The U.S. State Dept. recently issued a call to riot-gear manufacturers to submit proposals for equipment that it hopes to ship to the Government of Bolivia by July 31.

While competitive bid requests typically focus on securing the best-priced package that potential contractors have to offer, the cost in this case is subservient to two other factors: the suitability of the protective gear, and the swiftness by which it can be shipped to Bolivia.  

U.S. counter-narcotics programs will be addressed during a July 12 hearing of a House Appropriations Committee panel. The Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Subcommittee will meet at 2 p.m. in room #2359 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.  No further details are currently available.

Wiretapping and weaponry – and the training and advisement of the Colombian National Police (CNP) and military in these seemingly disparate technical fields – are the prerequisite areas of expertise for the latest U.S. State Dept. advisor position created in Colombia.

The Narcotics Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Bogota yesterday launched a search to employ and deploy such an advisor. The selected candidate will coordinate purchases of electronic surveillance equipment and weapons for CNP, and also will be responsible for ensuring that Colombian police and soldiers are properly trained to use the new gear.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is reviewing proposals to help it carry out its latest economic development strategy for Jamaica, a five-year joint initiative whose stated, primary goal is to "improve the education of targeted Jamaican youth." The agency began soliciting proposals in late May, and has set a July 15 deadline for proposal submissions.

Among the many segments of the USAID plan – which is formally known as the Sustainable Development Strategy for Jamaica 2005-2009 – are initiatives to get parents more involved in their children’s school systems, to reduce violent and disruptive behavior of young men, and to increase government accountability to control corruption.

The U.S. State Dept. has created a new Security Advisor position to assist the Colombian National Police (CNP) in repelling attacks on police stations and counterdrug bases throughout the country. Whereas most U.S. advisors in the recent past have been deployed to oversee aerial drug-interdiction operations, this newly developed position clearly indicates a level of stepped-up U.S. involvement in ground-based conflicts.

The Andean Counterdrug Initiative would get $735 million under a bill that a U.S. House panel approved today, a proposal that matches the Bush Administration's fiscal year 2006 request and represents a $9 million increase over the FY 2005 level. The revised bill would carve out $512 million specifically for Colombia.

The House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee, which referred the bill to the full committee for consideration, also marked up a separate $437 million proposal for International Narcotics Control programs -- an increase of $111 million over last year. Although this request is $89 million less than the Bush Administration's overall proposal request for the international counterdrug programs, it is proposing to boost the President's $30 million request for Mexico by an additional $10 million.

Several documents detailing the use of Central American and Caribbean airports by counter-narcotics units of the United States Air Combat Command were published today on the Internet, an action undertaken specifically for the benefit of companies seeking to do business with the U.S. government.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week forwarded to several congressional committees a bill (H.R. 2672) known as the North American Cooperative Security Act, legislation that, in the words of its original cosponsors, seeks to establish "a framework for better management, communication, and coordination between the governments" of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Among its many provisions is a vague proposal to increase information sharing among the three nations; a slightly more detailed proposal to develop "national" biometric databases to track suspected terrorists, smugglers, and illegal aliens; and the suggestion to identify opportunities "to increase cooperation" in the detection of smuggled nuclear and radioactive materials.

Upon closer inspection of the bill is a segment focusing on a "security" issue that deviates from the usual terrorist/alien/smuggler concerns.

That issue involves oil production.

We have belatedly learned that The Guardian, one of London's leading print- and online-media organizations, has given significant credence to a news report that NarcoSphere and the Narco News Bulletin provided in recent months. Relying exclusively on the report, Mercenaries to Play Greater Role in Future U.S.-Led Drug Interdiction, Crop Eradication Missions, journalist Rob Gowland on April 20 wrote:

The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) has launched a technology assistance project that will enable the government of Peru to spark private-sector exploration of untapped oil and natural-gas reserves -– an initiative whose primary aim is to entice foreign investors. This attempted expansion of oil- and gas-exploration opportunities in Peru comes at a time when its neighbor to the southeast, Bolivia, stands practically on the brink of civil war over the control of such national hydrocarbon resources.