Colombian leader tours US in bid to restart aid payments

The Colombian President Alvaro Uribe met with US President George W Bush in Washington on Wednesday at the start of a three-day tour to press for an increase in aid and military assistance.

President Uribe’s visit comes a month after an aid instalment of $55.2 million was frozen under orders from Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy.

Despite being one of President Bush’s strongest allies in South America, the Colombian leader is under increasing pressure in Congress amid accusations that the country’s military chief had colluded with illegal paramilitaries.

President Bush, however, is keen to continue strong relations with Colombia and welcomed President Uribe with praise for his “good strong record”.

President Uribe defended his means of fighting “terrorists” in his country. He said, “My government has not created alliances with criminal groups to defeat other criminals,” adding, “maybe I have made mistakes; maybe I have to apologize for mistakes, but never for crimes.”

In April a statement signed by Amnesty International, the Centre for International Policy, and Human Rights Watch called on the US government to maintain a hold on funding to Colombia.

The statement said, “The US established conditions for the release of military assistance to Colombia precisely because of ties between Colombian military units and paramilitary groups implicated in massive atrocities.”

“For Secretary [of State, Condoleezza] Rice to certify Colombia’s compliance at this time shows that the US is not prepared to uphold the law as intended. This sends a dangerous message that the US is willing to turn a blind eye to paramilitary activity and human rights abuses in Colombia.”

Throughout the conflict in Colombia human rights abuse has been a dominant issue. The Research and Public Education Centre (Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular - CINEP) has been campaigning for government transparency on this issue for over 30 years.

One of the initiatives run by CINEP is the ‘Citizen Rights and Responsibilities’ programme, which seeks to raise awareness of human rights and promote social responsibility towards eradicating abuses.

Read more about CINEP and their initiatives here