Estrategia de Rutas Globales

En la reunión de la UNASUR en Bariloche, el presidente de Venezuela habló sobre un Libro Blanco de las fuerzas aéreas norteamericanas donde se avalúan las opciones de transporte y escalas de todo el mundo.

Chavez señaló que este documento es la actual estrategia de sistemas de rutas de Estados Unidos, y es por eso que el acuerdo de bases norteamericanas en Colombia tiene mucha importancia para ese país.

Luego de esta acusación un portavoz del Departamento de Estado de EEUU dijo: "no es un plan estratégico ni de políticas", "Es una evaluación de alternativas de transporte global para emergencias y ayuda humanitaria", "no es un secreto, es un instrumento académico y fue distribuido internamente hace al menos tres meses".

Luego de esto Chavez volvió a insistir y dijo que el Libro Blanco es una "estrategia militar puesta en marcha" y no un documento académico como lo "quieren hacer creer Colombia y EEUU en la región". Según el documento, las bases militares sólo contienen "propuestas para enfrentar tragedias humanitarias", ante estas promesas el jefe de Estado, manifestó de manera incisiva que "serán propuestas para el dominio global con cálculos de distancia, violar niñas, prostituirlas y abastecer las cargas de guerra".

De todas formas este documento de 35 páginas en pdf fue borrado de la web, sin embargo existen algunos lugares en los que aun se encuentra en formato html:

http://www.latinreporters.com/colombieBasesWhitePaperAirMobilityCommand.htm
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ciCxCd92z3gJ:www.au.af.mil/awc/africom/documents/GlobalEnRouteStrategy.pdf+global+enroute+strategy&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Pero mejor hablemos sobre el contenido del documento y lo que nos interesa: América Latina. Para empezar los dos primeros párrafos del documento:

WHITE PAPER AIR MOBILITY COMMAND GLOBAL EN ROUTE STRATEGY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The current strategy for our en route system is based on the results of the 1995 Mobility Requirements Study-Bottom Up Review (MRS-BURU) with refinements by mobility capabilities studies in 2000 and 2005. The Global War On Terror has raised questions on the validity of the current mobility en route system’s sizing and alignment. Furthermore, the evolution of air mobility aircraft, operations, and various stressors on the en route system indicate a need to reevaluate the capabilities required in the en route system. The current National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy provide the baseline for what our mobility strategy should be capable of achieving. The Nation’s emphasis on global alliances, economies and responsibilities mandates global access and especially access to strategically important areas of interest.

Therefore, the goal of the proposed AMC en route strategy is global access allowing the full spectrum of passenger and cargo movement. The Areas of Interest, defined as continuing zones of hostility or instability or areas proneto natural disasters and having the greatest need for airlift support, are identified as Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, Korea, Africa, Eurasia, and Indonesia. In addition, the resulting strategy accounted for political sensitivities and was optimized for a presumed tight fiscal environment. Finally, while the existing strategy maximizes the operational capabilities of our mobility platforms, the new strategy must accommodate the limitations of services and support in those locations we could be asked to transit.

Y ahora pasamos al punto 12 del documento (pág. 21) donde se menciona a Sudamérica y la base áerea Palanquero, en Colombia. También se menciona a Brasil y una base en Recife, pero el rechazo del mismo por el gobierno de Lula:

12. SOUTH AMERICAN STRATEGY:

Including South America in a global en route strategy accomplishes two results: it helps achieve the regional engagement strategy and assists with the mobility routing to Africa. Unfortunately, a South American engagement strategy that tasks airlift assets is not available. Until recently, security concerns in South America have focused on the counter-narcotics mission. That mission has not required the use of strategic airlift in its prosecution. Recently, USSOUTHCOM has become interested in establishing a location on the South American continent that could be used both for counter-narcotics operations and as a location from which mobility operations could be executed. Consequently, with the assistance of AMC and USTRANSCOM, USSOUTHCOM has identified Palanquero, Colombia (German Olano Airfield (SKPQ)), as a cooperative security location (CSL). From this location, nearly half of the continent can be covered by a C-17 without refueling. Should suitable fuel be available at the destination, a C-17 could cover the entire continent, with the exception of the Cape Horn region in Chile and Argentina.

Until such time that USSOUTHCOM establishes a more robust theater engagement plan, the strategy to place a CSL at Palanquero should be sufficient for air mobility reach on the South American continent. In conjunction with the aforementioned CSL, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands offer viable en route locations capable of supporting theater mobility requirements.

Both San Juan and Henry Rohlsen International Airports have resident Air National Guard facilities that currently support mobility operations into South America. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have two of the largest sea ports in the Caribbean, minutes away from their respectiveinternational airports facilitating intermodal operations.

Finally, AMC should work closely with USTRANSCOM to establish contracts or agreements with commercial concerns for contingency fuel and aircraft support at airfields in more southern reaches of the continent.

USSOUTHCOM, in an attempt to assist with access to Africa, has postulated that Cayenne, French Guiana, could serve as a possible CSL for an intermediate fuel stop between the CONUS and Ascension.

USSOUTHCOM has also considered access to the airport at Recife, Brazil. A C-17 could depart from this location and, provided fuel is available when they land, cover approximately the same area as an unrefueled C-17 from Ascension. However, the political relationship with Brazil is not conducive to the necessary agreements. Therefore, we recommend that USSOUTHCOM continue to pursue access to the airfield at Cayenne, French Guiana.

Tenemos muchos "doble discursos" en nuestros países, la idea es que sean ustedes quienes juzguen lo que nos pasa, qué es lo que somos (o queremos ser) y a qué nos enfrentamos.