US to continue military aid to Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

US to continue military aid to Colombia
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 07:34
Alice Boyd

The United States defense secretary guaranteed the continuation of military aid to Colombia Tuesday, along with military and logistical support, under the controversial Plan Colombia.

The U.S. government made the affirmations during a meeting between Colombia's Defense Minister, Juan Carlos Pinzon, and the U.S. Defense Minister, Leon Panetta, in Washington.

As the main United States alley in the region, the presence of U.S. military personnel and advisers has been constant in an ongoing battle against insurgency and drug trafficking.

U.S. Defense Minister Panetta expressed support for the role that Colombia can play in providing regional security cooperation and combating drug trafficking, particularly in Central America.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/20474-us-to-continue-military-aid-to-colombia.html

[cqo_000]

1. Colombia's military continues to kill civilians: NGO

Tuesday, 15 November 2011 17:55
Miriam Wells


In a report due to be released November 21, the Center of Investigation and Popular Education (Cinep) recounts details of 961 new allegations of 'false positives' - a term used to describe the Colombian military killing civilians then passing them off as guerrillas to inflate their success rate.

Nine are reported to have taken place since Juan Manuel Santos assumed the Colombian presidency.

Santos told media in March that the "issue of false positives was gone," and that "there has not been a single false positive case since October 2008."

But Cinep says of the 961 new allegations it has documented, which took place between 1988 and 2011, nine happened since Santos took office.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/20468-false.html