New man, same plan: Continuity expected with new US ambassador

[Judi Lynn]

by Jack Norman May 7, 2019

There’s little mystery about what Philip Goldberg will bring once confirmed by the US Senate as new ambassador to Colombia: More of the same.

Goldberg fits perfectly with the aggressive foreign policy of National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Most recently, that world view has included a defiant re-assertion of the two-century old Monroe Doctrine that puts the US as master in Latin America.

Goldberg, a 63-year old experienced diplomat, ably demonstrated his ability to ruffle local feathers on behalf of Washington when he was expelled as Ambassador to Bolivia in 2008. Bolivian President Evo Morales said Goldberg plotted against him during a time when the US was at odds with Morales’ left-wing policies.

Morales acted after Goldberg met with the governor of Santa Cruz, a wealthy province threatening to secede from Bolivia. Washington responded by expelling the Bolivian ambassador and the countries have been without ambassadors ever since.

Without any US cooperation, Bolivia’s coca cultivation dropped 20% in the decade that followed while that of Colombia nearly doubled.

. . .

Today, two decades of Plan Colombia and $11 billion in US military aid later, cocaine exports are higher than ever and political stability in Colombia is again seriously threatened. This time it’s a combination of recalcitrant leftist rebels, well-armed narco-traffickers and illegal gold miners, rambunctious farmers and indigenous peoples, and powerful right-wing landowners.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/new-man-same-plan-continuity-expected-with-new-us-ambassador/