Colombia scandal casts shadow on aid-U.S. lawmaker
Source: Reuters
By Patrick Markey BOGOTA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Democrats could trim some military funds from a Colombian aid package and seek more guarantees from President Alvaro Uribe after some of his allies were tied to paramilitaries accused of rights abuses, a U.S. congressman said. The Bush administration wants Congress to approve $3.9 billion more aid for Uribe to combat the drug trade and leftist rebels. Eight pro-Uribe lawmakers and his former security police chief have been arrested on charges they colluded with right-wing militia accused of atrocities in battling Latin America's longest-running insurgency. "There is a new congress in town and the people who oversee a lot of these issues regarding foreign aid care much more about human rights," Rep. Jim McGovern, who will meet with Uribe in Bogota this week, told Reuters on Tuesday. McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, is the number two Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee. "There will be attempts to try to condition the aid and there will attempts to try to reduce the amount of aid going to the security forces. Many of us would prefer our aid to go to strengthening civil institutions," he said by telephone. U.S. President George W. Bush will visit Bogota on March 11 to met with Uribe, his closest South American ally. Last week Uribe's foreign minister was forced to step down after her brother, a senator, was arrested in the probe. For years, rights groups have accused politicians and military officers of working with militias who were set up in the 1980s by landowners looking for protection from rebels. Polls show Uribe remains popular because of tough security policies that have driven back the rebels, and disarmed more than 31,000 paramilitaries. He says he welcomes the probe to strip away any paramilitary influence. As part of their peace deal, militia bosses are testifying about their crimes. But rights groups say the paramilitary gangs are intact and intimidating victims seeking justice. In one recent high profile case, gunmen killed a woman who had been seeking reparation for hundreds of peasants forced off their land by paramilitaries. "How people like her are treated, how they are protected, how the government reacts to try to encourage them to come forward with the truth is what people are going to watch. There is some skepticism in Washington, in the Congress," McGovern said. "The days of a blank check are gone."
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