Colombia is a “Failed State” US experts say

[Judi Lynn]

09/02/2006 12:47 Bogotá

Colombia is a “Failed State” US experts say




Colombia's Uribe: A
little bit less than a
complete failure,
according to experts
Colombia background Colombia is a “Failed State” US experts say
Politics

Colombia scores high on the annual "Failed States Index" of the Washington-based Foreign Policy magazine. The collapsing government of President Uribe poses a threat to the security of the surrounding states and the Andean region. Only Haiti has more symptoms of state failure in the Western Hemisphere.

(Maria Engqvist, ANNCOL)The patterns of governmental collapse in President Alvaro Uribe’s Colombia are as bad as in North Korea according to a new study published by Washington experts.

"Failed States" are defined by the patterns of governmental collapse within a nation which often bring demands (because of the refugees they foster, the human rights they abridge and their inability to forestall starvation and disease) which threaten the security of their surrounding states and region. The failed state is considered "utterly incapable of sustaining itself as a member of the international community".The first annual "Failed States Index" is a project of Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, an organization that seeks to prevent war and alleviate the conditions that cause war.

The report concluded that uneven development "was the most common symptom of state failure among all states on the index, suggesting that inequality, rather than poverty, most determines instability."
(snip)

The 15 most at-risk countries, according to the study:
1. Ivory Coast
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo
3. Sudan
4. Iraq
5. Somalia
6. Sierra Leone
7. Chad
8. Yemen
9. Liberia
10. Haiti
11. Afghanistan
12. Rwanda
13. North Korea
14. Colombia
15. Zimbabwe
(snip/)

http://www.anncol.org/uk/site/doc.php?id=224



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Updated:2/8/06
U.S. Aid to Colombia Since 1997: Summary Tables

http://ciponline.org/colombia/aidtable.htm

Colombia is the third largest recipient of U.S. aid, right behind Israel and Egypt.

[LynnTheDem]

1. 4. Iraq ... 11. Afghanistan WELL DONE BUSH!

Notice Iran isn't on the list...yet.

[hobbit709]

2. Using the criteria of

"Failed States" are defined by the patterns of governmental collapse within a nation which often bring demands (because of the refugees they foster, the human rights they abridge and their inability to forestall starvation and disease) which threaten the security of their surrounding states and region. The failed state is considered "utterly incapable of sustaining itself as a member of the international community".
Shouldn't we be on this list too?

[sasha031]

3. I was going to ask the same question

well we are on our way...

could this be a good thing for Columbia in the long run, will they follow to a more leftist approach as their neighbors? Hope so...

[Bacchus39]

6. no, the leftist guerrillas have destroyed any chance

of legitamacy that a leftist movement would have.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Blame FARC for Urribe's failures and the elites' intransigence!

When the have-nots topple the haves, it will be a great day for humankind.

[Bacchus39]

9. yeah, the FARC has nothing to do with Colombia's problems

aha, good one.

but Colombia is no failed state. certainly better off than Paraguay, Bolivia, and most of Central America.

I didn't see any evidence of a failed state when I was there for 3 weeks in January. and people tend to like Uribe.

[IndianaGreen]

11. The people you consorted with liked Uribe

the vast masses of the workers and peasants do not share that point of view.

[Bacchus39]

12. you are incorrect

Uribe will be reelected by large margin.

but I did not hang with any FARC operatives.

[Flanker]

15. Do you support Uribe?

I personally think of him as better than the other right wing alternatives.

[Bacchus39]

21. Uribe has done much to attempt to bring the end of conflict

both the paramilitaries and guerrillas. Some paramilitaries have disbanded. The FARC refuses to play nicely and Uribe plays hard ball with them.

I don't see him as particularly right wing.

I am not anxious to see another latin american country become an "enemy" of the US like some here do. they seem to celebrate animosity. Colombia will be an ally of the US no matter who the US president is for years to come. That is a good thing I believe.

will Venezuela?? Why is Venezuela ranked number 21 in the failed state ranking?? I have yet to hear an answer from the very person who posted the ranking to begin with in an attempt to disparage Colombia.

[Judi Lynn]

22. I see. I owe you some response, is that it? Why didn't you request one?

Where do you imagine Venezuela stood, had there been one of these "failed state" reports prior to Hugo Chavez's election as President? Venezuela was really bad off long, long before he got there.

