Uribe tells US to butt out

This is interesting. Colombian president Uribe basically told the US government to STFU and stop meddling in his country's business after our Ambassdor publicly offered some unwanted advice on how to run Colombian's upcoming elections.

"The Colombian government does not accept the meddling of foreign governments, even if it is the United States," he said, adding that it is already clear that paramilitary leaders lose benefits if they break the law.

Uribe said Washington should not try to use Plan Colombia, an anti-drug program funded mostly by a $4 billion aid package from Washington, "to put pressure on our country."

Wood mumbled some apology about democracy. More interesting is this AP piece makes mention of the failure of the eradication program.

But Plan Colombia has not produced the results hoped for by either nation. Colombian rebels involved in drug trafficking remain a threat and the price of cocaine is cheaper on American streets than when the program began in 2000.

Some U.S. congressmen argue that because of that, Washington should cut its aid to Colombia, which gets more support from the United States than any country in the hemisphere.

One suspects the Beltway's displeasure is more driven by the Uribe's failure to get onboard the free trade express but nonetheless it's good to see the ill-advised Plan Colombia falling into disfavor.