US-backed Uribe uses banned weapons to violently put down trade protestors

Earlier this week in Narano, Columbia, military gunships were used to spray anti-free trade protestors with banned chemical weapons as part of a violent campaign to suppress protests directed at the Columbian governments decision to enter into a free trade agreement with the United States. Right-wing Columbian President Alvaro Uribe is a close ally of George W. Bush and has recently forced a change to Columbia's Constitution to allow him to run for a third term. The incident shows, once again, that the United States remains committed to supporting ideologically like-minded strongmen in Latin America when US interests are at stake, ignoring the long and sad history that has been the legacy of such policies. It also reflects the hypocrisy of the Bush administration on human rights, democracy and free speech, as well as demonstrating the difference in US response when civil violence is committed by right-wing governments as opposed to left-wing governments which further undermines US credibility in a region where the US is already loosing influence.

COLOMBIA:Casualties in Battle Against Free Trade Pact with US

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