I went and looked at your other post, to see if there was something I missed. I had forgotten it, not thinking it significant. You remarked that Venezuela doesn't have an excuse for being 21st on this report, unlike Colombia. I would say the trouble created by _Bush's administration since he stole office has been a critical problem for Hugo Chavez, as it entailed an oil strike, lockout, a ton of needless, and vicious, evil crap concerning kidnapping Hugo Chavez, stealing his office, pitching the Venezuelan constitution, legislature, Supreme Court, etc., involving the country in petitions to recall, then a recall, (and bitching about the gross "unfairness" of the results, even though it was overseen by TONS of international observers) and more than I can remember.

With all this garbage, all these impediments being thrown in the way of the elected government, they STILL are pulling out of the hole the horrendous interference threw it into:

Economic Growth is a Home Run in Venezuela

By Mark Weisbrot

CARACAS - "Viva Chavez," shouted Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, as the team celebrated its World Series sweep last week. Guillen is Venezuelan, and a national hero in this country of 25 million people who seem to believe that they too, along with Chicagoans, have won the World Series.

His cheer for the country's leftist President Hugo Chavez might have caused some reaction just a year or two ago. But these days it went largely unnoticed, despite the continuing hostility between the Chavez government and the Bush administration. Relations between the two governments have been sour since the Bush administration supported a military coup against Chavez in April 2002, as well as a failed attempt to recall him last year.

But Chavez' popularity is now among the highest of any president in Latin America, with a 77 percent approval rating, according to the latest polling.

A few economic statistics go a long way in explaining why the Venezuelan government is doing so well and the opposition, which still controls most of the media and has most of the country's income, is flagging.

After growing nearly 18 percent last year, the Venezuelan economy has expanded 9.3 percent for the first half of this year - the fastest economic growth in the hemisphere. Although the government's detractors like to say this is just a result of high oil prices, it is not so simple.

Oil prices were even higher and rose much faster in the 1970s. But Venezuela's income per person actually fell during the 1970s. In fact, for the 28 years that preceded the current government (1970-1998), Venezuela suffered one of the worst economic declines in Latin America and the world: per capita income fell by 35 percent. This is a worse decline than even sub-Saharan Africa suffered during this period, and shows how completely dysfunctional the economic policies of the old system had become.

Although Chavez talks about building "21st century socialism," the Venezuelan government's economic policies are gradualist reform, more akin to a European-style social democracy. The private sector is actually a larger share of the Venezuelan economy today than it was before Chavez took office.

One important reform, long advocated by the International Monetary Fund, has been the improvement of tax collection. By requiring both foreign and domestically-owned companies to pay the taxes they owe, the government actually increased tax collection even during the deep recession of 2003 -- a rare economic feat.

As a result, the government is currently running a budget surplus, despite billions of dollars of increased social spending that now provides subsidized food to 40 percent of the population, health care for millions of poor people, and greatly increased education spending. The official poverty rate has fallen to 38.5 percent from its most recent peak of 54 percent after the opposition oil strike. But this measures only cash income; if the food subsidies and health care were taken into account, it would be well under 30 percent.

The government's currency controls have also helped to stem the capital flight that had hurt the economy prior to 2003. The country's public debt and foreign debt are at moderate levels. With an accumulated $30 billion of reserves - perhaps twice what the country needs -- Venezuela is well-poised to maintain growth even if oil prices drop unexpectedly.
(snip/...)

http://www.cepr.net/columns/weisbrot/2005_11_01.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Context is everything. Fortunately, people with questions will always look for the answers, if they care enough. It's harder for propagandists to fool people who take the initiative to do their own research.

[Bacchus39]

23. oil prices and economic growth, wow what a surprise!!

Saudi Arabia is doing OK too I think.

and I agree with you about the problems in Venezuela. the trashing of the constitution, the stacking of the supreme court, the "insult" law, the suppression of the media, the initial refusal to conduct a Constitutional recall are all symptoms of why Venezuela is #21

Not to mention the corruption and crime in Venezuela. However, I believe that Sr. Hugo Chavez has alot more to do with the situation currently in Venezuela than Bushy.

where would Chavez be if he had a civil war? why did you post this anyway? why are you trying to discredit our ONE ally in South America. Do you want relations with Colombia to deteriorate like they have with Venezuela? I am happy we have good relations with Colombia. I hope we always do.

[Judi Lynn]

25. Are you saying I should clear my posts with you first? You don't approve?

I should seek your advice before posting? Is this just me, or all Democrats?

Sorry, I don't think that's going to happen.

So Colombia's government can be bought. Colombia doesn't have a populist President. Their right-wing is apparently too powerful. It probably wouldn't be as powerful without the assistant of the murderous paramilitaries, who by any standards, have committed the most astonishingly hideous violence, using chain saws, disembowment, beheadings, etc., etc. to control the poorest, and most helpless of the country, and also to assist in elections.

