Colombia: The Air Force as Welfare Worker

The jungle airstrip was hardly big enough, but a Colombian air force DC-4 touched down to unload a most unmilitary cargo: beds, trunks, dogs, chickens and 64 stony-faced peasants who had been strapped in the bucket seats. The peasants were homesteaders arriving at the outpost town of Florencia to start a new life in Colombia's rich but remote southwest. By sunset, the air force plane was back in Bogota, 240 miles away, with a load of hardwood.

Lugging peasants and lumber hardly fits the usual picture of a Latin American military outfit. But...

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