Reply #3: Colombia: Using the US Military to Boost Investor Confidence

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia: Using the US Military to Boost Investor Confidence

• Bush overhauled US policy on Colombia to allow military aid (previously allocated exclusively for anti-narcotics operations) to be used by Colombia's military directly against guerilla groups.
  
  
• Bush dispatched US Special Forces operatives and slated $98 million to train and equip Colombian soldiers to guard pipelines and facilitate oil exploration largely for US-based companies. 10
  
  
• Bush praised Colombia's military, which is accused of human rights abuses and cooperation with paramilitary death squads. In fact, paramilitary activity has increased dramatically in areas patrolled by US and Colombian troops: rates of civilian deaths and forced displacement have nearly doubled under Bush's policy and record numbers of people have been disappeared.11
  
  
• Threatening to withdraw military aid, Bush bullied Colombia and over 90 other countries into signing an agreement to guarantee US citizens immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.* Bush thus severely undermined efforts to hold Colombia's government (and many others) accountable to international law protecting the rights of civilians in war zones.
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http://www.madre.org/articles/int/confrontingthebushagenda.html