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News From the House International Relations Committee
Rep. Gilman, the chair of this committee, is one of the leading lights in the GOP warmonger camp. He is one of the guys who is dead set on getting US-funded helicopters to Colombia. That was all he could talk about at the last hearings: the choppers. This guy has bloody hands!
FARC: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Very brief outline of FARC, the main rebel force that Pres. Pastrana ceded a chunk of Colombia recently to, and that the US Government accuses of running the drug trade.
Is Colombia Lost To Rebels?
Here is an example of the US prohibitionist propaganda view, whereby writing of the guerrillas as nearly being the only players in the region, conveniently leaving out the fact that it is the paramilitaries, right-wing groups which are most usually working with the Colombian military, who get the cocaine and heroin to the boats, and planes, and the profits into the pockets of those in control of the cartels.
US General Rushes To Colombia
A short article (August 5th, 1999) on the situation in Colombia during late 1999. Good overview, published by the 'Workers World News Service'.
10 Million March For Peace In Colombia
An article on the Colombian demonstrations held on Monday 25th October, 1999, against the US intervention in their civil war. Scroll down the page to see the notice for the subsequent November 4th, 1999 demonstration in Washington DC, and to the bottom of the page for an editorial on the subject.
Contradictory US Policies Could Dampen Peace Hopes
A revealing look at the contradictions in the current policies towards Colombia. The war must go on it seems, if we leave it up to the Pentagon and to US government law enforcement agencies. The Colombian people would love to experience peace, after 30 years of civil war, but the Drug Warriors won't make as much money on peace, so . . . .
Drug Control: The Narcotics Threat From Colombia Continues to Grow
The odd thing about these Government Accounting Office Reports is that if you read between the lines, and really pay attention, you will find a surprising amount of truth. This July 1999 report admits that even with steadily increased spending by the US, over the last three years in particular, Colombia's cocaine production and poppy growing have risen exponentially along with the US anti-drug military aid and spending. Yet McCaffrey wants to spend even more, and will.
A Mysterious Plane Crash Highlights Covert US Operations
Another look at the mysterious spy plane that crashed, and what is was possibly up to flying over the Colombian jungles.
Embassy Drug Probe Widens
Laurie Hiett, wife of US Army Col. James Hiett (who was in charge of US anti-drug operations in Colombia), was arrested this past summer, (1999), for shipping cocaine through the US Embassy mail service, as it could clear customs without being checked, or she thought. Now the embassy probe is widening, with as many as eight to ten people possibly being eventually implicated in the scandal. Is it any wonder that the US has not won it's war on drugs?
Colombia: The Next Guatemala?
Perceptive article from Alexander Cockburn and Jeffery St. Clair's 'Counterpunch' political newsletter on the coming war in Guatemala.
US Investigating Bogota Embassy Staff
This Reuters article (August 14th, 1999) was written when it was still thought that Laurie had been mailing cocaine, not heroin. It was still being reported on BBC world news (January 28th, 2000) that it was cocaine, but it has been known for quite some time that it was actually heroin, yet not widely reported. There are complicated reasons for the misrepresentation, involving who it is in Bogota that deals in heroin, signifying to the US just exactly who it was that got that close to the wife of the head of US anti-drug efforts in Colombia then. US officials would rather this kind of news not get around. So don't tell anybody!
Colombia's Powder Keg
This 'Salon' magazine article (October 8th, 1999) details the Senate 'Foreign Relations Committee' hearings regarding the Colombian civil war and drug trafficking allegations.
Chaos In Colombia
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 19th, 1999) by Matthew Yeomans investigates links between U'wa Indians, murdered environmentalists, and the Colombian civil war.
Don't Go Near The Mountains
This 'Salon' magazine article (February 18th, 1999) by Dawn MacKeen is a firsthand 'narco-tour' travelogue from Cali, Colombia.
Colonel Knew Of Wife's Drug Dealing
This 'Orange County Register' article (April 4th, 2000) briefly notes the fact that the head of US anti-drug operations, as well as all the US military operations in Colombia until late 1999, knew his wife was dealing with some of the very top drug dealers in Colombia, as she was shipping heroin, which only very few can get in the amounts she was shipping!
Is US Fighting Drugs Or Guerrillas In Colombia?
'Media Awareness Project' listed article by Paul de la Garza ('Seattle Times') on the US involvement in the civil war in Colombia. Considers the role of the Colombian military and right-wing paramilitary, under the excuse that the US is assisting there to fight drugs.
Jungle Crash, Policy Crash
Another article at the MAP site (originally from the 2 August 1999 'Washington Post'). Examines how the US is giving aid directly to the military and the national police in Colombia, bypassing the administration of Pres. Pastrana. It is difficult to control your country if the money is not controlled by the government, but by its armed forces. Ripe situation for a future Colombian military coup d'etat, though it may be a more convenient scenario for the armed forces to remain positioned in the background as they are now, behind the legitimate government.
