Suspected ties in Colombia

Re “Colombia army chief linked to outlaw militias,” March 25

Shame on The Times for publishing a front-page article that is mainly designed to play into political games with the clear objective of making Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s government look bad. It is amazing that I have to read more than half of the article before I find that a CIA spokesperson said the sources are unconfirmed. The Uribe government has enjoyed tremendous support among Colombians, and Colombia has been our best friend in the Americas. Since Uribe took office, Colombia is at peace in most of its territory and has benefited from Uribe’s policies of attracting foreign investment, commerce and tourism and achieving a high economic growth rate.

WILLIAM VITERI

Diamond Bar

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I commend The Times for coming forth with the leaked CIA report on suspected Colombian military links to terrorist groups and operations. Considering that more of our tax dollars go to Colombia’s military than to the rest of Latin America, getting to the bottom of this and expunging U.S. culpability is a must. Colombia’s army commander, Gen. Mario Montoya, has called on The Times to produce the documents. Will The Times join the Bush administration in not allowing those documents to be seen?

MATTHEW GLESNE

Los Angeles