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Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Plan Colombia

From "Washington Votes for War in Colombia," by Bill Weinberg in The Nation (19 Oct 2004):

The Western Hemisphere's longest, bloodiest war has become an invisible one, pushed from the headlines by the ongoing crisis in Iraq. But Washington's involvement in Colombia--which the United Nations calls the worst humanitarian disaster in the Americas, and one of the worst in the world after Congo and Darfur --is rapidly escalating.

The United States has plowed $3.3 billion in mostly military aid into Colombia since "Plan Colombia" was passed in 2000--making it the third-greatest recipient of Washington's largesse after Israel and Egypt. Since 9/11 the focus of Plan Colombia has quietly shifted from a counternarcotics campaign to a crusade against "terrorism." And now the number of US forces on the ground is set to double.

Plan Colombia related links:

• Institute for Policy Studies (IPS): Drug Policy
• IPS stories from the war against labor unionists in Colombia: Adora Pena
• IPS stories from the war against labor unionists in Colombia: Yolanda Matilde Plazas Ondes
• US Dept of State: Plan Colombia
• "Failed 'Plan' in Colombia," by Peter Clark in The Nation (31 July 2003)