Colombia: US Ambassador Visits Gen. Montoya

The commander of Colombia's army Gen. Mario Montoya reads a sign in an official visit to a school in Medellin, Colombia - the city where at least 36 people died and 50 went missing in an operation he led with terrorists in 2005.

No one seems to care about the massive human rights abuses our best friend in the region is committing, but the scandal grows every day. Montoya will probably remain free forever because no one really wants to investigate or cooperate, particularly the Bush Administration and apparently the LA Times. The US Ambassador in Bogota made a point of visiting the potential war criminal the other day too.

Here's two LA Times letters to the editor. Guess which one came from me?

Suspected ties in Colombia
March 31, 2007

Re "Colombia army chief linked to outlaw militias," March 25

Shame on The Times for publishing a front-page article that is mainly designed to play into political games with the clear objective of making Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government look bad. It is amazing that I have to read more than half of the article before I find that a CIA spokesperson said the sources are unconfirmed. The Uribe government has enjoyed tremendous support among Colombians, and Colombia has been our best friend in the Americas. Since Uribe took office, Colombia is at peace in most of its territory and has benefited from Uribe's policies of attracting foreign investment, commerce and tourism and achieving a high economic growth rate.

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I commend The Times for coming forth with the leaked CIA report on suspected Colombian military links to terrorist groups and operations. Considering that more of our tax dollars go to Colombia's military than to the rest of Latin America, getting to the bottom of this and expunging U.S. culpability is a must. Colombia's army commander, Gen. Mario Montoya, has called on The Times to produce the documents. Will The Times join the Bush administration in not allowing those documents to be seen?

The Times basically have already said (in the original piece) that they are not going to provide any of the details that would prove the illegal cooperation between the army and the right-wing paramilitaries (on the US terrorist list). As the CIA didn't want them to print anything about this, it is doubtful the Times will blow the whistle on a major ally. But as the investigation goes forward in Bogota, this piece of evidence may be the crucial link to blow the entire thing open. Also, watch the democrat led Congressional hearings on the $700 million a year we send to these guys. The scandel may yet get more interesting.