pinkeye
10-27-2003, 02:06 PM
from the guardian:
Hemispheric Security Conference Opening
Monday October 27, 2003 5:46 PM
By LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Although its prime concern is terrorism, the United States is also willing to consider nonmilitary issues such as poverty and disease when it meets Monday to forge a new security agenda with 33 other countries in the Western Hemisphere, U.S. officials say.
``Without democracy and prosperity, there's no stable basis for building peace and security in this hemisphere,'' U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in comments leading up to the two-day Special Conference on Security. ``There is now recognition that extreme poverty and social exclusion affect democracy and governability, leaving societies vulnerable to the threats from terrorists and criminal organizations.''
Foreign ministers and other high-level officials from the 34 active members of the Organization of American states are trying to design a new security architecture that moves beyond the traditional military definitions of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, known as the Rio Treaty.
The treaty calls on the nations to defend each other from outside attacks, but many view the agreement as an outdated relic of the Cold War that allowed the United States to fight communists in Latin America in the late 1960s, '70s, and '80s.
Some countries never adopted it and others, such as Mexico, have withdrawn from it.
There also is an increasing call among nations to recognize and address political, economic, social, health, and environmental issues as new threats to security.
``The result will be an up-to-date, holistic vision of security that takes into account the concerns of all the countries in the region and better prepares us to cooperate in facing new security threats,'' said Mexico's ambassador to the OAS, Miguel Ruiz-Cabanas, who has presided over the OAS Permanent Council subcommittee organizing the conference.
A draft declaration on security in the Americas issued by the council recognizes a series of ``new threats, concerns, and other challenges of a diverse nature,'' including poverty and social exclusion, disasters, diseases, environmental degradation and cybersecurity - as well as terrorism, arms and drug trafficking and weapons of mass destruction.
Non-governmental organizations, including Mexican human rights groups and Amnesty International, are urging conference delegates to make economic, political, social and cultural rights the focus of the debate.
Officials in Washington have said that while the United States has agreed to acknowledge new types of security threats, they want the main focus to remain on terrorism and drug trafficking.
The Bush administration also wants to adopt a separate statement in support of Colombia, which is embroiled in a 39-year-old civil war between rebels and paramilitary fighters and government forces.
The range of concerns for the countries involved may make reaching a consensus even more difficult: Argentina is recovering from near economic collapse, Bolivia is trying to regain its footing after ousting a U.S.-friendly president and Venezuela's leader is trying to hold onto power following an unsuccessful coup. Mexico and Brazil, meanwhile are rivals for regional leadership.
``To sit down all these countries with very different problems, very different types of threats, and figure out what is common ground, is very difficult,'' said Mexico-based security analyst Ana Maria Salazar.
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On the Net: www.oas.org
Hemispheric Security Conference Opening
Monday October 27, 2003 5:46 PM
By LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Although its prime concern is terrorism, the United States is also willing to consider nonmilitary issues such as poverty and disease when it meets Monday to forge a new security agenda with 33 other countries in the Western Hemisphere, U.S. officials say.
``Without democracy and prosperity, there's no stable basis for building peace and security in this hemisphere,'' U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in comments leading up to the two-day Special Conference on Security. ``There is now recognition that extreme poverty and social exclusion affect democracy and governability, leaving societies vulnerable to the threats from terrorists and criminal organizations.''
Foreign ministers and other high-level officials from the 34 active members of the Organization of American states are trying to design a new security architecture that moves beyond the traditional military definitions of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, known as the Rio Treaty.
The treaty calls on the nations to defend each other from outside attacks, but many view the agreement as an outdated relic of the Cold War that allowed the United States to fight communists in Latin America in the late 1960s, '70s, and '80s.
Some countries never adopted it and others, such as Mexico, have withdrawn from it.
There also is an increasing call among nations to recognize and address political, economic, social, health, and environmental issues as new threats to security.
``The result will be an up-to-date, holistic vision of security that takes into account the concerns of all the countries in the region and better prepares us to cooperate in facing new security threats,'' said Mexico's ambassador to the OAS, Miguel Ruiz-Cabanas, who has presided over the OAS Permanent Council subcommittee organizing the conference.
A draft declaration on security in the Americas issued by the council recognizes a series of ``new threats, concerns, and other challenges of a diverse nature,'' including poverty and social exclusion, disasters, diseases, environmental degradation and cybersecurity - as well as terrorism, arms and drug trafficking and weapons of mass destruction.
Non-governmental organizations, including Mexican human rights groups and Amnesty International, are urging conference delegates to make economic, political, social and cultural rights the focus of the debate.
Officials in Washington have said that while the United States has agreed to acknowledge new types of security threats, they want the main focus to remain on terrorism and drug trafficking.
The Bush administration also wants to adopt a separate statement in support of Colombia, which is embroiled in a 39-year-old civil war between rebels and paramilitary fighters and government forces.
The range of concerns for the countries involved may make reaching a consensus even more difficult: Argentina is recovering from near economic collapse, Bolivia is trying to regain its footing after ousting a U.S.-friendly president and Venezuela's leader is trying to hold onto power following an unsuccessful coup. Mexico and Brazil, meanwhile are rivals for regional leadership.
``To sit down all these countries with very different problems, very different types of threats, and figure out what is common ground, is very difficult,'' said Mexico-based security analyst Ana Maria Salazar.
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On the Net: www.oas.org