U.S. authorities want the suspects and the GOC has promised to extradite leading members of Colombia's drug cartels. At least eight people were killed and 45 injured in a car blast Nov. 11 in an affluent northern suburb of Bogota. The U.S. Congress recessed without approving the large supplemental appropriation for Colombia. The Administration has promised President Pastrana that it will push for the additional assistance when Congress reconvenes after the first of the year. As the program becomes more widely disseminated throughout Colombia, the demand for grant funds has increased substantially.
Plans are underway to expand the program.
Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Victor G. Ricardo, submitted a formal request to Amb. OTI will fund the program, also funded by the Canadians and Swedish governments, with Javeriana and Georgetown Universities. The program will be coordinated with ICRC which has the mandate to provide immediate humanitarian assistance, the World Food Program, and the GOC's Red de Solidaridad that coordinates all activities for the displaced. The Salesian Mission's program in Ariari that provides scholarships to children from ages 9 to 18 who are highly vulnerable to forced or voluntary recruitment into the insurgent forces is proving highly successful. OTI is discussing the possibility of a national scholarship program with the Episcopal Conference of Colombia.