Citizen-Based Global Affairs AgendasHalting U.S. Military Involvement in ColombiaCitizen groups charge that two different U.S. policy approaches--its three-decades-long war on drugs, and its practice of military intervention in Latin America--have intersected in U.S. support for military solutions to the political, economic, and security crises in Colombia. The effort to reduce or halt U.S. military aid is led by Latin American policy advocates, while also being backed by the strong support of drug policy reformers and military reformers. Environmental groups have also joined the movement, based on their concerns about the ecological damage resulting from U.S.-driven crop eradication programs. Among the major concerns of this emerging movement are that rising U.S. aid will increase human rights abuses by the Colombian military, police, and paramilitary units, and that this aid will more deeply involve the U.S. in the highly conflicted politics of Colombia while doing nothing to address the country's structural problems. Rather than annual military funding packages, citizen groups advocate a range of alternate aid programs that would aid displaced Colombians, support crop substitution, promote equitable rural development, and advance judicial reform. A common demand is that the U.S. Congress enforce and strengthen the Leahy Amendment, which restricts U.S. military aid to proven human rights abusers. While there is recognition that there are no easy solutions to Colombia's grave internal problems, there is also a widespread conviction that bringing U.S. military aid and its war on drugs to Colombia only aggravate the crisis. Back to Citizen-Based Global Affairs Agenda Index
Sources for More Information about Colombia:Center for International Policy Colombia Human Rights Network Colombia Report Latin America Working Group Peace Plan Colombia U.S. Colombia Coordinating Office Washington Office on Latin America
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