Last week’s post on U.S. support for atrocities in Colombia was unfortunately vague on exactly how much tangible support we give, and if you heard my conversation with Scott Horton on Antiwar Radio I drastically misspoke when I tried to recall annual U.S. aid to Colombia. To clarify, the U.S. has given almost $3 billion to the Colombian government since 2007, making it one of the highest recipients even compared to Middle Eastern tyrannies. For fiscal year 2012, over $400 million is allocated to Colombia.
Of course, this is merely in addition to the billions of dollars military and law enforcement training, arms and equipment sales, etc., data for which can be viewed here, with official U.S. documentation.
For additional reading on an issue left out of my previous post (that is, besides rising massacres of the civilian population, elaborate and embedded government corruption and collusion with paramilitaries, support for a military that dressed slaughtered innocents in enemy clothing in response to official policy, perpetuating the underground drug trade, chemical warfare, etc.) see this report reviewing widespread illegal spying practices by Colombia’s intelligence agencies.
