Ex-secret police chief arrested for alleged ties with Colombia's far-right militias

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-secret police chief arrested for alleged ties with Colombia's far-right militias
The Associated Press
Published: February 22, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia: A former director of Colombia's secret police under President Alvaro Uribe was arrested Thursday on charges of murder and collaborating with the country's illegal far-right militias, his lawyer said.

Jorge Noguera, former head of the Department of Administrative Security, or DAS, was arrested as he gave testimony in the chief federal prosecutor's office, said lawyer Orlando Perdomo.

The DAS is roughly equivalent to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service combined and also deals with immigration issues.

Noguera has been investigated for allegedly handing over a hit list of human rights workers and trade union activists to the far-right paramilitaries. A number of the people on the list later were killed.
(snip/...)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/22/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Spy-Chief-Arrested.php

(My emphasis)

[Judi Lynn]

1. More on the head of Colombia's secret police:

From 2005:

Last Updated: Wednesday, 26 October 2005, 12:55 GMT 13:55 UK
Colombia intelligence chief quits



Mr Noguera asked the authorities to investigate the accusations

Colombia's intelligence chief has quit amid allegations that his security agency was infiltrated by the main right-wing paramilitary group.
President Alvaro Uribe accepted the resignation of Jorge Noguera, the head of the Administrative Security Department (DAS).

Mr Noguera denied the accusations, which were published in a local newspaper.

President Uribe also dismissed the agency's deputy director, Jose Narvaez.

The daily El Tiempo reported that DAS officers were secretly taped while discussing alleged plans by a close aide to Mr Noguera to sell intelligence information to Colombia's paramilitaries.
(snip)

A regional chief in north-west Colombia has also been accused of fabricating a plot to assassinate President Uribe in order to take credit for foiling the attack.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4378326.stm

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

Looks as if we, the taxpayers funding this multi-billion dollar cash give-away to Colombia, regularly, thanks to _Bush, are literally the last to know, as it comes out now that people everywhere have been following this right-wing paramilitary scandal for a long, long time, and we're just starting to hear about it, here, very recently.

[gratuitous]

2. Bernie Kerik, update your resume

Looks like a job might be opening up where Mr. Kerik's peculiar abilities would make him the perfect candidate.

But Hugo Chavez called Bush the devil! Waaaaaahhh!

[Heidi]

3. Kick.

:kick:

[Robbien]

4. Arrest moves Colombian scandal closer to Uribe

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Authorities on Thursday arrested the former head of Colombia's top police agency in connection with a widening paramilitary scandal that is moving closer to President Alvaro Uribe.

The arrest of Jorge Noguera, who directed the Department of Administrative Security, or DAS, follows the resignation Monday of Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo. Araujo's brother is among five congressmen, all staunch Uribe supporters, who have been arrested on charges of having links to illegal right-wing militias.

Noguera, 43, was a close associate of the president. Noguera organized Uribe's 2002 presidential campaign in Colombia's coastal zone.

. . .

Although he had little government experience, Noguera was named head of the powerful investigative entity after Uribe took office. Informants accused Noguera of doing the bidding of right-wing paramilitary commanders while heading the agency, a post roughly equivalent to FBI director in the United States. One informant said Noguera ordered him to destroy the criminal files of some alleged paramilitary leaders.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-colombia23feb23,1,3783018.story?coll=la-news-a_section

HuffingtonPost has a great post up today on this called

U.S. "Free Trade": Death, Drugs and Despair in Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

5. Omigod. Look at what ELSE appears in this L.A. Times article:

Noguera also was accused of playing host to men accused of plotting to kill Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

This is horrendous. We've read about various plans and plots in Colombia, but only NOW do we hear they went as high as the head of the Secret Police. My God.

Surely someone will indicate where this plot came from ...... Of course it goes higher.

Thanks a lot for the article.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Unidentified gunmen in Colombia fire shots outside paper's offices

Unidentified gunmen in Colombia fire shots outside paper's offices
Datum nieuwsfeit: 23-02-2007

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Unidentified gunmen in Colombia fire shots outside paper's offices

New York, February 22, 2007 --Unidentified gunmen fired shots outside the offices of the Cali-based bimonthly publication La Razón on Tuesday, injuring three people. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the incident was an attack against the paper's director, Édgar Buitrago Rico, who had been threatened with death.

At 3: 45 p.m. on Tuesday, two armed men approached La Razón's offices in Cali, 273 miles (440 km.) southwest of Bogotá, Buitrago told CPJ. One of the assailants attacked Buitrago's bodyguard, Gustavo Adolfo Alape, while the second tried to break into the paper. According to Buitrago, Alape drew his weapon and shots were fired from both sides before the attackers ran away. Alape was shot in the hand, and a printing press employee and a passerby received minor injuries to the legs. Buitrago was in his office while the gunshots were fired.

Buitrago told CPJ he believes the attack was retaliation for his critical reporting on local government corruption in La Razón.

On February 8, the journalist received an unsigned e-mail message to the paper's address warning him that if he kept up his reporting, he would meet his aggressor in the next life. Buitrago said that in August and September 2006, he received repeated calls to his cell phone from unidentified individuals, threatening him with death.
(snip/...)

http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/en/2007/02/23/f003.htm