In Mexico, the Peace and Justice paramilitary group accused of the Acteal massacre was financed by the PRI state government. In Colombia, paramilitary squads emerged on a large scale in the 1980s. At first created and funded by drug traffickers, many of them operate with the tacit consent and often the active support of the Army. Despite this collaboration, the armies also take their existence as a pretext for incursions against civilian populations, as has been the case in Chiapas since the end of last year. Civilian authorities in these countries are unable or unwilling to restrain the military.
Officers are secure in past traditions of impunity.
There is evidence that the Twentieth Brigade, a special army intelligence unit, is directly responsible for murdering some activists. After an international outcry with major reports in the Washington Post and the Miami Herald , the brigade was disbanded in May, but its members were reassigned and there has been no move to prosecute them. Impunity for past actions leaves officers confident that they will not be held to account for future actions either. In each of these countries, U.S. military aid strengthens the armed forces logistically and politically. Here one must make distinctions.