Colombia must prepare to stand starkly alone. It is very likely that military aid from the United States will vanish in the near future, as Republicans and Democrats do battle.

President Alvaro Uribe may be winning the war in the Colombian jungles, but he's losing it in Washington.

It is not true that the two U.S. parties unite patriotically when faced with major foreign-policy challenges. That's part of the American mythology. If there's any electoral advantage in throwing overboard a foreign ally (or supporting him), Republicans and Democrats will do it. The only immovable principle is that elections must be won at any cost and under any pretext.

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