On edit: To save time, I've taken the liberty of including a good illustration:

February 5, 2001

Colombian Army Promotes Human Rights Abusers

by Liam Craig-Best

Two weeks ago the Colombian military completed a process of personnel changes at the highest levels of the army. Although no senior commanders were dismissed some of the changes did involve promotions. As is usual in the Colombian military, the past human rights performance of the officers involved were not taken into account when the changes were made. Three cases of interest are:

General Carlos Alberto Ospina Ovalle -- New Commander of Army

Operations General Ospina has a long history in the Colombian military during which time he has commanded many different units. He has attended various courses in the United States, including at the infamous School of the Americas and, most recently, at the National Defense University in Washington D.C.

Ospina also has a long history of violating the human rights of civilian non-combatants and of working closely with paramilitary death squads, most notably those working under Carlos Castaño. According to the Human Rights Watch report of February 2000, Ospina commanded the 4th Brigade at a time (1997-1999) when there was "extensive evidence of pervasive ties" between that brigade and various paramilitary death squads.

Among the numerous violations of human rights that Ospina was responsible for during this period was the October 1997 El Aro massacre in which soldiers under his command maintained a perimeter around the town of El Aro whilst a paramilitary death squad carried out a massacre. According to Human Rights Watch approximately 25 paramilitaries entered the town, rounded up the residents and executed four people in the central plaza. They then ordered storeowner Aurelio Areiza and his family to slaughter a cow and prepare food from their shelves to feed the death squad members. The next day the paramilitaries took Areiza to a nearby house, tied him to a tree, then tortured and killed him. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that Arieza had his eyes gouged out and his tongue and testicles cut off.

The paramilitaries stayed in El Aro for five days and when residents tried to flee, the soldiers under Ospina's command who were camped around the outskirts of town turned them back. The perimeter was in place both to ensure that nobody could escape the bloodbath and to prevent guerrilla forces from coming to the aid of the civilian population by attacking the paramilitaries.

During their time in El Aro the paramilitaries, assisted by the army, executed at least eleven people, including three children, burned forty-seven of the sixty-eight houses, including a pharmacy, a church, and the telephone exchange, looted stores, destroyed the pipes that fed the homes potable water, and forced most of the residents to flee. When they left on October 30, the paramilitaries took with them over 1,000 head of cattle along with goods looted from homes and stores. Afterwards, thirty other people were reported to have been forcibly disappeared.
(snip/...)

http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia49.htm

[Bacchus39]

28. Democrats???

you are a DINO maybe. You seem to enjoy rooting against the US. you can post anything you like but I don't have to agree with it. I certainly can question you on it.

When the next president is a Democrat, I am sure Colombia will be our ally. More so than Venezuela.

it would be extremely difficult for a leftist president to be elected in Colombia. the people are not sympathetic to the FARC.

[Judi Lynn]

29. They are probably told where their sympathies lie by paramilitaries.

I can imagine they get the idea after hearing the news of villages being absolutely slaughtered and by whom.

[Bacchus39]

30. you think Colombia is really backward don't you??

the FARC is no boy scout group. neither are paramilitaries. but you will not condemn the FARC.

[Judi Lynn]

31. Why do I keep hearing the paramilitaries are responsible for the lion's

share of the goddawful bloody terrorism of the Colombian citizens? It definitely keeps them all safely in line. I can see how that would happen. Here's another article:

May 21, 2001

The Alto Naya Massacre: Another Paramilitary Outrage

by Liam Craig-Best and Rowan Shingler

The district of Alto Naya on the border of the southwestern Colombian departments of Cauca and Valle experienced a savage three day paramilitary onslaught between April 10 and 13 leaving an estimated 120 people dead and more than 4,000 displaced. The episode has once again exposed not only the inhuman brutality of the paramilitary death squads (witnessed on an almost daily basis), but also the complicity of the Colombian Armed Forces and the negligence of the Colombia State with regards to adequately defending the basic human rights of its citizens.

"The remains of a woman were exhumed. Her abdomen was cut open with a chainsaw. A 17-year-old girl had her throat cut and both hands also amputated."
Eduardo Cifuentes, National Ombudsman

Paramilitary activity in the area began on April 10 when peasants sighted a group of 90 men who were later confirmed, by both local guerrilla units and other peasants, to be part of a much larger paramilitary unit consisting of over 400 men in one large and two smaller contingents. Eyewitness Delio Chate said that the killing began on April 11 when death-squads entered his village, as well as the villages of El Ceral, La Silvia, La Mina, El Playa, Alto Seco and Palo Grande among others. According to Chate, the paramilitaries dragged people accused of being guerrilla sympathizers into the street and killed them.

