or their political patrons, and it appears you've probably been aware of it, or suspected.
Here's a good example of how funding gets around, from Colombia:
COLOMBIA: Farm Subsidy Scandal Exposes Corrupt Policies
By Helda Martínez
BOGOTA, Dec 30 2009 (IPS) - The Attorney General’s Office of Colombia is keeping a tight lid on developments in its investigation of 113 million dollars in farm subsidies handed out over the last three years to wealthy families, many of whom have no involvement in the agricultural sector whatsoever.
A total of 87 individuals have been questioned so far, including Ministry of Agriculture officials and recipients of the non-repayable, tax-free subsidies under the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) programme.
Many of these beneficiaries have made sizeable campaign contributions for the re-election of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe to a third term in office – pending the necessary amendment of the country’s constitution – and include model/actress and former Miss Colombia Válery Domínguez.
The scandal of the bogus subsidies, which is also being investigated by the Procuraduría General de la Nación (Office of the Inspector General), broke in September after the publication of an exposé in Cambio magazine.
According to repeated denunciations by peasant and indigenous communities, lawmakers, academics and non-governmental organisations, the magazine revealed, AIS funds have not only been disbursed to wealthy families with close ties to Uribe, but also to right-wing paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.
One of the harshest critics of the Uribe administration’s wrongdoings for many years has been Senator Jorge Robledo, a member of the left-leaning opposition party Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) and the Fifth Senate Committee, which is responsible for agriculture, the environment and natural resources.
In the heat of the AIS scandal, Robledo cited current Agriculture Minister Andrés Fernández for questioning by the Senate. Fernández replaced former minister Andrés Felipe Arias, a presidential hopeful who has been nicknamed “Uribito” (Little Uribe) for espousing the same political views as the country’s current leader.
More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/12/colombia-farm-subsidy-scandal-exposes-corrupt-policies/
I completely this is closer to the norm than anything else, and that it has been for ages.
Thanks.
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