Critics are warning the rescue mission could help deflect attention from a series of controversies surrounding Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the extensive US military aid to his government. In a statement, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs said, “Mindless U.S. support of a regime that tacitly allowed [paramilitary] groups to function should not be applauded nor should the hundreds of trade union leaders that have been murdered during the Uribe presidency be forgotten.”