Enough! Accounting and Remembering the Long War in Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

3. It was initiated by Bill Clinton. I haven't learned anything re: Kissinger,

regarding Plan Colombia, but it stands to reason he's on call to any President ruthless enough to consult him, and Plan Colombia is still ongoing, from all I've seen, no public calls of any strength to end it, yet.

Amnesty International:

U.S. Policy in Colombia


Amnesty International USA has been calling for a complete cut off of US military aid to Colombia for over a decade due to the continued collaboration between the Colombian Armed Forces and their paramilitary allies as well the failure of the Colombian government to improve human rights conditions.

Colombia has been one of the largest recipients of US military aid for well over a decade and the largest in the western hemisphere. Since 1994, AIUSA has called for a complete cut off of all US military aid until human rights conditions improve and impunity is tackled. Yet torture, massacres, "disappearances" and killings of non-combatants are widespread and collusion between the armed forces and paramilitary groups continues to this day. In 2006, US assistance to Colombia amounted to an estimated $728 million, approximately 80% of which was military and police assistance.

"Plan Colombia" -- the name for the US aid package since 2000, was created as a strategy to combat drugs and contribute to peace, mainly through military means. The US government began granting large amounts of aid to Colombia in 2000 under the Clinton administration. Since the beginning of Plan Colombia, the US has given Colombia over $5 billion with the vast majority going to Colombia's military and police. These amounts are significantly higher than what is being given in economic and social assistance.

In addition to its call for a cut off of aid, AIUSA has supported the inclusion of a human rights "certification" provision in US aid packages for Colombia that require the Secretary of State to certify Colombia's progress on human rights criteria before aid can be distributed. The criterion includes suspension of military personnel who have aided or abetted paramilitary organizations, apprehension of leaders of paramilitary organizations, as well as others. While these provisions originally applied to 100% of U.S. security assistance to Colombia, Congress has changed the provision so it now only applies to the last 25% of U.S. assistance.

Despite overwhelming evidence of continued failure to protect human rights the State Department has continued to certify Colombia as fit to receive aid. The US has continued a policy of throwing "fuel on the fire" of already widespread human rights violations, collusion with illegal paramilitary groups and near total impunity.

Furthermore, after 10 years and over $8 billion dollars of US assistance to Colombia, US policy has failed to reduce availability or use of cocaine in the US, and Colombia's human rights record remains deeply troubling. Despite this, the State Department continues to certify military aid to Colombia, even after reviewing the country?s human rights record.

More:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/countries/americas/colombia/us-policy-in-colombia

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There's a great deal of information available on Plan Colombia, and none of it seems good, from anything I've read, yet. There's a huge wall of links to study, going into unbelievable human rights violations, the murders of innocents, children, old people, women, innocents of all ages who are completely unaffiliated with the drug war, helpless, frightened people with no where to hide, and it all gets ignored, whitewashed, and untouched by corporate media since the formal position is to continue it.

Hope there will be someone who sees your post who has personal experience regarding Plan Colombia. I do know there are Colombian people who moved to the U.S. years ago to escape the violence for their families' sake, and are completely unlikely to return.