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Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subj: INSIDE THE ARMY: State Department Issues Facts On Soldiers, Contractors In Colombia Date: 5/21/01 10:33:28 AM Mountain Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Colombian Labor Monitor) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ INSIDE THE ARMY [U.S.] Monday, 21 May 2001 State Department Issues Facts On Soldiers, Contractors In Colombia ------------------------------------------ On any given day, there are about 200 U.S. military soldiers and about 170 American contractors working in Colombia, conducting activities that range from training and advising military troops to piloting helicopters in support of counterdrug operations, according to a fact sheet released from the State Department this month. The largest number of U.S. military personnel now in Colombia are approximately 90 Army Special Operations Forces soldiers, according to the State Department. And the overwhelming majority of American contractors now working in Colombia are hired through the Defense Department, State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The fact sheet was released amid growing concerns in Congress about the use of U.S. contractors in Colombia, which is considered the international front line in the war against drugs. In April, a Peruvian fighter plane shot down a private jet carrying missionaries from the United States. The fighter plane was acting on mistaken information provided from an American surveillance aircraft staffed by U.S. contractors from the Aviation Development Corporation of Montgomery, AL, working under contract to the Central Intelligence Agency. Last week, the House approved an amendment to the State Department's fiscal year 2002 budget that will require the department to submit detailed reports on contractors operating in Colombia. The Colombian government has crafted a six-year, $7.5 billion initiative called Plan Colombia to fight drug trafficking and restore civil institutions in its country. The United States has agreed to provide $1.3 billion in support of the plan through FY-01, and has pledged to spend $800 million more in FY-02 on Colombia and neighboring countries in the Andean region. According to the State Department, American soldiers and DOD contractors primarily offer aid in the areas of training and technical support to the Colombian military. "The primary focus of Department of Defense activities in Colombia, through the United States Military Group (MILGP), is counternarcotics with the provision of training, equipment, infrastructure development, intelligence support, detection and monitoring information to Colombian armed forces units engaged in counterdrug operations," the fact sheet states. "This assistance is to increase the capabilities of Colombian land, sea and air security forces to detect and interdict narcotrafficking operations and to assist the Colombian National Police (CNP) in its eradication and law enforcement missions." The fact sheet adds that the most significant activities for U.S. military personnel have been training and equipping the second and third counternarcotics battalions of the Colombian Army; training and equipping the Colombian counternarcotics brigade headquarters; and providing design, contract and oversight services for a variety of Colombian Army aviation infrastructure projects to support the UN-1N, Huey II and UH-60 helicopter programs. The State Department primarily contracts American companies to aid in the eradication of coca and poppy crops. The department has an ongoing contract with DynCorp of Reston, VA, to work on counternarcotics projects. DynCorp employees fly OV-10 aircraft and UH-1N helicopters during crop eradication efforts, and assist in search and rescue missions. A pamphlet from DynCorp advertising "opportunities" in South America -- and Colombia in particular -- seeks people looking for a "dynamic, international career in aviation." The pamphlet reads as follows: "Air assault . . . search and rescue . . . scouting operations. These are just some of the exciting ways in which you can help train South American nationals in their efforts to eradicate the blight of drugs." However, the fact sheet states that all U.S. contractor support to the Colombian aerial spraying program contains a training component with the intent to eventually nationalize the program, thus eliminating the use of U.S. contractors. ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at * * http://www.prairienet.org/clm * * and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE * * Email us at clm<@>prairienet.org or * * Dennis Grammenos at dgrammen<@>prairienet.org * * To subscribe send request to listproc<@>prairienet.org * * subscribe clm-news Your Name * **************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
