In Colombia, the Bush administration has pledged to renew an annual $600 million dollars in military assistance to President Alvaro Uribe. The funding expired last year with the end of the $4 billion dollar Plan Colombia program enacted under the Clinton administration. US Under-Secretary of State Nicolas Burns made the announcement in Bogota.

US Under-Secretary of State Nicolas Burns: “We want to see a continuation of Plan Colombia and we are here to discuss with President (Alvaro) Uribe and his cabinet how that might be possible, what their own ideas are. We think the counter terrorism and counter narcotics efforts have been very successful, but there could be further progress.”

US assistance for Colombia has come under criticism from human rights groups who’ve accused the government-backed paramilitary forces of committing the bulk of atrocities there. US aid has also helped fund a reconciliation plan that has granted amnesty to scores of militants accused of massacres and abuse.