Colombian media claim FARC chief is dead

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Colombian media claim FARC chief is dead
Sunday 25th May, 04:15 AM JST

BOGOTA —
The fugitive chief of Colombia’s rebel movement FARC, Manuel Marulanda Velez, has died, the weekly Semana magazine reported Saturday citing the country’s defense minister.

“According to the intelligence information that we have, Marulanda is already dead,” Juan Manuel Santos was quoted as saying on the magazine’s website, adding that he died of an illness on March 26.

The elusive Marulanda, alias “Tiro Fijo,” meaning “Sure Shot,” founded the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) over 40 years ago. He was last seen in public in 1982 and has been rumored to be dead at least 17 times.

President Alvaro Uribe’s office and the defense ministry said they could not confirm the minister’s comments to Semana—which will publish the full interview Sunday—and said no official announcement was planned.

In January, a Brazilian newspaper reported a rumor that Marulanda had terminal cancer.

Marulanda was born in Genova, a coffee growing town in the western province of Quindio. He took up arms as a teenager after several relatives died in political violence following the 1948 killing of leftist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan.



Read more: http://www.japantoday.com/category/world/view/colombian-media-claim-farc-chief-is-dead

---

On edit, adding photos:





Manuel Marulanda

Note: I just read the man in the blue shirt is former Colombian President, Andrés Pastrana.

[robcon]

1. Looks like photoshops to me.

Colors, direction of the sunlight seem inconsistent.

[Judi Lynn]

3. What an astute eye!

Your comment was:

robcon (1000+ posts) Sat May-24-08 07:03 PM
Response to Original message
1. Looks like photoshops to me.
Colors, direction of the sunlight seem inconsistent.

~~~~~~~~~~

Here's another photo, also not photoshopped, of Pastrana meeting with Marulanda, published in the BBC News:


Friday, 9 February, 2001, 01:22 GMT
Colombia talks enter second day


Colombian President Andres Pastrana is to hold a second day of talks with the country's most powerful rebel chief, Manuel Marulanda, in an effort to keep the peace process alive.

President Pastrana described his initial eight-hour meeting with Mr Marulanda in the tiny south Colombian village of Los Pozos as "productive".

Mr Marulanda, whose 17,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is the most powerful guerilla army in the hemisphere, said he was "very satisfied" with the meeting.

The talks are being held amid tight security in Los Pozos, which lies in the 42,000 square kilometre (16,200 square mile) rebel-held safe haven.

Dozens of police officers escorted Mr Pastrana, while several hundred armed insurgents lined the road leading to the complex where Thursday's meeting was held.

No major breakthrough

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott says the fact that President Pastrana is spending his first night ever in the FARC safe haven under rebel protection shows how desperate he is to save the faltering peace process.

The president wants the rebels to resume peace talks on the war that has claimed 35,000 civilian lives in the last 10 years and over the future of the rebels' safe haven

Observers say there is little hope of a major breakthrough beyond the possibility of an extension to the life of the demilitarised zone beyond its current 9 February expiry date.

But officials are hoping the talks will help restart wider negotiations three months after the FARC froze them, claiming the government was failing to stop violence by right-wing paramilitary groups.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1161048.stm

~~~~~~~~~
You'd better notify the BBC and tell them they published a bogus photo.

[robcon]

4. Got it, Judi Lynn. I'm on it.

Looks like a phony shot to me.

[Judi Lynn]

5. One appeared at this site I found in a search:

This looks interesting as it has collections of old articles. I think I'm going to look through it at a later time:

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/colombia-rev.htm

A smaller photo,



came from this site:

http://www.elcorreodigital.com/alava/20071216/mundo/guerrillero-viejo-mundo-20071216.html

[ronnie624]

11. I'm definitely not an expert on photoshopping,

but I don't see how anyone could discern the direction of the sunlight. Judging from these photos, the sky appears overcast.

By the way, I recently upgraded to high speed cable internet access, and I watched The Revolution Will Not Be Televised for the first time earlier today (Sat. the 24th). It was absolutely gripping. Chavez's final words were quite inspiring: "Those who oppose me, fine, oppose me. I wish I could change your minds. But you cannot oppose this constitution. This is the peoples book." And there was no doubting it, as one watched the Venezuelan people pouring into the streets in support of their president.

I would be most appreciative if you could list some more videos I might find of interest.