In the tiny village of Patiobonito the death squads killed 7, including a local shopkeeper accused of selling food and supplies to the guerrillas and an indigenous council worker, Cayetano Pilcue, who was murdered for possessing a mobile phone. The other five victims were all members of the same indigenous family: Daniel Suarez, his wife Flor Dizut and their 3 nephews; William, Fredy and Gonzalo Osorio Lopez.
(snip/...)

http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia64.htm

[Bacchus39]

36. because that is what you are looking for

and that is what you want to believe. am I wrong??

do you ever wonder why the paramilitaries were formed in the first place??

[High Plains]

27. That's not saying much now, is it?

[High Plains]

26. Try going to Putumayo province or outside the big cities

The Colombian state is quite noticeable by its absence, except for soldiers and guns.

No development. Plenty of soldiers and guns.
Shitty roads. Plenty of soldiers and guns.
Couldn't give a shit about the peasantry. Plenty of soldiers and guns.

In many places in Colombia, the state doesn't even exist, except for...soldiers and guns.

[Bacchus39]

37. I did, I went to Aipe. ever hear of it??

I bet not. Look it up. It was beautiful. Went to Popayan too.

Shitty roads, soldiers, and disinterested government. Show me a latin country that isn't. Costa Rica maybe. 1 out of 3 maybe. Won't see Argentina until later in the year.

[mom cat]

32. Just be patient. Bush is working on that as fast as he can!

[RagingInMiami]

4. The US is a failed state under Bush

[hadrons]

5. did they used the same grading curve as Bush gets?

[Up2Late]

8. Looks more like a list of countries that the Bush Cabal wants to change...

...their governments (or are in the process of changing through covert action).

If you notice, these are almost all former French, Belgian, and other non-english speaking former European colonies, who left behind mostly Socialist governments, or countries where the U.S. has been trying to convert into Puppet "Free-market Capitalist" government.

[Bacchus39]

10. Venezuela 21st

and they have no civil war to pin their excuses on.

Here is one of the reasons that Colombia is ranked low as given by that website.

"Conflict may be concentrated in local territories seeking autonomy or secession (as in the Philippines and Russia). In other countries, instability takes the form of episodic fighting, drug mafias, or warlords dominating large swaths of territory (as in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Somalia). State collapse sometimes happens suddenly, but often the demise of the state is a slow and steady deterioration of social and political institutions (Zimbabwe and Guinea are good examples). Some countries emerging from conflict may be on the mend but in danger of backsliding (Sierra Leone and Angola). The World Bank found that, within five years, half of all countries emerging from civil unrest fall back into conflict in a cycle of collapse (Haiti and Liberia)."


I agree, if the FARC was defeated, Colombia would see rapid improvement.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Colombia's paramilitaries have committed mind-numbingly evil atrocities

for ages, and this information doesn't seem to make it into prominent American papers, much less even a moment's time on tv news shows. Hearing about it from Colombian citizens (non-right-wing) will surely make a believer of anyone.

Just plunge right into any internet search, and use words like "chain saw," and "machete" and "massacre" and "paramilitary" and you'll have more than you can handle in reading material. You can also do a search on "paramilitaries" and "voting booths" to determine that these same people hover around and INSIDE voting areas, and have destroyed ballots, and harmed people voting or trying to vote.

It will take time, of course, but you'll get the picture. It's better than living in the dark.

Here's a quick link:

July 1, 2005

Colombia's Disappeared
Their Names, At Least
By JUSTICIA Y PAZ


Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez opened negotiations with the country's right-wing paramilitaries almost as soon as he took office in August 2002. The paramilitaries -- currently grouped in a national federation called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) -- have been responsible for the majority of murders and forced displacements of civilians in Colombia's tragic armed conflict for many years. Over 3 million Colombians have been uprooted from their homes and communities -- "displaced" -- since 1985, and tens of thousands more have been murdered. The paramilitaries' signature terror methods include slow torture, dismemberment, and the use of chainsaws. When guerrilla groups participated in the formation of new political parties in the 1980s as part of an attempt to resolve the decades-old war between the government and guerrillas, paramilitaries exterminated over 3,000 members of these new parties.
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/cryan07012005.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 30, 2002

Reinventing Carlos Castaño

by Garry Leech

~snip~
Castaño, a former army scout and associate of drug lord Pablo Escobar, took over the reins of Colombia's largest paramilitary force, the Self-Defense Forces of Córdoba and Urabá (ACCU), in 1994 after his older brother Fidel disappeared. The ACCU and other regional paramilitary groups in Colombia worked hand in glove with the U.S.-backed Colombian military, which routinely provided them with intelligence, weapons and transportation so they could effectively target suspected rebel sympathizers including labor leaders, community organizers and human rights activists. With funding from drug traffickers, wealthy landowners, and the business community, Colombia's paramilitaries grew dramatically during the 1990s from an estimated 850 paramilitary fighters at the beginning of the decade to approximately 12,000 today. In 1997, Castaño oversaw the merging of the regional paramilitary forces into one national organization, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).

