U.S. Aid in Latin America

Few Americans know it, but the United States is currently embroiled in the biggest guerrilla war since Vietnam.

WASHINGTON: As aid to Colombia mushroomed in the late 1990s, an ugly feud broke out over combat helicopters, the largest line item in the Clinton administration’s $1.3 billion Colombian aid package.

COLOMBIA: One of the striking characteristics of the U.S. operation in Colombia and elsewhere in the Andes is hiring civilians for work traditionally carried out by U.S. military and intelligence services.