[Judi Lynn]

14. So GLAD you saw it. Don't forget to go see it again, also.

You'll find it's one of those films which NEVER gets old.

You are in luck, there's a wonderful list of documentaries which DU'er killbotfactory has collected and posted in the Latin America forum. This will be an excellent library for you for a good while:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=405&topic_id=1659

On killbotfactory's list, near the top, you'll see "638 Ways To Kill Castro," and you will surely enjoy this. It has recently, in the last couple of months, showed up on the Sundance Channel, I believe, where I saw it. You will see a lot of time spent discussing the violent Miami "exiles." Very interesting.

You will get a lot of satisfaction from going through this list. I haven't gotten too far with it, myself, and definitely intend to get all the way through it, one way or another. You just don't get chances like this, ordinarily!

There's another documentary I saw which a DU'er posted here, "The Panama Deception." I had never known a thing about the attack on Panama by _{Bush #41,} and, as the documentary reveals, our media in NO WAY assisted the public in finding out a damned thing about it. What any of us heard is wildly different from what the hell the citizens had to experience.

This documentary was given an Academy Award, is narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery (you may remember her as the "Bewitched" character in the old sitcom series about a witch on tv) and lasts around one and one half hours, which will FLY past. You'll feel you've been given a lesson you wouldn't know a thing about otherwise, just like the The Revolution Will Not Be Televiseddocumentary.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-446387292666223710&q=Panama+%2B+invasion&total=88&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

Sure glad you've seen that important film. By the way, there's another Venezuela documentary on the DU list from killbotfactory, too. As a correction, killbotfactory says in his post #61:

killbotfactory (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-29-08 12:48 PM
Response to Reply #60
61. It looks like someone got almost all the Cuba videos taken down
you can find many of them re-uploaded onto google video, or if you have torrent software, just go to http://onebigtorrent.org

(better to read that link first, as a preparation for locating the missing films)

[Bacchus39]

23. you can watch the video then

http://www.eltiempo.com/

[fascisthunter]

24. I'm a Photoshop Expert

You are seeing what you want and not what's actually there. Those photos are NOT fakes.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Colombian defense minister says top guerrilla may be dead after 4 decades leading rebels

Colombian defense minister says top guerrilla may be dead after 4 decades leading rebels
The Associated Press
Published: May 24, 2008

~snip~
Born to a poor peasant family, Marulanda was radicalized by the vicious civil wars that ravaged Colombia in the middle of the last century, pitting Liberals against Conservatives.

He and other survivors of a 1964 army attack on a peasant community escaped to the mountains and formed the FARC, which grew over the decades to include a reputed 15,000 fighters.

Marulanda's deadly aim in combat against the army earned him the name "Sureshot."

Notoriously reclusive, he is said to have never set foot in Colombia's capital, giving just a handful of interviews over the course of his life.

Even senior commanders within the FARC speak of Marulanda with awe, and he is known to have the final word over any major decision taken by the FARC.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/24/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-FARC-Leader.php



Painting by Fernando Botero

http://www.escolalliurex.es/portal/c/contents/stored_search/view_content?contentId=91652261&p_l_id=5.49&p_p_id=stored_search_wide_INSTANCE_tO9M

Botero also did a group of paintings of Abu Ghraib:



http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-37,GGLD:en&q=Fernando+Botero

[Judi Lynn]

17. Here's a small version of the missing Fernando Botero painting of Marulanda:

[BobbyVan]

6. Good riddance!

:woohoo:

[cal04]

7. Colombia says FARC rebel chief dead, hostages could be freed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080525/wl_afp/colombiarebelsunrest_080525023652

Colombia made bombshell announcements Saturday that the leader of Latin America's longest-running insurgency was dead, and that some of its leaders were ready to free high-profile hostages such as French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

President Alvaro Uribe said he had received "calls" from some Marxist FARC rebel leaders who claimed they were ready to hand themselves over and free hostages including Betancourt.

In a potentially major breakthrough, just after Colombia confirmed the death of FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, Uribe said "the government has received calls from the FARC in which some of the leaders announced their decision to leave the FARC and hand over Ingrid Betancourt if their freedom is guaranteed.

"The government's answer is 'yes, they are guaranteed freedom'" if they handed over hostages, Uribe said.

[Judi Lynn]

8. If, for some reason, the FARC stop fighting the death squads, then Uribe won't have any reason to

keep taking BILLIONS of US taxpayers' dollars any longer. What are the chances he'll give that up? He has never had to live on the income of his own country before now.

