USAID pulls out of Colombia's south

[Judi Lynn]

Sept. 9, 2006, 11:44PM
USAID pulls out of Colombia's south
Officials say rebel strongholds too dangerous but some call it choice of force over help

By JOHN OTIS
South America Bureau

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Although the southern jungles of Colombia are ground zero for the war against Marxist guerrillas and cocaine traffickers, a U.S.-backed program to persuade some of the region's drug farmers to switch to legal crops has been suspended.

In southern Caqueta state, a longtime rebel stronghold, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has pulled out of the campaign because the region lacked economic potential and was considered too dangerous for the agency's workers, according to a Colombian government memo.

The program, jointly administered by the U.S. and Colombia, was one of several alternative-development projects to wean peasant farmers from drug crops and steer them into legal livelihoods ranging from fish-farming to pineapple-growing.

Between now and 2008, nearly all of the State Department agency's $70 million annual budget for alternative development in Colombia will be channeled to more secure areas where the programs have a better shot at success.
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4175189.html

[Kutjara]

1. Gee, I guess the farmers weren't stupid enough to fall...

...for the old 'cash-crop' slavery gag again. You know the one I mean, get them growing pineapples or farming fish in huge amounts, drive the price through the floor and then exploit the hell out of the farmers. I think they've been there, done that, and have a wardrobe full of T-shirts to prove it.

"No thank you Senor Americano, we'll stick to growing a crop that's in huge demand in America; one that your own government's hysterical anti-drug policies will ensure commands a premium price for decades to come. Muchas Gracias and Buenos Noches."

[Judi Lynn]

2. Colombia backs military after "rebel" bomb scandal

Colombia backs military after "rebel" bomb scandal
Fri Sep 8, 2006 6:53pm ET

By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia defended its military on Friday as officials investigated two soldiers suspected of orchestrating a deadly car bombing against fellow troops and staging bomb discoveries to claim rewards for thwarting guerrilla plots.

The probe of the two army officers is the latest crisis to rattle the armed forces, which have spearheaded President Alvaro Uribe's campaign against left-wing rebels while fending off criticism over human rights abuses.

"Our information is that only two officers were involved and this is a single case, it is a not a general trend," Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters.


Santos said investigators believed the men had set up the mock attacks to get cash given to informants who provide details on suspected rebel activity.

The car bombing near a Bogota army barracks killed one man and wounded 15 troops just days before Uribe was sworn in for a second term last month. Army officials said at the time they had intercepted several suspected rebel bombs.

Officials initially blamed the car bomb on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's largest rebel group whose 17,000 fighters still control parts of rural Colombia despite the success of Uribe's crackdown.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-08T225349Z_01_N08423670_RTRUKOC_0_US-COLOMBIA-MILITARY.xml&archived=False

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You may remember recently reading the paramilitaries have been found dressing villagers they had killed to look like rebels, and giving reports they had been killed in battles with them.

"Framing" others for their own crimes doesn't seem to be all that rare there, after all.