Post by POA on Mar 28, 2004 16:11:17 GMT -5
article | Posted March 23, 2004
Terror in Colombia
An Instrument of 'Free Trade' Policy?
by Bill Weinberg
In March 5, Colombia's President, Alvaro Uribe, met with Florida Governor Jeb Bush at a Coral Gables business forum. (personal emphasis-not author's) He pledged that lawless armed groups are being dismantled, that stability for foreign investors is around the corner--and that bilateral talks can ensue on his country joining the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Among those who buy Uribe's line is Colin Powell. On January 21 the US State Department certified Colombia's compliance with human rights conditions, officially releasing $34 million in military aid. The certification is the eighth since Congress established conditions on the aid, requiring Colombia's army to break ties to illegal paramilitary groups, arrest their leaders and suspend officers implicated in rights abuses.
Just ten days before State's declaration, paramilitaries killed three campesinos at the community of La Ratonera in the conflicted Cimitarra Valley, rights observers say. One elderly man was publicly tortured and a woman was raped. Survivors at the village said army troops recognized from nearby battalions were among the gunmen.
Another village, Pozo Azul, in Sur de Bolivar, was nearly destroyed in January when it was seized by paramilitaries--the inhabitants were used as "human shields" in a battle with the guerrillas. Several homes went up in flames as fierce fighting swept through the hamlet.
[rest at link]
Quick question-when did the American government actually start aiding the Colombian government militarily (well, openly, anyway).
