Colombian ambassador comes to a small Kansas town of Sterling – Will he whitewash that governments crimes?

The Colombian ambassador to the United States, who is also that nation's former president, will be the commencement speaker at Sterling College, located in a small town in western Kansas..

Andres Pastrana will speak at 3 p.m. May 13 at Smisor Stadium. Sterling College is in Sterling, northwest of Hutchinson, according to The Wichita Eagle, Mar. 19, 2006.

“Plan Colombia,” As in Iraq and Afghanistan, is President George Bushes attempt to remake the South American country in his own image and likeness. As in Iraq and Afghanistan, the casualties are local combatants and civilians caught in the crossfire. There are U.S. advisors and military personnel on the ground in Colombia. Washington poured more than $4 billion into Colombia since 2000 and most of that is military aid.

At first, the “war on drugs was used as an excuse for the intervention. According to Knight Ridder Newspapers, Nov. 18, 2005:

“- Declaring a key victory, U.S. drug czar John Walters on Thursday said cocaine has become more expensive and less pure on U.S. streets this year -- the first sign that billions of dollars in counter-drug aid to Colombia may be having an impact.
Walters' aides said the new data reverses three years of steadily declining cocaine prices, which had perplexed policymakers as Washington poured more than $4 billion into Colombia since 2000 as part of an effort to increase Bogota's ability to curb drug production and trafficking.”
Also according to the report:
“While a gram of cocaine cost just over $120 this April, the price rose steadily to more than $170 in September, according to the Drug Control Policy data. And cocaine purity -- another key indicator of availability -- fell 15 percent between February and September. The data showed similar trends in the price and purity of Colombian heroin reaching U.S. streets.”

Yet for this “huge victory,” if in fact it is one at all, there has been a heavy price to pay. Spike, sprayed from planes to destroy coca plants, has destroyed other crops and foliage besides. The guerrilla war, which really has little to do with the coca problem, has intensified.

Today, the “war on terrorism” is now the main excuse for intervention in that country.

According to Amnesty International:

“For more than two decades Colombia has suffered from a human rights crisis. The Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe has recently argued that there are less killings and that it is taking action against paramilitary forces. Amnesty International has documented that there has been no substantive improvement in the human rights situation, that human rights conditions have worsened in several conflict zones, and that collusion between the armed forces and illegal paramilitary groups continues.”