Now is the time to stop exacerbating the conflict in Colombia, and start coming up with constructive plans for peace. One immediate solution is to end U.S. security aid to Colombia.

CHICAGO FLAME
Tuesday, 31 August 1999
 

A Dangerous Liaison The U.S.-Colombia Relationship 

By Jackson Potter

Colombia is the new darling of American foreign policy. In October of 1998 Congress gave Colombia a $289 million subsidy in security assistance -making it the third largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world. Members of the House, Senate and a variety of other governmental institutions have been consistently arguing for greater anti-narcotics, military and economic aid for Colombia, the latest being an aggressive lobbying campaign by US drug czar Barry McCaffrey asking the government to increase aid for Colombia to $600 million next year. Additionally in the works is a $3 billion dollar loan by the International Monetary Fund and a $2 billion dollar loan by the Inter-American Development bank to shore up Colombia's ailing economy.
 

In a recent visit by Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, he all but handed the Colombian government a blank check. Pickering insisted that fear of US military intervention in the region was ridiculous and unfounded, though he also said that the U.S. would increase all forms of aid if Colombian president Andres Pastrana asked for it.

On a recent visit to Colombia I had an opportunity to judge for myself if US policy was helpful for a country experiencing such incredible turmoil. As part of a Peace Brigades International delegation, I met with many nongovernmental human rights organizations, the vice president Gustavo Bell, military and police authorities, U.S. and Canadian embassies, and forcibly displaced communities in the North Eastern region of Uraba. As a result of witnessing links between the army and paramilitaries, hearing riveting testimony from Colombians who are politically persecuted by all the armed actors, and listening to statements made by U.S. and Colombian officials, I believe that U.S. involvement in the region is reckless, harmful and has direct negative consequences on its human rights situation.

While we were in Barrancabermeja, a city on the banks of the river Magdalena in the department of Santander, government officials and non-government organizations alike talked openly about extensive cooperation between the military and paramilitary. We also heard testimony from farmers and displaced communities that the infrastructure of Colombia is so inadequate that they can't ship their produce to market without it spoiling. On the other hand, coca (the plant that makes cocaine) is a durable and lucrative cash crop that eliminates those obstacles.
 

Mike Fitzpatrick, First Secretary of the U.S. embassy, commented on the precarious conditions of transit in the country saying that it took 4 hours by car to get into Bogota from 30 kilometers away (about 19 miles).

Unfortunately U.S. security aid to Colombia exceeds all of U.S. development aid to Latin America.

The U.S. war on drugs is more concerned with spraying toxic fumigants on drug crops and adding to the militarization of Colombian society to prevent a guerilla victory than it is about building roads for hungry farmers.

Both Mike Fitzpatrick and Drew Blakeny of the U.S. embassy told us that they have strong suspicions of paramilitary and military working together in regions like Norte de Santander and Uraba but they can't verify that information because its too dangerous to do field work.

The Leahy amendment passed by Congress a few years ago prevents the U.S. Government from funding military forces in Colombia found guilty of committing human rights abuses. According to Human Rights Watch, that eliminates 75% of the Colombian military from funding. Despite those restrictions, security aid and sales to Colombia continues unabated, and in some cases as the US embassy admits -it is unverifiable where that assistance ends up. It is becoming increasingly apparent that U.S. participation in this conflict isn't helping to end the flow of drugs, but rather is arming a group of thugs.

Now is the time to stop exacerbating the conflict in Colombia, and start coming up with constructive plans for peace. One immediate solution is to end U.S. security aid to Colombia.