You know the death squads and the covert congressionally funded wars during the 80’s are not a thing of the past. Right wing fascism rules on the world stage. Look and see all the killing of opposing organizers.

“Finally, it should be noted that the Colombian government under Uribe, who has enjoyed widespread celebration by the corporate press in the last few days, is routinely condemned as having one of the worst human rights records of any country in the world. More than 60 members of President Uribe’s congressional coalition are under investigation for election fraud or collaborating with right-wing groups classified as “terrorist organizations” by the United States. Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for labor union organizers, with the world’s highest rate of assassinations and extra-judicial executions of trade unionists. Since Plan Colombia began, the United States has provided over $4.7 billion to the government of Colombia, described by Senator Cordoba as a “democracy that governs through fear and terror.” Senator Cordoba, herself, was kidnapped by 12 heavily-armed government-affiliated terrorists. Senator Cordoba says that the operations of Plan Colombia are only partly used to fight the so-called “war on drugs”: “It’s also used to silence those of us who speak out against the government. They try to silence us by kidnapping, disappearing and even killing many of us.” Unlike many other Latin American countries, who overthrew the brutal US-backed dictatorships which ruled the continent during much of the 20th century, Colombia is an active reminder of what life used to be like throughout all of South America—fiercely repressive dictatorships which terrorize the population with money and weapons provided by the United States in exchange for support of U.S. policies. How can a government like this receive the kind of tributes and congratulations that have been showered on them by the capitalist press in the last few days since they traded $20 million for the release of Ingrid Betancourt and U.S. mercenaries? How can a supposedly free and democratic media uncritically praise a government like this?
Today, Fidel Castro made one of the most sensible declarations about this situation: the imprisonment of civilians is wrong but what is worse is that the United States and the western, capitalist press are exploiting this situation to obscure and justify the genocidal horrors that they have imposed on Latin America for hundreds of years, up to and including this very day.

Even now, the soldiers of Plan Colombia and their right-wing death squads continue murdering union leaders in cold blood, continue terrorizing the civilian population of Colombia, and continue protecting terrorists who hunt down and kill anyone seeking social justice in the region, a cause that threatens the profit and power of the dominant, ruling class.”

Of course it’s not a ‘coincidence’ skulz. Nothing ever is.

So, John McCain was the bagman? Coincidence? Hmmm, seems highly unlikely. McCain and the mini-McCain were in Columbia at the exact same time as the “ransom” money exchanges hands. Hmmm, seems more than coincidence.