Ghosts of bad policies.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: US policy aiding the military of Colombia - Editorial

This month, we return to Latin America, a region that has reverted to its traditional neglected status in the eyes of U.S. policymakers, after facing the full wrath of the United States in the 1980s.

David Helvarg recalls his conversation with Sister Ita Ford, one of the four U.S. churchwomen slain by Salvadoran soldiers in 1980. His was the last interview with Ford, and her words ring as true today as they did eighteen years ago.

"The United States has to realize it does not own Central America or any other part of the world, and that people have a right to shape their own destiny, to choose the type of government they want," she told Helvarg. "We don't lose Cuba, we don't lose Nicaragua, because they were never ours to lose. The sooner we accept this, the better."

Unfortunately, the U.S. government has still not accepted this. Nor has Robert Novak. On April 9, he wrote a piece entitled `Who Lost Colombia?' in The Washington Post Novak's title comes from Representative Benjamin Gilman, Republican of New York and chair of the House International Relations Committee, who held a hearing on U.S.-Colombia policy on March 31. According to Novak and Gilman, the Clinton Administration has not done enough to support Colombia's military.

But from where I sit, the Clinton Administration is doing far too much to bolster Colombia's military. The Administration supplies Colombia with $136 million a year in aid, making it the largest recipient in this hemisphere, even though its human-rights record is appalling.

The Administration justifies much of this aid--and Novak clamors for more of it--in the name of fighting the drug war. But Frank Smyth, a veteran foreign correspondent who has spent a lot of time in Colombia, notes that the military and paramilitary there are more involved in the drug trade than the guerrillas are.

Nevertheless, the U.S. military is worried that our ally in Bogota still needs more help. According to The Washington Post, General Charles Wilhelm, chief of the U.S. Southern Command, wrote a letter on April 6 to General Manuel Jose Bonnet, head of the Colombian military. "At this time, the Colombian armed forces are not up to the task of confronting and defeating the insurgents.... Colombia is the most threatened in the area under the Southern Command's responsibility, and it is in urgent need of our support." Bonnet responded by saying he'd love to have more U.S. military aid, including "atomic bombs."

Watch out for Colombia. It may...