Colombia's Police Train Salvadoran Law Enforcement at U.S.-Funded Installation http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=868&Itemid=1

On Monday, September 12, members of the Colombian National Police began training Salvadoran, Mexican, Honduran and Guatemalan police and attorney generals at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in El Salvador. According to the Colombian Embassy in El Salvador, this week-long course specializing in anti-kidnapping and anti-extortion is meant to "share experiences among experts in the region."

While extortion is recognized as a one of the principal crimes affecting the population in El Salvador and throughout Central America, the increasing role of Colombian police and military in Mexican and Central American policing is cause for serious concern considering the abysmal human rights record of Colombian law enforcement, as is the active role of the U.S. State Department in facilitating and funding this collaboration through such institutions as the ILEA.

The ILEA, a project of the U.S. State Department, was opened in San Salvador in 2006; until now, the majority of instructors at the ILEA have come from various U.S. agencies, such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency. It is not a surprise that Colombia would be the first country in South America that the ILEA would ask to provide training, considering that "Plan Colombia" has been a cornerstone of the U.S. anti-narcotics policy throughout the region, despite its well-documented failures.

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