Colombia’s Truth Commission has presented its final report on the country’s long-running civil conflict, announcing that at least 450,664 people were killed over nearly six decades of fighting. The commission was set up as part of the 2016 peace deal between the...
US Drug Wars and Military Aid
“Falsos positivos” en Colombia y el papel de asistencia militar de Estados Unidos
Hace unos días, un investigador de FOR, John Lindsay Poland, presentó en Washington, DC un informe en el tema de las ejecuciones extrajudiciales – los mal llamados “falsos positivos” - y el entrenamiento militar y apoyo financiero que ha recibido el Ejército Nacional...
The Rise and Fall of ‘False Positive’ Killings in Colombia: The Role of U.S. Military Assistance, 2000-2010
Our partner John Lindsay Poland has been working on a ground breaking work looking into the relationship between levels of US aid to Colombia, one of the highest recipients of US military aid and training in the world, and the incidence one of the most grievous forms...
Aerial Fumigation and its Discontents
By John Lindsay-Poland Once the signature program of the U.S. drug war in Latin America, aerial fumigation of coca leaf crops is finally in deep trouble. Fumigation’s crisis comes in a moment when coca growers, like other farmers throughout Colombia, face an economic...
Assistance by Proxy
By Arlene B. Tickner The fact that Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Colombia [August 11] has gone by almost without notice generates the (false) sensation that Colombia’s close association with the United States has passed. Nevertheless, the listlessness of...
Aerial Fumigation Comes to San José de Apartadó
By Gina Spigarelli The turnover of a calendar year is a time for rebirth and re-evaluation, a time of resolutions and looking forward to an even better year to come. January 2013 brought something new to the peace community — low flying aerial fumigation planes....
Join us at SOA: International Solidarity Can Make the Difference!
By Susana Pimiento Starting Thursday, November 18th, the Fellowship of Reconciliation will again be at Fort Benning, Georgia, at the annual vigil in front of the School of the Americas. We invite participants to explore ways that international solidarity can make the...
Report: Military Assistance and Human Rights: Colombia, U.S. Accountability, and Global Implications
U.S. military aid flowing to Colombia is having a direct, negative effect on the human rights of Colombians. Though the “Leahy Law” prohibits aid to military units that have committed gross violations, the United States continues to support such units in Colombia....