Uribe promised these guys they would be given safe passage when they attempted to bring in the first two women hostages, and then they started bombing them, sending them running as fast as they could go, back the TWENTY MILES to where they had been staying. At that point Uribe claimed it was all over. People prompted Chavez to try it again and finally he got these people out, after communicating with the FARC leaders through intermediaries. If he hadn't tried again, they'd still be there.

[AlphaCentauri]

13. if the FARC choose peace and decide to walk into the slaughter machine

Uribe would invent a new scape goat to keep those billions pouring into his government

[Judi Lynn]

15. You've got that right. He'd find a way to work in Chavez and Correa, and probably Morales.

Chavez, Morales, Correa, and Uribe
on the occassion of Correa's inaguaration.

[gbscar]

29. Since they helped feed that slaughter machine themselves, even during the UP era...

...they are also responsible for it. If they had not done so, at the very least it would be much less dangerous.

But apparently some people here expected everyone else to just take whatever FARC was doing at the time with a smile ("yes, FARC, you can have a political party and an army at the same time. Here, here's the extortion money you asked for my relatives. Don't mention it, it's all for peace."). Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and they woke up a sleeping monster, causing thousands of innocents to ostensibly die in their name, including those in the UP, while they kept to the relative safety of the mountains and continued their military plans all along.

As for the "billions", it sounds so nice when you put it that way, but unfortunately the actual numbers and figures show that most of it never leaves the U.S., in practice.

[AlphaCentauri]

50. The right wing slaughter machine murder many Innocent UP members

in the name of "democracy", "freedom" and many other tales they use to justified the slaughter. As Uribe wants to be re elected he does not care about the freedom of those kidnapped in the jungle.

[gbscar]

60. It's not a matter of "tales", nor of justifying slaughter, but of adding additional factors n/t

n/t

[gbscar]

26. FARC doesn't "fight the (actual) death squads" that much, really...

...nor vice versa, but apparently that's the romantic way to put it, I guess.

As for those "billions", it's funny you say that since most of that money never even leaves the U.S. when you consider what it is spent on. That information is publicly available.

But I imagine it's easier for you to make this a caricature about Uribe receiving cash from an airplane or what have you.

Also, LOL at that rather biased description of the hostage releases.

[Judi Lynn]

27. Here's a record on "U.S. Aid to Colombia Since 1997" to Colombia going to 2008

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

[gbscar]

35. I'm not questioning the figures, which are certainly correct...

...what I question is the way in which you give the impression that it's just a bunch of cash being handed out to Uribe like candy at a store.

Even that webpage, there and elsewhere, explains otherwise. The U.S. government and U.S. contractors gain a lot from those aid packages.

[Judi Lynn]

30. Here's a reference to the first attempt at the hostage release I described in my biased way:

Consuelo Gonzalez later said that the reason the hostages had not been released earlier, on December 31, was because the Colombian military conducted operations near the site of their release, preventing the release from occurring. Piedad Cordoba suggested that "Uribe ordered the military operation in the zone because things were going too well."

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/16296

[gbscar]

40. Piedad Córdoba is hardly the person to talk about this, when she even suggested that Emmanuel...

...wasn't freed because of a "conspiracy" by the government.

Nevermind that the guy wasn't even in FARC's hands by that point.

As for the hostage herself, what I mentioned in the other reply also applies. There were bombings, that much is more than obviously true, but the interpretation and presentation of how they occurred is what's biased.

Again...how was Uribe or even the military in general supposed to know where these people were marching through? Or did you expect a halt of all military operations over a huge area just because "they might be there"?

But no...clearly, Uribe was twirling his mustache all along...like a cartoon villain.

[Judi Lynn]

31. The death squads account for the vast majority of deaths in Colombia.

Anyone ambitious enough to do a quick search will be able to determine that quickly. Here's one reference:

According to Human Rights Watch, Colombia represents the most severe human rights and humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere. It also has the world's second-largest internally displaced population (after Sudan) and is the world's most dangerous place for trade unionists; 2,245 have been assassinated in the last fifteen years, according to Amnesty International. For years, human rights organizations have reported that the Colombian military and the death squads it controls are responsible for the overwhelming majority of human rights abuses in the country, as was the case with the US-sponsored dirty wars in Central America in the 1980s.

