Bush pledges more funds for Colombia's dirty war

Bush pledges more funds for Colombia's dirty war

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President George W. Bush used a brief stopover in the Colombian seashore city of Cartagena Monday to announce his intention to pour billions more in US military aid into the country’s 40-year-old civil war.

As with his entire Latin American tour, the extraordinary security arrangements for the US president overshadowed anything he had to say. The entire city was placed under a state of siege. Some 15,000 military personnel were mobilized, all air and sea travel in the vicinity was cancelled, and the streets were lined with heavily armed troops.

Bush made his way from the airport to a military installation in an armored Cadillac that had been flown in from Washington for his three-and-a-half-hour visit. He was isolated from any contact with the people, delivering a short speech and taking only three questions from reporters at an appearance with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, held at the Colombian Naval School of Cadets.

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