As Colombia's nearly five-decade civil war simmers on, the country remains the world's third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid, and has the second-largest displaced population in the world. The cocaine trade continues to fuel the armed conflict; there are abundant reports indicating that the supposedly demobilised paramilitaries, blamed for the lion's share of the atrocities committed in the civil war and led by drug lords, have regrouped; and nearly half of the population lives in poverty. The scandal over ties with paramilitary groups dogs the Álvaro Uribe government. Small farmers and indigenous and black communities are often caught in the crossfire between the rebels, the paramilitaries and the security forces. The conflict's victims are the civilian population, human rights and truth.