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| Portion of U.S. Aid to Colombia Disappears |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 09, 2002 at 20:27:55 PT By Phil Stewart Source: Reuters 
The United States has partially suspended aid for Colombia's war on drugs after a "significant amount of money" destined for the anti-narcotics police disappeared, a U.S. Embassy official said on Thursday.The head of the anti-narcotics police in the world's biggest cocaine producer, Gen. Gustavo Socha, confirmed an investigation was under way, and said he had fired six officers. Socha said he did not know how much U.S. aid was missing, but denied local media reports it was $2 million. The funds were taken from an account earmarked to help offset administrative expenses of the police. The United States has only frozen aid that would normally enter this account -- a relatively small proportion of the hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. funds for Colombia's anti-drug fight. The scandal comes at an awkward moment, just as the U.S. Congress mulls expanding U.S. aid beyond the drug war to help Bogota fight Latin America's oldest and largest leftist rebel force, the 17,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. "We discovered about two months ago a diversion of U.S. government funds from an account used by the Colombian counter-narcotics police," the embassy official told Reuters. "We are confident that action will be taken against the individuals involved. When this has happened, we anticipate resuming full support for (anti-narcotics police) activities." The line between Colombia's drug war and the guerrilla conflict has been blurring over the past year, and the United States indicted three FARC leaders on cocaine trafficking charges in March. Washington has already sunk $1 billion into the Plan Colombia anti-drug offensive, but has yet to see any impact on cocaine output or prices on American streets. At a news conference, Socha said he would not step down from his post of two years. Playing down the possibility of theft, he said the funds might have been misdirected to otherwise legitimate government ends not directly linked to the drug fight. "It is possible that the purchase of something like drinking water in remote, jungle zones, where there is no running water ... well, it could have been prioritized as a necessity and it might not have been budgeted," Socha said. The U.S. Embassy denied local press reports that the scandal had prompted the United States to freeze funds for Colombia's fleet of 33 U.S.-donated UH1-N helicopters -- operated by the anti-drug police. Instead, the embassy said that some funding for the Colombian military had been delayed as a routine procedure pending U.S. certification of the armed forces' respect for human rights norms. Colombia's guerrilla conflict is increasingly fueled by the drug trade, and claims about 3,500 lives a year. Source: Reuters Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News US Halts Anti-Drug Aid To Colombia No Sanctuary From Colombian War The Colombia Quandary - Patrick Leahy Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 13:32:09 PT |
| I guess top thirty wasn't right but the LAST 30 articles I've posted since some aren't on the front page. I am trying to do two different things as an experiment. I love the comments on the articles and from observing what people at C News want to know the most I post those articles on the front page. The other articles are those through my past observation of stats would be articles that are good to know but not necessarily what everyone here is interested in talking about. As I said this is an experiment. It's something I could do easily when my satellites hooked up. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by dddd on May 10, 2002 at 13:22:59 PT |
| ....when you say "top thirty",,,,,is it the top 30 read,,,hits?,or comments,,or?..dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 13:14:57 PT |
| Hi Everyone, I've been experimenting with posting articles in the archives and the front page. Here are the current top thirty articles I've posted. http://www.cannabisnews.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cnews/newsread.pl?12799 [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on May 10, 2002 at 06:20:10 PT:
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| At a news conference, Socha said he would not step down from his post of two years. Playing down the possibility of theft, he said the funds might have been misdirected to otherwise legitimate government ends not directly linked to the drug fight. "It is possible that the purchase of something like drinking water in remote, jungle zones, where there is no running water ... well, it could have been prioritized as a necessity and it might not have been budgeted," Socha said. Is this Colombian for "The dog ate my homework"? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on May 10, 2002 at 04:25:20 PT |
| (Zombienote: there will be no anaylsis of this piece, only my hysterical, rolling on the floor laughter. This is too funny. Like this would be news. Anti-drug funds REFUSED by law enforcement - that would be news. But not more indication of complete corruption and criminality in the so-called "war on drugs".) heheheheheh hahahahahahaha hhohohohohohohoho heeeeee heeeeee heeeee..hae haw haw haw haw haw heheheheheheheehoooooohehehehehehehehehehehe FREEDOM ( snicker snicker snicker) ENURETH [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by qqqq on May 10, 2002 at 02:06:46 PT |
| .....Now hang on a minute here,,,,,you mean to tell me that about 2 million dollars has disappeared? ...?.. Two Million Dollars!?....you gotta be kidding!...oh well,,at least we can now rest assured that the US government is keeping a sharp eye on such things... .....This is a good example of fake,diversionary,"news" propaganda..... ... If you think about it ,,this cheesy story is an insult!... and it is sad proof that "news", is designed,and manipulated to maintain the empires' dominance. 2 million dollars...What a Joke!.....What a fakeout!..... I think we need to compare this to the FACT,that Billions are unaccounted for in the defense department.!.. I'm not kidding,,over a quarter of the money that the defense department recieved is GONE!..This has been going on for years....and we are not talking about mere millions,,,we are talking about fucking BILLIONS!...go ahead,,research the subject,,,, if you dare!... Hang on to your hat, because once you realize the things that are going on with our tax money,,you will wanna FREAK! ..... You will see, ,,that this "news" report, about the mysterious dissappearance of a couple of million,is absurd ,and ridiculous!.. ...The newly formed empire has almost complete control over the information that mainstream America recieves. ...A national free press is almost extinct....and I got a spooky feeling that the internet will soon fall victim to the same dark powers........ ............Public Television should have a national channel,that reports the raw,,un-opinionated facts of what is going on in the federal government!...I would like watching;"The Federal Budget Information Channel". [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by p4me on May 09, 2002 at 22:20:37 PT |
| MikeEEEE, I think a corruptist is not as bad as a corruptorist. Today's forecast: 2000 marijuana arrest and 1500 tobacco deaths expected. Corruption forces want to give conglomerate media another $10 million for terrorist ads. Another day in bondage and another day closer to death and liberation. Scotland prepares to change the world......... Let freedom ring my a$$. I thought the War Washington fought was for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Is that down to life with bondage. What was Washington's hemp policy? It worked for him. So why did it change? Oil and obsufucation. VAAI [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on May 09, 2002 at 20:59:36 PT |
| A few months ago I predicted the Columbians were saying, "Hey Gringos (suckers), send down more money." All you have to do is meet a few central Americans to know the deal. I could imagine the Columbians were thinking about stealing it long before it came down, while waving their hands, send more, send more. At the same time an offshore account was probably being setup. Who's more corrupt, the corrupt or the corruptor? [ Post Comment ] |
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