Outside...It's America
Foreign aid in Colombia: Right now, the the Clinton administration, contrary to the Colombian people, is on the brink of proposing an escalation of foreign aid to Colombia that would total 1.574 billion over the next 3 years, the third largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid behind Israel and Egypt. With the administration claiming this as another plight on the "War On Drugs", some see it only as a smoke screen, where the aid package is really an anti-guerrilla package, rather than an anti-drug package. One thing is for certain, with Congress and the Clinton administration putting over a billion dollars in the hands of the Colombian military and police, it will surely make the United States a major player in Colombia's Civil War. Is it worth it? To start off, the one of the main reasons why the Administration is pushing the plan through Congress, is the fact that over recent years, Colombia has emerged as one of the largest oil producers in the West. With much turnmoil in the past decade in the Middle East, the U.S. has become hesitant on being dependent for supplies from the Persian Gulf. What also makes Colombia more intriguing, is that the U.S. also believes that there are plenty of reserves of oil and natual gas still unt
apped. With this is mind, the administration will try vigorously to pass the bill through Congress, by using this reason to persuade many who question the U.S. and their involvement in Colombia. With the "War On Drugs" going on for decades, one would think there's been a signifcant amount of improvement by now. However, in a recent report by the U.S. State Department, it is seen that coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia combined, is down 64% in 1999 from 1995. But, when you throw Colombia in the mix, the total combined cultivation is only down 15%. It would seem then, that Colombia is taking up the bulk of slack from Bolivia and Peru. The past 15 to 20 years has yielded this result. It's hard not to think, that more tax payers money will inevitably be sunk into a black hole in Colombia. Unfortuantly, for American tax payers, the black hole isn't filled with only oil.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Persian Gulf, El Salvador, Amnisty International's, Unfortuantly American, Liberacion Nacional, War Drugs, FARC ELN, Civil War, Colombia Clinton, Peru Bolivia, aid package, colombian military, civil war, people colombia, war drugs, foreign aid, death squads, foreign aid colombia, package anti-drug, anti-drug package, anti-guerrilla package, package anti-drug package, anti-guerrilla package anti-drug,
Approximate Word count = 1393
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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