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Thursday, May 17, 2007


 

Gambling in the (Colombian) casino


We're shocked, shocked I tell you:
Salvatore Mancuso, in an explosive judicial hearing, affirmed what human rights organizations have long claimed: that Colombia's top military commanders systematically colluded with the illegal militias. He also claimed that two conglomerates paid the paramilitaries.

Mancuso and about 60 other jailed warlords ordered the massacres of about 10,000 people over a period of about 10 years, beginning in the mid-1990s, according to Colombia's chief prosecutor. They also stole millions of acres of land.

Much of Colombia's political and economic class also benefited, and the warlords have begun to point fingers.
And the response from the Democrats, even the best of them like Jim McGovern?
Meanwhile, leading Democrats are asking tough questions in Washington, where Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., expects Congress to review foreign aid to Colombia in June.

"What I'm hoping is that there will be less military aid and more aid for social and economic development," McGovern said. "To be blunt, I wouldn't trust this military to tell me the correct time given what's been revealed in the past few months."
Less military aid? Less? The U.S. bears almost total responsibility for funding the militarization of Colombia and the massacres, and one of the most liberal Democrats in Congress just wants less military funding? Ugh.


// posted @ 5/17/2007 09:22:00 AM // 

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