12 Aug, 2002
Two men contracted by the US State Department to implement various counterinsurgency strategies in Colombia were killed earlier this month, one after a US Huey helicopter was brought down by what some reports say was rebel gunfire.
A Colombian army helicopter donated by the US as part of their massive military aid program to Colombia was brought down last week by what some reports say was bad weather whilst others blame guerrilla gunfire. The Huey helicopter, which came down in the region between the towns of Solita and Valparaiso, was giving air support during heavy combat between FARC rebel units and US-trained troops from one of the counterinsurgency battalions that is also financed by US military aid.
Six occupants of the Huey helicopter where killed in the incident on August 1st including the El Salvadorian pilot Eduardo Gil who was working on contract for the US State Department. Specifically Gil was employed by DynCorp, a Virginia-based mercenary company run by ex-US military and intelligence personnel who supply manpower for US semi-covert operations.
DynCorp employs numerous foreigners for their missions in Colombia in an effort to circumvent Congressional restrictions on the numbers of US citizens allowed to directly participate in the Colombian civil war.
In another incident on the same day a Panamanian computer technician, also employed by DynCorp on behalf of the State Department, was killed in the Villa Garzon region of the southern Colombian department of Putumayo. No further details are known about his death.