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Trump's new ambassador to Colombia was once expelled from Bolivia
Philip Goldberg was accused of fomenting dissent in 2008
Conservative will oversee vast military aid budget/
Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá
@joeparkdan
Thu 2 May 2019 12.15 EDT
Donald Trump has nominated a controversial career diplomat who was once expelled from Bolivia as the new US ambassador to Colombia, in a move that is likely to raise eyebrows across Latin America.
. . .
Goldberg had provoked the Bolivian president’s fury by meeting with members of the rightwing opposition; the US denied Morales’s accusations and expelled Bolivia’s envoy to Washington in response.
Unlike Bolivia, which has been governed by Morales since 2006, Colombia has long been a staunch ally of the US, which views it as a bulwark against leftwing governments across the region.
. . .
Beginning in 2000, the US provided Colombia with nearly $10bn in aid – dubbed Plan Colombia – 71% of which went to Colombian security forces. Watchdogs say that rather than help Colombia win on the battlefield, Plan Colombia intensified a wave of paramilitary violence that victimized more than 6 million people.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/02/trump-philip-goldberg-colombia-ambassador-bolivia
