Colombia's civil war is the United States war in the Western Hemisphere. Each year the US provides over a half billion dollars to the Colombian police and military, and trains thousands of Colombian soldiers. Colombia is the largest recipient of US aid outside the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq. Civil war has been the history of Colombia for over 40 years - poverty and/or dislocation remains the condition of the majority of its people. There are over 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia and many more have fled the country for the US, Canada, Europe and other nations in South America. Every day, 20 are killed for political reasons, and hundreds become refugees in a war that simmers and boils over periodically in massacre.