Human Rights Watch Report On Colombia: 1999
The most recent report from 'Human Rights Watch' shows that while the guerrillas are implicated in 17% of the 619 political killings in the first half of 1998, the Colombian state run forces are implicated in 10%, and the paramilitary, which work very closely with the military in Colombia, are responsible for 73% of the killings. The paramilitary units (gangs) do not get the press that FARC often gets in the US, but it is the paramilitaries who get the coca, and the heroin, and other drugs from the fields to the coasts of Colombia. FARC only controls the fields, taxing the farmers, not the shipping.
Colombia 's Killer Networks: The Military-Paramilitary Partnership And The United States
This 'Human Rights Watch' report (November, 1996) detailing the cooperation between the military and the armed thugs (civilians who work with them to rob, intimidate, and kill suspected leftists, rebels and the rest of the Colombian poor). This report goes into great length to show that the CIA and the US military have known of rights abuses by military units and their puppet right-wing ruffians, yet have still helped with money and supplies, which is about par for the course.
America's Dirty War In Colombia
Great September 1998 article on US covert assistance to the Colombian military in the form of Special Forces units, soldiers-of-fortune, and equipment. The US has been getting itself deeper and deeper into the quagmire once again, in another jungle covered mountainous region, with a behind the scenes vengeance.
The Geopolitical Drugs Dispatch: Index Americas
These guys have got information on drugs around the world, who's moving them, who is growing them, who is shipping them, at least up until 1995. They don't seem to be updating anymore, but still very worth the visit.
Wife Says Anti-Drug Colonel Knew Nothing
Boy is this indicative of the entire anti-drug prohibitionist side of the argument: They Know Nothing. Obviously their families do though, like Laurie Hiett here, who just pleaded guilty in New York City (January 27th, 2000), to smuggling 2 1/2 POUNDS of HEROIN through the US Embassy's post office in Bogota, Colombia. When her husband asked her why she was going to New York City, she replied, "Don't ask me." That would have satisfied me, oh yeah, sure!
Colonel's Wife Pleads Guilty To Drug Charges
Here's another take on the good Colonel Hiett's wife, who kept her 'Drug Warrior' husband in the dark about the fact that she was traveling back and forth from Bogota to New York City to collect drug money, and that she was even doing drug apparently. She told the judge that she had quit since her arrest, so I guess that means that she is better now, and doesn't deserve the same treatment her husband helps met out every day, or did until getting transferred.
The Chauffeur, Cocaine, And The Colonel's Wife
Note the very detailed reference to the "15.8 lbs. pure cocaine," that must have already been known at this point to be heroin. Still, this is an informative article, showing that it was the chauffeur, who is still at the time of Hiett's guilty plea last week still on the run, that gave her the packages to mail. Just who Jorge Alfonso Ayala really is, or was, and who he really worked for is not being spoken of. I wonder why!
Opium Crop Rose 23 Percent Last Year, CIA Tells US Senate
Despite the drastic increases in aerial spraying campaigns, lots more money, and lots more military aid of one type or another from the US to Colombia, the Opium crop there has risen 23 percent in the period covering 1998-1999. This is so remarkably similar to the situation in Afghanistan that it is almost eerie. In 2000 the Drug Warriors were pushing for a US$1.6 billion dollar 'aid' package to the region around Colombia. This is great. Give them a lot of money, so their military can turn around and use that money to buy neat weapons from US companies, so they can take over the poppy and coca fields, thereby getting rid of the last protection the peon has against all out, total repression. Not that FARC are much better than the rest down there, but still, FARC isn't flying the loads of cocaine and heroin into the US, or even out of Colombia.
McConnell Questions Aid Plan To Fight Drugs In Colombia
The more the administration spends in Colombia, the more coca is grown, said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who has grave questions as to how similar this whole Colombia thing looks more and more like Vietnam all the time.
Don't Aid Colombian Rights Abusers, US Urged
The international organization 'Human Rights Watch' has turned in a graphic report on the extent of human right abuse that is going on in Colombia, mainly by the government troops and the right-wing paramilitary units allied with them. HRW is pleading with the US government not to support these monsters.
Colombian Army Tied To Abuses
Here is another look at the 'Human Rights Watch' report, compiled with the support and assistance of Colombian prosecutors. There are honest people everywhere, but unfortunately, they seem way outnumbered in places like this!
