The Massive CIA Operation in Colombia You've Never Heard Of

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/22



Washington Post investigation exposes 'multibillion dollar black budget' underlying CIA role in targeted killings, surveillance, torture

The Massive CIA Operation in Colombia You've Never Heard Of
- Common Dreams staff
Published on Sunday, December 22, 2013 by Common Dreams

Since the early 2000s, the CIA has been secretly helping the far-right Colombian government kill, torture, and spy on members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a covert program with a "multibillion dollar black budget" approved by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, according to a Washington Post investigative report published Saturday.

Drawing on interviews with over 30 present and former U.S. and Colombian officials, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the CIA operations are still ongoing, the report unearths a hidden program that dwarfs the public U.S. program "Plan Colombia," which began in 2001 and has funneled over $9 billion in mostly military aid to Colombia.

The secret assistance, separate from Plan Colombia, included supplying GPS equipment that transforms "that transforms a less-than-accurate 500-pound gravity bomb into a highly accurate smart bomb," and directly participating in their use to target alleged FARC leaders, according to the report.

It also included a fusion center in the U.S. embassy which monitored the jungle and intercepted radio and telephone communications, which were then "decrypted and translated by the National Security Agency," the report states. U.S. officials also helped the Colombian government develop its own intelligence gathering centers and informant program.