McCain

It seems that here in Washington, every last drop of political fervor is devoted to one’s candidate. Given that we are living in the Bible Belt of America, religious symbolism matters and so it has come to pass. Jesus, as interpreted by one resident of Capitol Hill is voting for (drum roll please) Barack Obama.

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The Sudan? No.

The Congo. Wrong again.

How about . . . Colombia.

As a result of more than 40 years of conflict, it is estimated that as many as 3.9 million people – mostly indigenous men, women and children – have been displaced by the conflict in Colombia.  As has been noted on this blog on many previous occasions, the conflicts between the government and its paramilitary supporters, rebel groups and the drug cartels have resulted in a dramatic impact on this nation of 45 million people.

The disparity between the U.S. response to Colombia and the Sudan couldn’t be greater. With respect to the Sudan, the Bush Administration has imposed sanctions on the country, banned investment by U.S. companies and has been critical of the Khartoum government and its treatment of its citizens in the Darfur region.

In Colombia, the U.S. government has pumped billions of dollars in the form of aid to fight cocaine production and exportation into the U.S. The U.S. military and the CIA have provided support to the Colombian government and its military in order to stem the flow of drugs. This has occurred at a time when other countries in Latin America have taken anti-U.S. positions on a range of issues. The surrounding nations of Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia have all been critical of American foreign policy. Colombia stands as a shining example of what money can buy in the region.

Unfortunately, this comes with a price for the U.S. The Bush Administration continues to overlook the humanitarian crisis, the mass murder of union officials and workers, and an ultra conservative Colombian government in league with paramilitaries committing atrocities almost daily.

The problems facing Colombia’s citizens are noted in one local news site today:

Colombia’s security forces are still violating human rights, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos admitted Monday, “but we are in the process of improving and resolving,” he told United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay.

Remains of nine of the cafeteria workers at the Palace of Justice drama that disappeared after the army stormed the building to end a guerrilla occupation are in a laboratory of the National University in Bogotá, retired army colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega said Monday.

Colombian president Álvaro Uribe said Friday the scandal involving an intelligence investigation into an opposition senator may be a set up to harm the government’s ‘Democratic Security’ policy.

One person died and three were left injured after a grenade exploded Monday inside a warehouse in Cali. Police arrested a 17-year old suspect.

The U.S. led war on drugs has proven to be ineffective at best. However, like many government programs, admitting failure to the tune of billions of dollars is unpalatable for elected officials. Instead the U.S. government continues to put “lipstick on the pig” by suggesting that this is all part of the war on terror, something that the American people can accept.

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that  “Colombian authorities said on Tuesday that they had broken up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three people suspected of shipping funds to Hezbollah guerrillas.” Their proof? The arrest of three men with Arab names.  As recently as July of this year, John McCain has stated to the Times that “[w]e have a long way to go to stem the flow of drugs into the United States of America,” but “the progress that I’ve seen since previous visits here has been substantial and positive.”

In the meantime, almost 1 in 10 Colombians are displaced refugees in their own country and not a person inside the Bush Administration has said a word.

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I am sitting here watching the final debate between Senators Obama and McCain. The debate got to free trade, focusing on the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Playing the negative card, John McCain pointed out that Barack Obama opposed the free trade agreement with Colombia while agreeing to talk with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. “Bzzzzzz. Gotcha Barack”

Senator Obama cogently pointed out that trade unionists are systematically assassinated in Colombia and that country should not be rewarded for such institutionalized killing. McCain’s response?

We’ve got to honor our best ally in the region.

Senator McCain, when will we put the interests of our fellow human beings ahead of our favorite governments and their death squads?

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In a blog post a couple weeks back, I posed the question: Who do you trust with your pocket book? 87% of you said Obama. Seeing that a lot has happened since then in the global markets (a mild understatement!), I would like to revisit this topic as we enter the home stretch of the Presidential election. Is Obama or McCain better for your portfolio? The evidence seems to suggest that Wall Street performs better under Democratic administrations. Consider the below graph:

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Recently we wrote about John McCain’s deregulation views.

Given his well documented history as a pro-deregulation lawmaker, it is hard to see how McCain will be able to convince blue-collar voters in Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that he is the right person to address the current financial crisis on Wall Street.

One of my colleagues recently shared this YouTube video that confirms McCain’s historical view on why he thinks deregulation is the way to go.

Take a look.

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This is the third in a 3-Part series on the U.S. Presidential candidates and their positions on human rights.

Barack Obama describes his positions on human rights issues in the context of regional challenges. You can visit his web site for a more in-depth explanation of his views. Refer to our posts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week for more details about the differences between Senators Obama and McCain. [click to continue...]

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This is Part 2 in a 3-Part Series on the U.S. presidential candidates and their positions on human rights.

John McCain is a veteran of the Vietnam conflict and was a prisoner of war in North Vietnamese prisons for many years. This has given him first hand experience with the major issue of torture and he has taken an admirable position viv-a-vis the Bush Administration with regard to prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay, rendition, waterboarding and the like. However, from what I can tell, he does not speak to the broader issues related to global human rights on his official web site. Refer to our posts on Tuesday and Thursday of this week for more details about the differences between Senators Obama and McCain. [click to continue...]

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This is the first in a 3-Part series on the U.S. Presidential candidates and their positions on human rights.

As the presidential election approaches, I began to wonder where John McCain and Barak Obama stand on questions related to human rights. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at their official web sites and see what the candidates say on the broad subject.

What I found was interesting. [click to continue...]

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Obama vs. McCain

In your view, which presidential candidate will handle the economy better? The performance under recent administrations would seem to suggest that history favors the Democratic nominee. We would like to poll our readers as to which candidate they think will be the better steward of taxpayer money.

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