AUC fighters routinely induced fear in the rural population by entering villages and rounding up the residents in the town plaza. They would then brutally kill a handful of villagers, often dismembering them with machetes and chainsaws, before ordering the rest of the people to leave the region. By forcibly displacing the rural population in this manner, the paramilitaries hoped to eliminate local support for the guerrillas. This strategy has aggravated the already grossly inequitable distribution of arable lands as large landowners, as well as multinational corporations interested in oil, coal and natural gas resources, have taken over much of the abandoned land. More than 2.5 million rural Colombians have been displaced by the conflict in the past 15 years, many of them fleeing to the impoverished shantytowns that are rapidly encircling many of Colombia's cities.
(snip/...)

http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia133.htm



Paramilitary leader, Carlos Castaño

more paramilitary photos:
http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/Images/Delegations%20pix/Gallery%20of%20Rogues/Galleryofrogues.htm

[sasha031]

17. fascination information and research Judi Lynne, as always

in the Bush's adm. eyes Castaño will make an excellent leader, he must be envious. But then again Halliburton is busy as can be building detention centers in our own back yard, so at least he's aspiring to set up a like system in the US.

It blows my mind what this country has done in nations under the name of fighting the commies. So tragic, so many have suffered.

[Roland99]

14. So, Iran (not on the list) and North Korea are more stable than Iraq/Afgh.

Wow.

[HuffleClaw]

16. haiti too, despite their sininster machinations there

i guess its a 'failed state' because THEY failed to install a puppet government?

[Judi Lynn]

18. They wouldn't be as failed if right-wing U.S. interests didn't interfering

in their government. Damned shame.

Doesn't looks as if they'll be allowed to breathe until _Bush can find another Duvalier type with a brutal secret police force to control Haiti again.

[mom cat]

34. Or because the puppet govt that we helped install failed so

miserably.I wonder how long it will be before the US tries to undermine Preval.

[Canuckistanian]

19. Say, isn't Venezuela next to Colombia?

What a coincidence. Next, Colombia will be needing "military aid".

[Bridget Burke]

20. We're already giving Colombia military aid.

It started under Clinton--or earlier--but has gotten worse under Bush. No surprise. This was written in 2004.

Harken Energy is the latest oil company to benefit from the United States’ escalating involvement in Colombia. On November 4, the Texas-based company announced the signing of a new oil exploration and production contract in Colombia. The company is closely linked to President George W. Bush who served on its board of directors from 1986 until 1990. In addition to providing half a billion dollars a year in Plan Colombia aid during his first term, President Bush has given Colombia almost $100 million in counterterrorism aid and deployed U.S. Army Special Forces troops to protect a major oil pipeline. The escalating U.S. military intervention in Colombia, along with International Monetary Fund (IMF)-imposed economic reforms, has created favorable conditions for foreign companies such as Harken seeking to exploit Colombia’s oil reserves.

U.S. military aid is providing a secure environment in which U.S. oil companies can operate in Colombia. In conjunction with military aid, IMF structural adjustment programs are creating an economic environment favorable to foreign companies. In return for loans in December 1999 and January 2004 totaling almost $5 billion, the IMF demanded that Colombia restructure state-owned entities. Accordingly, President Alvaro Uribe has restructured Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol over the past two years, providing favorable investment conditions for foreign oil companies such as Harken.

www.colombiajournal.org/colombia198.htm

[K-W]

24. The same US experts who designed the tactics that made it fail?

The same US experts who, under the guise of the 'war on drugs' have justified US funding for oppressive and brutal groups in columbia. The same US experts who justify the continued, UN backed occupation of Haiti to make sure a nation of the descendents of slaves will continue to provide some of the cheapest labor in the world with the excuse that Haitians cant govern themselves?

Or are these different experts?

[Oversea Visitor]

33. What Iran not in there?

Haha
Bush trying to change that now hahaha

Sometime I think I am going nuts. Present world condition does not leave much for logical reasoning no more. What a crappy time, hope this will not be the kind of environment that we leave for the future generations.

[Critters2]

35. Screwed up

on the NCLB tests, huh? Bummer.