GOP PR Group Strikes Out In Columbia

The secretive Washington-based PR firm the Rendon Group apparently dealt the Columbian Ministry of Defense a losing hand.

According to its website, Rendon has been working closely with the Colombian Army, Navy, Air Force and National Police on "message development and dissemination, strategic communications planning, and media event planning." To those ends, Rendon created a deck of playing cards featuring Columbian "narco-terrorists" -- otherwise known as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and two other antigovernment groups. The Washington Times writes, "A State Department official ... said wanted posters in the form of playing cards are a poor fit in Colombia. In fact, he said, some diplomats were 'surprised' to find out last year that a defense contractor working in Colombia used its contract dollars to produce the decks." The State Department has blocked distribution of the decks. The Rendon Group gained notoriety for its work in Iraq -- it's credited with creating the Iraqi National Congress for the CIA in the early 90s -- and for its post-9/11 contract with the Pentagon.