On top of all this, Colombia is Washington's closest ally in Latin America. Some $5 billion worth of US aid has been funneled to Bogota in the last five years, and 80% of it has been spent on the military until recently. Only Israel and Egypt receive more US military aid than Colombia.

Despite the Colombian government's unrelenting efforts to crush them, Colombian journalists and social movements have created a public relations disaster for the administration of President Alvaro Uribe by exposing links between politicians and drug-running death squads. Meanwhile, a groundswell of solidarity activism in the US is threatening to force Congress to cut off aid to the heinous Colombian military.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/965/68/

[gbscar]

36. The vast majority of deaths are actually caused by common criminals...

...you're just counting "political", at worst, or "conflict-related" deaths, at best, not *all* deaths in general.

Common crime is what causes the overwhelming majority of Colombians deaths, not the conflict.

Do you really not know that much? If you look for overall homicide statistics, you'll see that.

Oh wait...it's not convenient for you to notice that fact. Sorry, I forgot about that.

Still, if you were to make a ranking, of sorts, common crime would be at the top, followed (way behind) by the paramilitaries. That much I can admit, but it isn't hard to find out that there are huge numbers of common deaths in Colombia that literally dwarf anything the paramilitaries have ever done, as barbaric as it is.

And again, there are many other ways to cause harm other than murder or assassination for "political" reasons, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread, and strangely enough you seem to give FARC little to no condemnation for that, just because they don't fit the narrow categories you are applying to the other parties in the conflict. And no, I'm not talking about kidnappings alone. I'd almost wish that was all FARC ever did wrong.

[Judi Lynn]

32. Here is the personal account of Consuelo Gonzales, 1 of the 2 FARC hostages, on their 1st attempted

hostage release which Uribe made inoperable:

"'On December 21, we began to walk toward the location where they were going to free us and we walked almost 20 days. During that time, we were forced to run several times because the soldiers were very close,' she said. Gonzalez also lamented that on the day that Alvaro Uribe set as a deadline for the release, the Colombian armed forces launched the worst attack on the zone where they were located. 'On the 31st, we realized that there was going to be a very big mobilization and, in the moment that we were ready to be released, there was a huge bombardment and we had to relocate quickly to another place.'"

No English-language reporters questioned the truth of Gonzalez' testimony; it was simply not reported. The one exception was an Associated Press article, where it was buried and barely mentioned, and edited out of most newspapers. By eliminating this vital information, the media prevented readers from knowing that the Colombian government had reneged on its end of the bargain, putting the lives of the hostages at risk in what looked like an attempt to embarrass Chavez and abort the mission.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-columns/op-eds-columns/latin-america-news-coverage-half-the-story-is-worse-than-none/

[gbscar]

37. How was Uribe or anyone supposed to know exactly where those people were?

Or did you expect him to cease all military operations in an entire department just because?

That there were bombings near the places the hostages and guerrillas were walking through is clear, but they didn't exactly fall right on top of them.

But no...Uribe knew all along where the hostages were and he evilly chose to bomb them all the way through, mwahahahahaha!

[Judi Lynn]

46. Your answers are interesting. I do believe Uribe knew exactly where they were.

I believe entirely he cannot afford for any part of the "war on terror" to let up, as he will lose financial aid, and he needs to keep it going.

Also, we've read about how pervasive the influence really is of the death squads, including their coercion of votes from the citizens, even to the point of physically intimidating them at the polls. Have read too many accounts to disregard this.

Please feel free to start pitching in your information which should ADD to people's understanding of Colombia's conditions. TELL DU'ers what's going on, EXPLAIN what is happening, provide articles, cite events, do NOT just sit and wait until you get a chance to attempt to claim someone is all wrong.

Go ahead and provide information which is all RIGHT. That seems rational, doesn't it? Don't lurk and then take pot shots, like a sniper. Get in there and bring your own information.

[gbscar]

49. Well, here's some thoughts, for whatever they might count.

I don't believe he did know their *exact* location, even if he had hints or a general idea, just that he wasn't willing to show real or perceived weakness and give FARC an easy time by clearing out military operations over a huge area. He still did his best to make it difficult and give FARC no quarter, as risky as that was for the entire operation, but I don't believe he wanted to sabotage it per se, even if that was eventually the result (way after these releases).

