Are We Financing Terror?

Shakedown in Colombia, my mom's homeland and the destination for 700 million of our tax dollars every year to combat left-wing guerrillas.

Says the Washington Post: The political scandal that forced Colombia's foreign minister to quit and put other close allies of President Alvaro Uribe in jail is being driven in large part by a rebel-turned-senator who has defied death threats to become the opposition's most fearless provocateur.
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The following post might be a little long, so here are bullets:

-- On Monday, Colombia's foreign minister, Maria Consuelo Araujo, resigned following allegations that her brother and father were involved in dealings with murderous right wing militias.

-- The civil war in Colombia has pit leftist rebels against right wing paramilitary groups. Both groups have killed civilians indiscriminately in this 50+ year war.

-- Colombia is a staunch U.S. ally and receives $700 million in U.S.-aid every year to combat the guerrillas and there are concerns that some of the money may be funding paramilitary groups that are just as violent.

-- Charges that the Colombian government, up to the presidency, is in bed with the paramilitaries could be a huge blow for U.S./Colombian relations. W does not need another human rights crisis.


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Here's how things work in Colombia: since the 1950s, a period now referred to as "La Violencia," or The Violence, the country has been embroiled in a civil war that was sorta placated during the advent of the drug cartels in the late 70s through the 90s. Since then, after the druglords were killed or shipped off to jail here in the States, the armed forces of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC, Spanish acronym), have taken over the country's drug trade and have waged war on the country's established government. Kidnappings and bombings are the stock and trade of this group, who have kidnapped countless civilians and politicians and foreigners.

The Colombian government has relied on the support of the U.S. to combat the guerrillas and the country's current President, Alvaro Uribe, is BFF with W. In fact, in spite of his conservative views, people I spoke to in Colombia cited their president's amicable relationship with Washington as a huge win for the country.

However, as is the case with all U.S.-funded counter-insurgency movements, the situation in Colombia is fraught with human rights violations. In the fervor to weed out rebels, many innocent people have been killed by right wing paramilitary groups who gun down anyone suspected of having ties to the FARC. Some human rights groups claim the U.S. supports the paramilitaries, who by now have become a terrorist group of their own.

So what does this mean for U.S./Colombian relations now?

Our new democratic congress will rightfully demand more accountability from the Colombian government. Still, the problem remains that a war that has raged on for half a century can't be quelled with hundreds of millions of dollars. While this kinda sounds like the situation in Iraq, the situation in Colombia has shown remarkable signs of an upswing. The economy is growing, the country is even embracing gay rights, and Bogota is by far one of the most cosmopolitan and exciting cities in Latin America. With all of this potential harnessed into one place you have to wonder what the missing piece of the puzzle is for a nation so ravaged by war?

I guess money can't fix everything.