By Matt Kelly

In Ecuador's conflicted and misunderstood northern neighbor, violence is a daily fear for many. The deaths of foreigners and powerful Colombians make a ripple in the international media; thousands of poor people have died without any such notice. And with the country's political leadership collapsing while its civil war continues, peace in Colombian seems as far away as ever.

For four decades, left-wing guerillas and criminal gangs have waged war on right-wing extremist paramilitaries while a powerless Bogotá government floundered somewhere in the middle. Mixed into this cycle of violence is the funding source both guerillas and paramilitaries have in common -- the illicit drug trade. Much of the cocaine and heroin that makes its way into north America is grown and processed in Colombia. Coca growers pay the paramilitary AUC (United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia) to protect them; left-wing FARC guerillas have their own coca crops and draw funds from processing cocaine. Corruption and complex secret relationships make the roots of this terrible war almost impossible to untangle -- or understand.

But for the last three years, the most influential force in Colombia's civil war has not been a masked guerilla group or a corrupt political party. This force is the United States of America. Uncle Sam's political muscle, backed by billions of dollars, has sent Colombia deeper into its painful struggle.

Plan Colombia

In 2000, the U.S. launched Plan Colombia. Although the U.S. objective in Colombia is sometimes hard to decipher, the most commonly discussed goal is to destroy coca crops and refineries (where the plant is turned into cocaine), creating a shorter supply of the drug in the United States, and perhaps stopping finances from reaching the most violent groups. The country has spent $2.5 billion on weapons, training and supplies in Colombia to date, and the U.S. Congress is considering sending $700 million more this year [Editor's note: These funds were recently approved in December 2003].

Meanwhile, U.S. involvement in Colombia has not saved lives nor stopped drugs from making their way north. It has created more violence by helping ruthless paramilitary forces thrive, pushed coca cultivation south to other Andean nations, and spread deadly chemicals across miles of lush farmland.

Like the many varied prongs of the US's long-running and misguided war on drugs, this initiative misses the point. The U.S. is still the world's largest consumer of illicit drugs. If coca is not grown in Colombia, it will be grown elsewhere, especially further south in the Andes, in places like Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. The drugs will still reach U.S. addicts and casual users. And if the money to fund right wing terrorists doesn't come from drugs, it will still come. Major corporations and factions of the Colombian government also fund these groups -- after all the initial civil struggle arose from economic issues pitting "socialists" against US backed "capitalists."

The U.S. has supported the administration of current Colombian President Alvaro Uribe since his election. Supporting a Latin American leader despite his questionable methods is nothing new for the U.S. -- if that leader gives the U.S. what it wants. During the last century, the U.S. has backed deplorable leaders and regimes all over Latin America in order to help U.S. companies or advance political agendas, such as "fighting communism." The U.S. played a self-serving part in shaping the history of Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, to name a few examples.

In the case of Colombia, Uribe promised unprecedented access and support for extensive fumigation of coca crops, and the money began to flow.

In recent weeks, Uribe's leadership has begun to lose popular support as it has become evident that extremism won't solve Colombia's problems. In early November, a political enemy of Uribe's was elected to the Bogota mayor's office -- the country's second-most powerful post. Referendums supported by Uribe failed enormously. Since this vote, five important cabinet ministers have
resigned, a sure sign that Uribe's power is crumbling.

The growing opinion among Colombians is that Uribe's government supports right-wing paramilitaries in the country's civil war. His father was killed by left-wing guerillas. He recently granted amnesty to an umbrella paramilitary group in exchange for disarmament. This backroom deal has raised eyebrows among the human-rights community because it means terrorists and war criminals will never be punished for thousands of deaths.

According to the International Labor Rights Fund, several U.S. corporations -- including giant Coca-Cola -- fund AUC paramilitaries, which help the companies threaten union leaders and outspoken workers as well as provide security against FARC guerillas. Amid a "war on terrorism," Washington has left these companies alone.

If Uribe's government supports terrorists and paramilitaries, how does the U.S. justify its support of his administration?