U.S. may lift sanctions aimed at Latin American nations

WASHINGTON
U.S. sanctions against a dozen Latin American nations came under fire from key lawmakers Tuesday, the strongest signal yet that Congress and the White House are having second thoughts about punishing nations that refuse to shield Americans from International Criminal Court jurisdiction.

The statements came as U.S. officials hinted that the sanctions, deeply resented in Latin America as a U.S. imposition, may be waived.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, John McCain, R-Ariz., James Inhofe, R-Okla., John Warner, R-Va., Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., spoke out against military aid cuts that have affected countries like Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

These nations have refused to sign bilateral deals, known as Article 98 agreements, that exempt U.S. subjects from ICC jurisdiction.

McCain said the United States was paying "a very heavy price" in the countries where the programs have been cut and proposed looking into an amendment easing the sanctions in a $91 billion supplemental bill to finance hurricane assistance and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Clinton said she hoped a reconsideration of the sanctions was "on a fast track."

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Warner and the ranking democrat Levin said they would jointly contact the State Department and the Department of Defense to see how the sanctions could be rolled back.

Before traveling to Chile to attend the inauguration of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week said the sanctions were "sort of the same as shooting ourselves in the foot." In Santiago, she met with Bolivian President Evo Morales, who has complained about U.S. cuts in military aid.

Gen. Bantz Craddock, the head of U.S. Southern Command, reiterated his concerns over the sanctions in the Senate hearing, noting the sanctions had "unintended consequences."

"If we are not there, if we can't provide this opportunity, someone else will," he said. "We see more and more military (Latin American) commanders and officers going to China for education and training. We see more and more Chinese nonlethal equipment showing up in the region."

Besides cutting back in training funds, the United States is slated this year to slash $24 million from the Economic Support Fund - a development fund managed by the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development - to several Latin American nations that have joined the Hague-based ICC.

Rice has said that the sanctions are being looked at on a case-by-case basis for a possible waiver and a government official, who requested anonymity because the issue was being hotly debated in the administration, said there was a "a possibility" that several Latin American nations may get waivers.