Hope for Colombia?

Plan Colombia was setup to revive the economy of the nation and fight drug trafficking among many other objectives.
As part of its "war on drugs" campaign the US has aided this "plan" with about five billion dollars since 2002 to date. While there have been some gains in the counter terrorism portion of the "plan" and local rebel groups have been weakened, the counter drug program has been a total waste. There has been no decline in lands planted with coca (as raw material for cocaine), there has also been no decrease in the amount of cocaine available in the United States.
There is unfortunately no legislature on the table to put and end to plan Colombia but only a Colombia/US free trade agreement awaits approval. Plan Colombia is sadly spreading to neighboring countries like Ecuador so there does not seem to be and end in sight.
While discussing the effects that local rebel groups and multi-national organizations have had on the lives of the people in Colombia, it is important to mention that the US military has also wreaked its share of havoc.
20,915 people have died during combat attacks between the local guerrilla groups (FARC) and the Colombian military (most of these people were civilians), about 2.4 millionpeople have been displaced. On the flip side, the US military is recorded to have supported armed forces that caused the death of 1,700 civilians since 2002. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial executions recently called this into "cold-blooded, premeditated murder of innocent civilians for profit."


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