"We never mentioned the words coca or narco-trafficker in our training… The objective continues to be oil."
-Stan Goff, former US Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant, on his work in Colombia

The shift in United States policy on military aid to Colombia is apparent in proposals by President Bush to extend the use of aid to counter-insurgency operations and the protection of oil infrastructure. The President's recent request for $98 million to boost security for the frequently bombed Cano Limon oil pipeline, which is part-owned by the US company Occidental Petroleum (OXY), constitutes an unprecedented public revelation of President Bush's plan to tap Colombian oil. Military aid has only worsened Colombia's cycle of violence, yet the need to secure access to oil is driving the United States deeper into the Colombian civil war.

North American Strategic Energy Demands
The United States imports more oil from Colombia and its neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador, than from all of the Persian Gulf. As President Bush's energy agenda prioritizes energy independence from the turbulent Middle East and the left-leaning President Chavez of Venezuela, attentions turn to oil-rich Colombia. Many parts of the country remain unexplored, making secure access to Colombian oil reserves a high priority. Multinational companies dominate the Colombian oil landscape, with OXY being the biggest US player in the region. Bush's public defense of US oil interests rewards corporations such as OXY and Enron who lobbied aggressively for military aid to Colombia and provides clear evidence of their effectiveness in shaping US-Colombia policy to their benefit. but it is the innocent Colombian people who are paying the true price for oil operations in a war zone

Oil Drives Conflict
The defense of US oil interests through aid for increased militarization in oil producing areas will only intensify violence in the Cano Limon pipeline region because oil installations are not only a target for violence, but also a root cause of violence. Oil provides a source of revenue for all the armed factors either through war taxes, extortion or outright theft. OXY has admitted paying off both the FARC and ELN guerilla groups -- payments that provided them with critical seed money to become the powerful forces they are today. the Colombian army dedicates one quarter of all soldiers to protecting oil intallations. The proposed $98 million investment in oil security will further destabilize the Cano Limon pipeline region. Armed groups who rely on oil-generated income will not release their regional stranglehold and additional militarization will step up conflict and human rights abused against civilians.

US Oil Companies and Human Rights Abuses
Oil companies have direct involvement in human rights abuses as is evidenced by OXY's part in the Santo Domingo massacre in 1998 in which their base of operations was used as a staging post for a military attack on unarmed civilians. The military unit involved in the massacre is in line to receive new equipment and training under the proposed $98 million pipeline protect program. Much of the nation's oil reserves are found within indigenous territories, where peaceful community opposition threatens the unchecked dominance of foreign oil corporations in Colombia, such as the OXY's notorious plan to drill in the sacred homeland of the U'wa people. Those who are "protecting US interests" and defending the oil industry in the region are doing so ruthlessly. Indigenous activists, labor leaders, and other innocent civilians have all been targeted by paramilitaries for protesting oil exploration or reforming labor practices. Human rights reports on oil and security in Colombia say that the brutal paramilitaries themselves have received over $2 million for protecting pipelines.

What We Want
Protect people, not pipelines! We call for an end to US military aid to Colombia and the Andean region. US military aid to Colombia is a failed policy that has only exacerbated existing conflict. The US needs to invest in alternative energy instead of allowing our fossil fuel addiction to drive our foreign policy.