5 February 2016
By Natalio Cosoy
President Barack Obama (click here) has said he will ask the US Congress for $450m (£309m) in aid to help Colombia implement a peace deal with the Farc rebel group.
The proposed funding will also support de-mining, humanitarian and counter-narcotics projects, he said.
The aid was announced after President Obama held talks at the White House with his Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos.
He told Mr Santos the US would be "your partner in waging peace".
It was "an incredible moment of promise" for ending the long-running conflict in Colombia, he said.
The new plan is called Peace Colombia, but the fact is that even if a final agreement to end 50 years of internal conflict with the Farc is achieved - which looks extremely likely - the negotiations with the second largest rebel group in the country, the ELN, seem stalled....
These monies should be applied wisely. The monies should not be a slush fund for the Columbian President and his party and ambitions. If that is an insult that is too bad. There is plenty to be skeptical of in Columbia.
Fifty years is a very long time for a powerful drug cartel to exist. The PEOPLE of Columbia need jobs and a change in direction of the economy. Those monies should not go directly to the Columbian government unless there is a palpable change in the quality of life of the people FIRST.
What is so curious about this visit is the fact The Columbian Free Trade agreement is in force. (click here) It was demanded as an agenda by Senator Rubio as his first major project after his Senate election. Why is there any need for supplementing Columbia's economy if the free trade agreement was worth passing in the US Congress?
The American people EXPECT their sacrifice of losing jobs, economic stability (the banks and Wall Street are claiming hardship today) and uncertain futures for American young people will actually solve problems in the global community.
Padding the Columbian treasury is not proof there is anything worthwhile in the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. Why do it in the first place?
So, let me see if I get this straight. The current demand of monies from the USA treasury is to help build infrastructure in Columbia. Columbia was never ready for the free trade agreement in the first place, right? Now, because, there is a willingness for Wall Street companies, such as Walmart, to build an economy in Columbia, it needs the infrastructure first. Why waste a good free trade agreement, right?
Why does Columbia have a seemingly high unemployment rate? (click here)
Good question, but the answer is quite complex. Many forces influenced the unemployment rate and most of them are not even caused the last years, but, are consequences of the labor laws, economic policies, and social changes of the last decades.
First of all, I suppose the 10.4% rate you quoted is the current world's bank last reported yearly rate from 2012. (Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) To include more recent data, the official unemployment rate for September 2014 was 8.9% (+/- 2.9%) and it's observed behavior is a steady reduction since 2010 (http://www.dame.gov.co/indes.php)....
Perhaps the monies to Columbia is for the food stamps and Medicaid the Columbian people will need working for Walmart and Wall Street companies, right? Humanitarian assistance. Right?
Or is it the military that Columbia is interested in? There goes the wars a little north of Columbia in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. FARC will be sold any arms coming into Columbia because they pay so well with drug/blood money.
More loose small arms, more migration out of those countries, more children at the USA borders and the endless instability of the region south of the USA border. The United Nations needs to monitor monies entering Columbia from the USA to report it's use and the potential to cause more deaths of children and their parents.
FARC won't negotiate until after the monies arrive and are spent so they can get their share before they have to dangle another carrot of a peace agreement for more infusion of monies from the USA.
By Natalio Cosoy
President Barack Obama (click here) has said he will ask the US Congress for $450m (£309m) in aid to help Colombia implement a peace deal with the Farc rebel group.
The proposed funding will also support de-mining, humanitarian and counter-narcotics projects, he said.
The aid was announced after President Obama held talks at the White House with his Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos.
He told Mr Santos the US would be "your partner in waging peace".
It was "an incredible moment of promise" for ending the long-running conflict in Colombia, he said.
The new plan is called Peace Colombia, but the fact is that even if a final agreement to end 50 years of internal conflict with the Farc is achieved - which looks extremely likely - the negotiations with the second largest rebel group in the country, the ELN, seem stalled....
These monies should be applied wisely. The monies should not be a slush fund for the Columbian President and his party and ambitions. If that is an insult that is too bad. There is plenty to be skeptical of in Columbia.
Fifty years is a very long time for a powerful drug cartel to exist. The PEOPLE of Columbia need jobs and a change in direction of the economy. Those monies should not go directly to the Columbian government unless there is a palpable change in the quality of life of the people FIRST.
What is so curious about this visit is the fact The Columbian Free Trade agreement is in force. (click here) It was demanded as an agenda by Senator Rubio as his first major project after his Senate election. Why is there any need for supplementing Columbia's economy if the free trade agreement was worth passing in the US Congress?
The American people EXPECT their sacrifice of losing jobs, economic stability (the banks and Wall Street are claiming hardship today) and uncertain futures for American young people will actually solve problems in the global community.
Padding the Columbian treasury is not proof there is anything worthwhile in the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. Why do it in the first place?
So, let me see if I get this straight. The current demand of monies from the USA treasury is to help build infrastructure in Columbia. Columbia was never ready for the free trade agreement in the first place, right? Now, because, there is a willingness for Wall Street companies, such as Walmart, to build an economy in Columbia, it needs the infrastructure first. Why waste a good free trade agreement, right?
Why does Columbia have a seemingly high unemployment rate? (click here)
Good question, but the answer is quite complex. Many forces influenced the unemployment rate and most of them are not even caused the last years, but, are consequences of the labor laws, economic policies, and social changes of the last decades.
First of all, I suppose the 10.4% rate you quoted is the current world's bank last reported yearly rate from 2012. (Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) To include more recent data, the official unemployment rate for September 2014 was 8.9% (+/- 2.9%) and it's observed behavior is a steady reduction since 2010 (http://www.dame.gov.co/indes.php)....
Perhaps the monies to Columbia is for the food stamps and Medicaid the Columbian people will need working for Walmart and Wall Street companies, right? Humanitarian assistance. Right?
Or is it the military that Columbia is interested in? There goes the wars a little north of Columbia in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. FARC will be sold any arms coming into Columbia because they pay so well with drug/blood money.
More loose small arms, more migration out of those countries, more children at the USA borders and the endless instability of the region south of the USA border. The United Nations needs to monitor monies entering Columbia from the USA to report it's use and the potential to cause more deaths of children and their parents.
FARC won't negotiate until after the monies arrive and are spent so they can get their share before they have to dangle another carrot of a peace agreement for more infusion of monies from the USA.