Also, I don't see how the "war on terror" aspect of the conflict would fly away anytime soon, or how support (financial and otherwise) from the U.S. would evaporate in the short term (not to mention that Colombia's own defense budget is, shall we say, several times greater than U.S. aid amounts, to say the least, which is why I find all this talk about "billions" ridiculous, as if they were really vital in economic terms....the CIP site you linked to has information on this, in fact), even in the unlikely event that the mediation was still going on and Chavez had freed a couple more hostages and the pressure to grant an ill-conceived DMZ increased.

Or even, far less likely, if the DMZ led to an actual exchange mechanism or even a peace process (which by itself means nothing).

In fact, I think that last part (the DMZ and a repeat of the Caguan example) is what he feared, along with his paranoia and distrust for FARC and Chavez, not part of an evil "I will actively try to kill the hostages to prevent their release" or "I can't survive without Bush's aid" cartoon monologue. Even FARC, as much as I loathe them, is not so simplistic in its actions.

"Also, we've read about how pervasive the influence really is of the death squads, including their coercion of votes from the citizens, even to the point of physically intimidating them at the polls. Have read too many accounts to disregard this."

It's not a matter of disregarding it but putting it in context.

The paramilitaries (which are not just "death squads" by this point in history, though that's an accurate way to describe one of their main activities) do coerce people in remote or impoverished areas, having an influence on local and regional politics and, by extension, increased (but did not create or even control) support for Uribe himself.

There are Colombian books that chronicle the extent of this influence (the "parapolitics" map, so to speak), reaching the conclusion that it is very significant but not completely overwhelming (to the point of, say, making elections meaningless...but then it would have been impossible to elect Pastrana back in 1998 and, say, opposition candidates including those Uribe openly campaigned against, like the current mayor of Bogotá). Like the Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris book described here, for instance:

http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=109549

The whole book can be found here:

http://www.nuevoarcoiris.org.co/local/Libro_parapolitica.pdf

In other words, Uribe did receive paramilitary support, directly or through his congressional allies (many of them, anyways, not all) but I don't see it as an *essential* part of his election (even if it did give hundreds of thousands of additional votes, it wasn't like nobody would have voted for him or most voters were intimidated to do so, even if far too many were) or something he can't do without, if he had the nerve and moral fiber to discard or fight it (which he hasn't had, and I am not exactly an admirer of his as a person). Even so, however, the fact that we even have a "parapolitical" scandal shows that there are institutions in the Colombian state that aren't merely paramilitary puppets (or that the paras are merely "squads") or what have you.

If anything, traditional "machine politics" and clientelism is probably a more widespread problem for the electoral system and its legitimacy than armed coercion per se, which just makes it worse. But that's another discussion.

Aside from the very obvious fact that FARC also practices electoral coercion (usually by burning ballot boxes or preventing people from voting at all, but that's still bad, to say the least), either against the system in general or Uribe in particular at this time.

[EFerrari]

66. He knew where they were because your government found them.

Oh, noooooooooooes! It was just an ACCIDENT! Like the bombing of the Palestine Hotel was an accident! And like detaining Sami al Haj was an accident!

Damn! We have 'way too many accidents around here.

[gbscar]

69. Who said anything about accidents? That's not the case.

There's a difference between bombings over a huge area where military operations are still going on even right now, which were kept up in spite of the risks they clearly involved for the hostages (I'm not saying it's a good thing, just trying to explain it in ways that do not go down to the level of 2-D cartoons), and a bombing of a hotel or whatever other example you bring out your sleeve.

I'm not saying it's an "accident" even...but what does it matter, anyways? There's no point in keeping this discussion up much longer, seeing how little tolerance for complexity there is.

[EFerrari]

70. Complexity? Go dig up the reports that the US military coordinated the whole thing.

Then, get back to me.

[jeff30997]

9. Colombians don't make good propaganda...

Like,lets say,the US.They should have said:FARC's #2 is dead.:P

[Zorro]

10. Actually I think he was numero uno

[ronnie624]

12. lol. Very amusing. Perhaps too subtle for some. n/t

[gatorboy]

16. He owes me money!

[ohio2007]

18. He died of Alzheimer's talking into a banana to Che

could be bs though

[Judi Lynn]

19. He had cancer. Alzheimers was never mentioned, nor "talking into a banana." n/t

[ohio2007]

21. PWND lol

[YourUniqueDemocrat]

20. FARC is a terrorist organization

Good.

[Andrushka]

22. Makes it easier to label them with that

than actually deal with the reality, yeah? Easier to ladle millions into the fascist narco state under Uribe and not have to actually negotiate with them.

