As I sit here on the eve of the U.S. elections, I can recall only
one exchange of opinions on Colombia between the Presidential candidates . Since the economy was the major concern of the campaigns, Colombia was pulled into one of the debates because of the pending Free Trade Agreements between the two countries.
But recently, very disturbing news has come from the southern ally: Twenty–seven officials from the Colombian army, including high ranking ones,
have been sacked by President Uribe , because of their links to disappearances and extrajudicial executions of civilians. Colombian human rights organizations have documented more then 500 killings by the army since the beginning of 2007. It is therefore very worrisome that those officers were trained by the U.S. Army and that they were leading units directed supported with U.S. taxpayers’ money.
According to a reliable Colombian non-governmental organization,
CODHES , more than 250,000 Colombians have fled their residences because of violence in the first six month of 2008, an average of 1,500 people per day. That’s the highest number of people registered as displaced since 2002. In total, the number of displaced people in Colombia has reached 4 million, or 8% of the country’s population. This is the equivalent to 25 million Americans in the United States, more than the entire population of Texas. And yet, officials of the Colombian government continue to assert that “Displacement is categorically on the decrease,” trying to indicate that the situation is improving.
These are just two examples that signal how the U.S. policy towards Colombia has to be reconsidered. The U.S. has invested six billion dollars into Colombia since 2000, mostly for military and police aid. Yet, despite some military gains and increased security in major urban centers, there are far too many failures: the production of cocaine is unchanged, human rights abuses continue at a high rate, the FARC and new or reorganized paramilitary groups ruthlessly terrorize communities and force thousands from their homes.
Although the situation in Colombia is complex and there is no quick fix, the Washington based non-governmental advocacy community has
recently published a comprehensive analysis and related recommendations for how the U.S. should reshape its policies towards Colombia. Ultimately, the aim of U.S. cooperation should be to help Colombia protect the rights of its own citizens through inclusive civilian governance. This fact, along with the other recommendations in the new report, should definitely be considered seriously by any new Administration.
