| latin allies say "adios" to iraq |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Tuesday, May 04 2004 |
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| I heard someone suggest the other day that as a response to Spanish troops pulling out of Iraq, Americans should begin to eliminate Spanish products from our homes, just as it was recommended that we do with French products when the French government opposed the war. Remember freedom fries?
Of course, that would mean having to do without Spanish wines, Spanish olives, Manchego cheese, maybe, and other delicacies. Now that the Dominican Republic and Honduras are also pulling out of Iraq, I wonder if we will also be asked to boycott Dominican sugar or Honduran bananas.
The 1,400 Spanish troops were called back from Iraq because that is what Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he would do if he won the presidential election in March. He won the election because, among other reasons, Spaniards were upset at then-President Jose Maria Aznar's support of the Iraq war. They blamed the worst terrorist attack in their history -- which happened just days before the voting -- on his collaboration with the United States.
A day after Spain announced its withdrawal, Honduras announced that it would also pull its 370 troops from Iraq. Then it was the Dominican Republic that followed suit: Just two days after President Hipolito Mejia had vowed to stay the course, Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez, of the Dominican Armed Forces, announced the return of its remaining 302 troops.
The withdrawal of the two Latin American nations is a domino effect from the pullout by the Spaniards, but for a different reason. They both happen to be part of a larger contingency of troops -- including El Salvador and Nicaragua -- that were on a special mission under the command of Spanish forces. The operation was supposed to concentrate on peacekeeping, medical and mine-sweeping efforts, and wasn't supposed to bring them into direct conflict with Iraqi combatants.
But then two things changed: First, the Spanish troops, whose supervision they worked under, began to pull out. And the Latin Americans suddenly became part of the armed conflict.
Honduran President Ricardo Maduro personally ordered the return of the troops at the earliest possible time. Foreign Minister Leonidas Rosa Bautista cited the escalating violence in the first two weeks of April as the cause.
That made it easier for Dominican President Mejia to change course and withdraw his troops, citing security concerns also. However, critics say his decision has political undertones. Mejia is seeking re-election on May 16, and many Dominicans have criticized their country's troop presence in Iraq.
Nicaragua found an alibi for backing out of its commitment to the United States. It first sent a 115-member team that included military doctors, minesweepers and special forces to Iraq, and was supposed to replace them in February. But when the first group came back, the government said it ran out of funds. Now it says it will gladly send more troops as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission.
So, the only Latin American country left in Iraq is El Salvador. One Salvadoran soldier has died, and more than a dozen have been hurt, but both outgoing President Francisco Flores and his newly elected successor, Tony Saca, are ignoring pleas from the country's opposition parties and human-rights commissioner, and are vowing to keep their 380 troops on the mission, which expires on June 30. At that time, they will evaluate the situation.
The decision for an early pullout should not become a reason to sanction any of these countries. It should not affect their relations with the United States. It should not affect the immigration status of the citizens of these countries who reside in the United States. Nor should it affect the new free-trade agreement between the United States and Central America, or the negotiations with the Dominican Republic that began just a few months ago. After all, they are the few from the region who dared to send troops in the first place, in spite of internal opposition. |