So, tell us, "enlightened" new member: what do you call the rightwing paramilitaries that are responsible for many, many more deaths and forced disappearances year after year in Colombia?

[gbscar]

28. Because FARC negotiated so seriously and honestly with Pastrana...yeah right

But I guess you can afford to ignore that little detail, since you didn't witness it yourself. Unfortunately, some of us did not have that luxury.

They had their chance and they threw it away. It's their fault that Uribe is the Colombian President right now.

If they want to negotiate seriously, then they can certainly do so.

Oh well...at least Obama seems to have a reasonable position about FARC, so kudos for him. Whatever else may happen, he'll have to be held accountable for his words on the subject.

I'm not that guy you're answering to, but the paramilitaries are certainly terrorist and certainly more murderous.

But it seems like you people don't care about the deaths and all the pain that FARC has caused directly and indirectly, beyond the limited category of assassinations and disappearances (as if those were the only crimes worth remembering, though FARC has also had its share of those).

Armed strikes that literally cause people to starve, blowing up infrastructure regardless of the human costs involved, pillaging ambulances, kidnappings, extortions, pressuring people so much that some become paramilitaries, using indiscriminate weapons that leave towns destroyed and produce displacement, saying that international humanitarian law is merely a "bourgeois concept", planting thousands of landmines throughout the countryside.

All that is summed up as "fighting death squads", apparently.

[Andrushka]

39. Strawman

"But it seems like you people don't care about the deaths and all the pain that FARC has caused directly and indirectly"

You lost my attention at that statement. Too bad.

[gbscar]

42. Not really, but whatever. Considering the reaction to Marulanda's death...

...some people really do not seem to care about FARC's actions, or at least not that much.

Do I need to quote what others have said in this very thread?

It doesn't mean that everyone here is like that, but come on...just look at some of the posts here.

It seems that FARC cannot be criticized...at least not without other people bringing up paramilitary or military crimes, while saying little to nothing about FARC and even going further than that. But again, the thread speaks for itself.

Whatever you think about me is up to to you. I must be a narcoparamilitary oligarchic monster, I suppose...because I don't like FARC and actually feel that there is a lack of criticism for its actions in a thread talking about Marulanda.

[Zorro]

41. Trying to get Judi

to acknowledge and condemn FARC atrocities is an exercise in futility.

In her eyes the FARC murders, extortions, kidnappings, narcotrafficking, and banditry are justified.

And of course you're right. FARC has demonstrated in the past that they won't negotiate in good faith. The sooner they are gone the better.

[gbscar]

44. I actually think that there has to be a negotiation, sooner or later...

...as well as social reforms and all that goes along with it, things that the Uribe administration is incapable or unwilling to do in fact.

It if were just that, I'd be in full agreement. I don't even care about Uribe, on a personal level. If he deserves judicial punishment for certain crimes, he should also get it.

That discourse is pretty much common sense. I wouldn't dispute that.

But FARC must change its actions, completely. Not be given a free pass.

FARC's not Colombia's main problem, no, but they are an obstacle that has made things worse, not better, even by provoking their enemies into becoming even more murderous. That way leads to nowhere but to a cycle of violence, and FARC is not helping.

[Zorro]

48. A very cogent response

And you're right. There's blood on the hands on both sides, although I can understand Uribe's reluctance to engage with FARC -- they did murder his father.

There does need to be reconciliation, but that won't happen unless both sides acknowledge that as the best path and open negotiations in good faith.

[struggle4progress]

75. Seems there's some suspicion Poppy Uribe's coke mafia pals whacked him

[EFerrari]

64. You post a lot of smears and no facts. Gotcha. n/t

[Zorro]

71. Whiner

Your bully buddies have been warned over and over not to be insulting, but it doesn't seem to get through their heads.

They must have drunk too much of that cement powder-laced milk at school.

[Judi Lynn]

33. Here's an account I just saw for the first time which gives a comprehensive view of these guys:

COLOMBIA: Media ignores death squad terror campaign


28 August 2002
BY ALFREDO CASTRO
BOGOTA � Although it has gone unreported in the mainstream media, paramilitary death squads working with the Colombian security forces have continued assassinating hundreds of civilians in recent weeks.

Among the dead lately are human rights workers, religious and community leaders, land reform and peace campaigners and trade union and student activists.