Promoting Disputed Aid Package, US Drug Czar Visits Colombia
Outside of Washington, I can't find anyone that believes the drug war makes any sense. People just laugh at it, said Robert White, former US Ambassador to El Salvador who believes that the aid package is a thin pretext for fighting the guerillas. Drug Czar McCaffrey was down in Colombia in late February 2000, watching anti-drug battalion troops that US troops may just have to go in and fight one day, if past history is any indication, what with all the troops, specially vetted and all, who have been trained by the US, and then turned to the much lucrative drug trade to supplement their meager military pay. It looks as though there are those in the 'Secret Team' (coined by Fletcher Prouty) who are actively working to produce an enemy that our military can get a good fight out of. Of course, this is merely speculation, and I have no real proof of this, yet . . .
The Active Army
Dan Russell has updated the chapter 'The Active Army' in his brilliant book 'Drug War, Covert Money, Power, and Policy', dealing with the Colombia situation and how it relates to the US arms industry, and the Drug War prohibition industry, which more and more these days are nearly indistinguishable from one another. This is a must read, if you want to know what is really going on in Colombia, and contains behind-the-scenes revelations in the US.
US Certifies Colombia And Mexico In Drug War
Regardless of the obvious rampant corruption and crime, the overwhelming amounts of drug flowing across the borders from both Colombia and Mexico in the eager, waiting hands of the consumerist Americans, Clinton hails each counties' efforts in fighting the evil scourge of drugs. What a crock. Here's Drug Czar McCaffrey, putting his foot in it again: " 'If this is a charade,' he said, referring to Mexico's counter-drug efforts, 'it's the most expensive one I've ever seen.'" And he should know!
Mexico, Colombia Pass Test For Drug Fighting Efforts
The list of all the countries the US gives money to and 'certifies' as cooperating partners in the Drug War, thereby qualifying them for all kinds of assistance, financial, and military. But the crops just keep growing, the drugs keep flowing, and the prisons just keep getting built.
Pentagon To Colombian Military: Sooo-Eeeee
Take a look at where most of the US$1.6 billion dollar aid package, supposedly for anti-drug efforts in Colombia and the surrounding countries, is really going. No wonder there are these bloody, decades-long wars going on about the world. Arms merchants need to put bread on their tables too. Naturally!
U.S. Colonel Is Implicated In Drug Case
This 'New York Times' article (April 4th, 2000) reveals that Col. Hiett, whose wife Laurie Ann was convicted of shipping heroin through the US Embassy in Bogota (Colombia) to New York City, has now admitted that he knew his wife was involved in illegal activity. He 'smurfed' her money around to different banks, depositing small amounts to try and hide the fact that he was depositing a rather large amount of cash.
Drug Czar McCaffrey Lays Some Facts On The Table
This short piece (April 23rd, 2000) by William Raspberry, a Pulitzer Award winning columnist out of Washington DC, interviewed General McCaffrey, and found out that even McCaffrey distinguishes between addicitive behavior, and casual inebrative behavior. But, as Raspberry points out, if this is so, why are we about to send US$1.7 billion to Colombia, mainly to help them buy lots more military death-machinery?
Weave Of Drugs And Strife In Colombia
This 'New York Times' special report (April 2st1, 2000) outlines the situation in Colombia, but seems to stress the need for giving the US$1.6 billion to Colombia. In this four part series, there is only one or two paragraphs loosely alluding to a US role int he problem, but nothing whatsoever about how our own CIA has been heavily involved in the global drug trade for years. Now "they" want us to give lots of our hard-earned money to fight the "narco-traffickers," the ones that are not supported by "our guys," but are rather the competition it seems. Read this for what is says though, not for what it doesn't, then make up your own mind. Lots of info here, and many links to other articles on the subject!
Drug Control Of Bio-warfare?
The US tacked on, through warmonger/prohibitionist Rep. Ben. Gilman's efforts, an amendment to the 'emergency' aid package to Colombia the stipulation that Colombia utilize a toxic herbicidal fungus on its opium and coca crops. One Colombian doctor has pointed out that it will have serious effects upon those with lowered immune systems, like the undernourished native Indians of the region. Florida has stopped its own plans to use these herbicidal funguses due to the dangers involved, but its ok to force Colombia to use this poison. What kinds of monsters are in charge of this Prohibitoin/Drug war? Are they really this insane? That is a rhetorical question, as it is obvious that they are!
McCaffrey's Brain On Drugs
This article (June, 2000) by Paul Rako is from the 'Liberty Foundation', which I've never heard of. All I can say really is I really wish, deep in my heart, that I had written this article. I certainly recommend it for any American who wants to get a good look at the idiotic insanity of General Barry McCaffrey, head psychopath of the US at the moment, or at least, head prohibitionist psychopath at the moment. What an evil man McCaffrey is, and what a great job Paul here does of pointing that out! What a putz!
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