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Colombia farm scandal

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Small farmers in Colombia were supposed to get millions in farm subsidies. But much of the cash has gone to political supporters of Colombia’s president. And that’s caused a scandal that’s hurting the president. Correspondent John Otis reports.

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman.  This is The World.  Colombia provides a case study into why much of the Latin American countryside remains stuck in poverty.  The government in Bogota set up a program to distribute agricultural subsidies.  The money was supposed to help small farmers.  Guess what.  It helped big ones, and ones with political connections.  John Otis sent us this report from Bogota.

JOHN OTIS: Spectators at a Colombian congressional hearing demand the resignation of the country’s agriculture minister. They’re angry about rampant corruption in a government program known as Agro Ingreso Seguro, or AIS.  AIS provides money for irrigation and other projects that are supposed to help small growers and prepare the rural economy for greater competition that’s expected if the US Congress approves a pending free-trade deal with Colombia.  But applying for the subsidies requires mountains of paperwork and feasibility studies that can cost thousands of dollars. Peasant farmers just can’t afford to apply. So a small clique of rich landowners has snapped up most of the program’s $250 million in yearly subsidies.  The Colombian media has pounced on the story.

ANNOUNCER: [speaking Spanish]

OTIS: The most notorious case involves a wealthy family that temporarily divided its land among five relatives, including a former Miss Colombia. That allowed the family to receive five cash transfers from the government to the of tune of more than $1 million.  Colombian Senator Luis Carlos Galan has been investigating AIS.

LUIS CARLOS GALAN: The subsidies were deliberately concentrated in the hands of a group of rich people who don’t need these subsidies.

OTIS: Galan says many of those who benefited from AIS have provided campaign donations to President Uribe.  He’s trying to change the constitution so he can run for a third term next May.  The AIS controversy has provided fodder for a satirical cartoon about Uribe called “The Little Tyrant.” In the latest installment, the cartoon Uribe claims the farm subsidy program is contributing to the most noble national cause, his own re-election.

CARTOON URIBE: [speaking Spanish]

OTIS: During his seven years in office, Uribe has overcome numerous scandals. But the prospect of plantation owners getting even richer off the government till has struck a nerve here because it exposes a system rigged in favor of the wealthy.  Though he’s still popular, Uribe’s approval rating has dropped about six points since the scandal broke this fall. He recently went on national television to apologize.

ALVARO URIBE: [speaking Spanish] It’s hard to comprehend why people would take advantage of a program that’s so important for developing the Colombian countryside. I don’t understand it. It’s very bad.

OTIS: Some analysts say the scandal is partly the result of Uribe’s philosophy, that helping the wealthy creates jobs for all. But economic progress has failed to trickle down in rural areas where most people survive on less than $2  a day.  These peasant farmers use machetes to weed their potato fields in the Andean mountains near Bogota. It’s backbreaking work often on steep, 45-degree slopes. They have no machinery or irrigation hoses and they say it’s tough to secure bank loans. In other words, they’re just the kind of people the AIS program was designed to help.  But few of them have even heard of AIS.  One farmer who has applied for an AIS subsidy is Martin Rodriguez, who grows carrots, but he doubts that he’ll be selected because he has no political connections.

MARTIN RODRIGUEZ:  [speaking Spanish]

OTIS: “That’s the way the oligarchy and the government work, he says. Everything always goes their way.

CECILIA LOPEZ:  [speaking Spanish]

OTIS: Colombian Senator Cecilia Lopez points out that government subsidies of $75,000 or more were just a drop in the hat for rich farmers. But for peasants and sharecroppers, that kind of money could have changed lives.  Last week, Colombian authorities opened an investigation into 87 people implicated in the scandal, including beneficiaries, contractors and the country’s agriculture minister.  For The World, I’m John Otis in Bogota, Colombia.

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