Doubts Aside, U.S. Set to Boost Colombia Aid

[Judi Lynn]

Doubts Aside, U.S. Set to Boost Colombia Aid
Alleged corruption in the army sparks concern on Capitol Hill. But it seems unlikely to affect drug war funding to the top ally in the region.
By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006


BOGOTA, Colombia — Despite growing bipartisan concern over alleged corruption in the Colombian army, the U.S. Congress appears likely to approve increased funds for this country's war on drugs.

A final vote on Plan Colombia funding — the largest U.S. foreign aid program outside the Middle East and Afghanistan — probably won't take place until after the November congressional elections. But staffers and analysts in Washington say Colombia will receive more than $750 million, exceeding the $728 million for the current fiscal year.

Separate House and Senate versions to fund Plan Colombia each call for at least that much to be granted to the government of President Alvaro Uribe, the United States' staunchest ally in South America.

But even Republican stalwarts such as Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, chairman of the International Relations Committee, are voicing concern over allegations of corruption in the Colombian army, an institution the U.S. has spent billions of dollars to train and expand.

This month, the Colombian Defense Ministry said it was investigating media reports that army officers planted explosives in Bogota, the capital, in the days leading up to Uribe's second inauguration in August, in an apparent scheme to collect rewards for discovering the bombs.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-colombia29sep29,1,5547928.story?coll=la-news-a_section

[mom cat]

1. Speaking of torture.....

:puke: