Why Colombia?
WIKI REFERENCE---In 2000, the Clinton administration committed $1.3 billion in foreign aid to the corrupt country of Colombia...... and up to five hundred military personnel to train local forces. An additional three hundred civilian personnel were allowed to assist in the eradication of coca.
The Clinton deal was an addition to $330 million of previously approved US aid to Colombia. $818 million was earmarked for 2000, with $256 million for 2001.
The Clinton-era appropriations for his Colombia Plan made Colombia the third largest recipient of foreign aid from the United States at the time.
--SNIP--
As of 2008, the U.S. has provided nearly $1.3 billion to Colombia through Clinton Plan Colombia nonmilitary aid programs:
<><> Alternative Development (2000-2008 cost: $500 million)
<><> Internally Displaced Persons (2000-2008 cost: $247 million)
<><> Demobilization and Reintegration (2000-2008 cost: $44 million)
<><> Democracy and Human Rights (2000-2008 cost: $158 million)
<><> Promote the Rule of Law (2000-2008 cost: $238 million)
LONG READ--REST AT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_Colombia
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04/16/2008----Former President Bill Clinton has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars speaking on behalf of a Colombia-based group pushing the trade pact, and representatives of that organization tell The Huffington Post that the former president shared their sentiment.
In June 2005, Clinton was paid $800,000 by the Colombia-based Gold Service International to give four speeches throughout Latin America. The organization is, ostensibly, a development group tasked with bringing investment to the country and educating world leaders about the Colombia’s business opportunities.
The group’s chief operating officer, Andres Franco, said in an interview that the group supports the congressional ratification of the free trade agreement and that, when Clinton was on his speaking tour, he expressed similar opinions. “He was supportive of the trade agreement at the time that he came, but that was several years ago.
In the present context, I don’t know what his position would be. It is not only about union trade rights. It is about what benefit or damage it can do to the US economy,” said Franco. “Events with the Clinton campaign [concerning Mark Penn] are not good at all for the trade agreement... Right now it became a campaign issues and that is sad, because it needs to go through.”
The comments were supported by a June 23, 2005 article from the news portal Terra (uncovered by Ben Smith at Politico) in which Clinton offered unambiguous support for the free trade agreement with Colombia.
They appear to be the first public indication that Clinton has, at least in the past, supported the trade deal. But evidence that the former president has been sympathetic to Colombia’s position is widely known. In 2007, Clinton met personally with and accepted an award from Colombia’s controversial president, Alvaro Uribe, during a time when the country was attempting to improve its image within the United States.
Subsequently, Clinton urged Congress to view the country in a more favorable light.
Moreover, Clinton has helped Frank Giustra, one of the biggest donors to the Clinton Global Initiative, score meetings with high-ranking Colombian officials. Giustra has several business interests in the country, and both he and Clinton have collaborated on an effort to (cough) "fight poverty in developing world by partnering up with mining companies in Colombia and elsewhere." SOURCE: http://nypost.com/2008/12/19/bubba-sheik-ing-the-money-tree/
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UT OH---Obama/s now requesting billions for Colombia---to (cough) curb the drug trade.
PING
News to me.
Thx for the eye opening post, Liz