September 2007

The U.S. Senate passed its version of the foreign aid bill for Plan Colombia on September 6. The Senate approved substantially more military aid than the House version ($359.5 million vs. $289.8 million), and nearly $40 million less in non-military aid. When combined with the estimated $150 million in military aid administered directly from the Pentagon, if the Senate version prevails, then the United States will provide more than $500 million in assistance to the Colombian military and police in the coming year. The average amount of such assistance from 2000 through 2006 was $542 million.

Now House and Senate committee leaders will reconcile the different versions in a "conference committee" that operates behind closed doors. Several Washington-based organizations are urging the conferees to adopt the version with lesser military aid and more assistance to displaced people and to governmental human rights investigators.