US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), has called for a reappraisal of American aid to Colombia after the arrest of five Colombian lawmakers in a scandal involving paramilitary death squads (source).
Diminishing Support
US support for Colombia has been considered a near certainty under President Alvaro Uribe’s administration since his election in 2002. With a widening scandal connecting Uribe’s closest supporters to paramilitary groups, however, skepticism of Uribe’s government is mounting in the US Congress, leading to closer scrutiny of a proposed aid package and free-trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia. Bush administration officials have asked Congress for US$586 million in mostly military aid for Colombia in fiscal year 2008. Additionally, the US-Colombia FTA, signed in 2006, is pending US congressional approval. Colombia has, thus far, received approximately US$4.7 billion since the start of Plan Colombia in 2000, an extensive aid package designed to defoliate coca and erode support for Marxist rebels. The proposed second phase of Plan Colombia is estimated to be US$3.8 billion over seven years (2007 through 2013).
Uribe’s cabinet has planned on spending US$44 billion to help the state take control of its unruly countryside, relying on a heavy infusion of aid from Washington. However, Colombia’s goals are in question, now, in what appears to be a loss of confidence in Uribe’s government.
Infiltrating the Establishment
Numerous Uribe-allied federal lawmakers have been jailed, accused of conspiring with former United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) leaders who are accused of terrorizing the country since the 1980s, while also shipping tons of cocaine to the US. The AUC has killed or tortured civilians suspected of supporting Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN), but AUC factions have recently focused on drug trafficking, extorting local officials, and intimidating politicians and voters.
Links between the AUC and politicians allied with the Uribe administration were revealed in early 2006 when authorities seized a computer and electronic records belonging to Rodrigo Tovar, known as “Jorge 40”, detailing government contracts with AUC, drug trade records, and AUC ties to elected political officials.
The accused Colombian politicians include two senators, a representative, a former congresswoman from Sucre province, and Senator Alvaro Araújo (brother of Uribe’s former Foreign Minister María Consuelo Araújo). While nearly all of the politicians under indictment or suspicion are Uribe supporters, the President is not directly implicated. In addition, dozens of other political figures, including mayors, governors, and members of Colombia’s foreign service, have also been implicated in the “parapolitician scandal” (source).
The Truth Hurts: Plan Colombia Results
Colombia continues to produce enough cocaine to meet world demand, and despite a demobilization that started in 2003, AUC factions still thrive, with new criminal forces killing rivals, union leaders, and peasants while battling leftists for control of the drug market.
The Organization of American States (OAS) issued a report on February 22 documenting the remobilization of AUC units under some 22 new criminal organizations with a total of some 3,000 members, controlled by former AUC leaders. Former AUC paramilitary boss Salvatore Mancuso estimated that 5,000 of his former fighters have again take up arms and are seeking control of drug trafficking routes and enterprises. OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, called on the Colombian government to strengthen its programs to reintegrate demobilized members of the AUC into society to prevent their rearmament and to “advance a more permanent peace process” in Colombia (source).
Regionally, Plan Colombia’s systematic fumigation of coca plants along its shared southwestern border has caused Ecuadorian officials to increase border patrols to prevent Colombian planes and soldiers from entering sovereign territory. Air interdiction programs have heightened diplomatic tensions. The Ecuadorian government has authorized limited spraying but is concerned about environmental and physical effects caused by the pesticides being used.
A Look Forward
Uribe needs US funds to continue his fight against drug traffickers and militant activities. US Democratic lawmakers emphasize the protection of human rights while Republican counterparts view economic and military ties as the cornerstone of the US-Colombia relationship. Uribe’s internal political troubles, combined with increasing AUC activity and the government’s inability to eliminate this threat, pose a challenge to the US-Colombia relationship. Democratic lawmakers will pressure Uribe to clean up his political establishment while including additional scrutiny and demands for accountability before funds are appropriated or the FTA is approved. Consequently US businesses already in Colombia could see negative effects because of a US withdrawal of monetary support in accordance with Uribe’s ties to the AUC. Government instability could translate into economic lulls, especially with a loss of US support, due to Colombia’s position as the the US’s fifth-largest export market in Latin America. The economy would certainly suffer and instability for all businesses established therein could become a harsh reality.
