U.S. Hypocrisy: Bolivia and the International Criminal Court

Less than a month after an assertively anti-American president took office in Bolivia, the Bush administration is planning to cut military aid to the country by 96 percent.

… The State Department said the military aid is being cut because of a law that says Washington must end military assistance to countries that have failed to ratify a pledge not to extradite Americans to the International Criminal Court. The Bush administration does not recognize the court as legitimate.

… Administration officials said some of those other countries won exemptions because they were allies while others were not members of the International Criminal Court system and therefore not subject to the American law.

… In the current fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2005, Bolivia is to receive about $1.7 million. Next year, according to the budget proposal, Bolivia would get only $70,000. Just over half of this year's money would be used for civil defense supplies and other nonlethal equipment. Another $792,000 would be used primarily to send Bolivian military officers to the School of the Americas in Georgia. In recent years, Bolivia has sent between 50 and 100 officers a year to the school,….

Joel Brinkley, “Bush Budget Would Cut Military Aid to Bolivia by 96 Percent,” New York Times, 2/09/06.