week of new plans for another military base there), as well as last year’s controversial accord to establish seven new military bases in Colombia.

The announcement has already provoked a fierce response in Costa Rica. The measure, which can be also renewed after December 31, has drawn sharp criticism from both lawmakers and civilians. Critics say that a massive foreign military landing at their shores not only directly violates that constitution as it stands today, but tears at the moral fabric of a nation which constitutionally abolished its own army in 1949.

In an impassioned address to the assembly during the vote, Parliamentary leader José María Villalta, of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) party, argued that apart from legal ramifications, the measure inherently goes against Costa Rican ideals.

“We cannot remain silent,” Villalta said. “The fundamental values of the Costa Rican State are stake, the core values that have distinguished this country- a country of peace, which rejects militarism, where we have a declaration of perpetual neutrality regarding conflicts of war in other countries and now we want to become complicit in a strategy of militarization is taking place in Latin America.”

More here:

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/international-archives-60/25...

They even call it a "WAR" on drugs...
..How far will we allow this despotism to go?...
...How many more nonviolent offenders will we allow to be locked up?...
...The "War On Drugs" is NOTHING but an unconstitutional war on whomever the PTB want to wage it on, all under the guise of some B.S. to protect us from ourselves...
...FK the "War On Drugs" and everyone involved in it's criminal activity...

Making me think twice about getting my PR in the PRC.

It'll be a cold day in he** before US troops set foot on Chinese soil again for anything but a parade.

"Video: All Out War! Gun battle on the Texas Border!"
but went to the wrong country?

http://www.latamdaily.com/2010/07/03/us-warships-headed-to-c...

Funny, nothing in the US MSM about this, but then of course not. Golf tricks are more important on Yahoo front page. Yeah why aren't they going to Mexico....well because stopping drug trafficking isn't their real objective. They're happy with the progress of 20,000 lives killed so far, in Mexico, from drug violence. So is it resources? If you escaped to Costa Rica to avoid the US problems, it looks like it's coming to a neighborhood near you...

It sounds more like an invasion than anything. We know they lie so what is the real objective?