MIM Notes 210                   May 15, 2000

Capitalists lobby for aid to Colombia

The defense contractor Lockheed Martin has come up with new ways 
to increase its influence on the u.s. legislature. Concerned about 
the military aid package to Colombia which recently passed the 
House of Representatives (March 30) and is being considered by the 
Senate, Lockheed Martin commissioned an opinion poll by the 
Mellman Group to show that Democrats are seen as weak on the drug 
issue.

Lockheed Martin makes P-3 radar planes used to track drug 
smugglers and has been a strong proponent of increased funding for 
the "drug war" because this would mean big business for the 
company. Some Democrats have opposed the funding for Colombia so 
Lockheed Martin hoped to influence them by paying for a poll which 
concluded that 56% of the electorate would support a $2 billion 
increase in funding for "tracking planes to be flown in drug 
producing areas."

At the same time other defense contractors have been stepping up 
lobbying efforts. United Technologies Corporation, maker of the 
Black Hawk helicopter used in the so-called war on drugs, shifted 
from a strategy of donating to Republicans to pay out $125,000 to 
Democratic committees, depositing $75,000 on December 31, 1999, 
just 11 days before the Colombia aid package was announced.(See 
MIM Notes #206 for an article on other United Technologies 
congressional bribery for Colombian aid.)

As MIM repeatedly points out, capitalist corporations and the 
imperialist system of government are not separate entities. They 
are very much a part of one another. The capitalists pick out and 
finance their representatives in government. And the government 
then acts in the interests of the capitalist corporations. 
Sometimes the capitalist corporations compete over strategy and 
over who gets the most money. When this happens the corporation 
that pays the most money to influence the government usually wins. 
This is why we know that grassroots lobbying efforts by the people 
will never beat out the financial payoffs of the imperialist 
corporations to gain significant influence over the u.s. 
government.

Notes: Weekly News Update on the Americas, Issue #531, April 2, 
2000. Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 
Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012. wnu@igc.org.