In what appears to be a systematic campaign to ignore paramilitary abuses in Colombia, the two families that control the Colombian media, the Santos family and the Ardila Lulle family, both of which are also accused of making donations to the death squads, seem to have instructed that their newspapers and television channels ignore any and all reports of human rights violations committed by the death squads.

Unfortunately, the Western media too seem to have followed their lead and despite the fact that the army and death squads have murdered hundreds of civilians in recent weeks not one of these assassinations has been reported.

To follow is a list of some of the serious human rights violations that have been ignored by the mainstream media:

August 14: Paramilitaries entered the town of San Juan del Cesar in La Guajira department and assassinated four civilians whom they accused of being guerrilla sympathisers.

August 10: Land reform campaigner Roberto Hugo Santander is shot dead by paramilitary gunmen in the city of Medellin.

August 4: Paramilitaries entered the indigenous community of Cascajeros in Choco department and shot dead three people including a pregnant woman. They then ordered all residents of the community to leave the region or face the same punishment.

August 3: Paramilitaries massacred four young people in the municipality of Soledad just outside of the city of Barranquilla. Neither the army nor police intervened despite having a heavy presence in the area. Three of the victims have been named as Luis Alberto Cantillo Correa, Ricardo David Borrero and Deiver Garcia Gonzalez.

August 2: A joint marine and paramilitary unit entered the town of Puerto Saija on the remote Pacific coast of Cauca department and proceeded to terrorise the residents whom they accused of helping local FARC guerrillas. The government forces told hundreds of residents of the town and the surrounding area to leave the region or be executed and some 300 people fled by boat down the rivers Saija and Timbiqui. On the morning of August 3, two civilians were found murdered although at around noon some 200 FARC guerrillas arrived and launched a heavy assault on the government troops forcing them to leave the area.

July 31: A death squad shot union activist Alonso Pamplona five times on a road in Sabana de Torres municipality in Santander department. The unionist, who worked for the USO oil workers union, was left to die although miraculously he survived and is now recovering in hospital.

July 29: Paramilitaries �disappeared� union leader Gonzalo Ramirez Triana of the USO oil workers union in the town of Villeta in Cundinamarca department. He has not been seen since.

July 27: 16-year-old Jorge Perez Ardila who worked selling newspapers in the streets of the city of Barrancabermeja was taken away by a group of paramilitaries in the La Victoria neighbourhood. He has not been seen since and was the 60th person that the paramilitaries have �disappeared� in the city so far this year, about half of whom were youngsters whom the death squads accuse of being rebel spies.

July 26: A paramilitary assassin shot and killed Yolanda Castano, a community leader in the La Loma neighbourhood of the southern city of Cali.

July 25: Paramilitaries killed three men on the road leading from the city of Pereira to the city of Armenia in central Colombia. Carlos Antonio Gallego Herrera, Harold Andres Varela Galviz and Andred Humberto Correa Bedoya were all murdered by the death squad whilst two other civilians were injured when the paramilitaries indiscriminately opened fire at the vehicle they were travelling in.

July 22: Paramilitaries executed three people in the Yarumal region of Antioquia department and �disappeared� four others.

July 21: Paramilitaries go on a killing spree in and around the city of Monteria in Cordoba department. In the rural community of Guateque just outside the city the death squads decapitated Rafael Velasquez Vergara.

In the neighbourhood of Brisas del Sinu in the city a separate death squad executed a teenager and another man whom they accused of being guerrilla collaborators. Yet another death squad went from house to house in the rural community of Guacharacal and dragged four peasant farmers away before executing them.

July 19: A death squad entered the community of San Miguel in the municipality of San Carlos in Antioquia department where they killed a man and his three children before they moved into the neighbouring community of Santa Rita and murdered Graciano Gil and Jairo de Jesus Giraldo.

July 16: A paramilitary unit kidnapped four female students at the Creadores del Futuro college in the Blanquizal neighbourhood of the city of Medellin. All four girls were executed and had their bodies dumped in the nearby neighbourhood of La Pradera. The victims were identified as Matalia Carvajal Saldarriaga, Sandra Milena Florez Garces, Sara Lucia Acosta Montoya and Luz Andrea Velasquez Hernandez, all of who were killed for alleged guerrilla sympathies.

July 14: Two paramilitary gunmen in the municipality of Mogotes in Santander department approached Martha Ines Velez, a nun with the Order of the Poor of San Pedro Claver, and shot her dead. She was killed for bringing attention to paramilitary massacres in rural communities in the region that were not reported on by anyone else.

July 13: Paramilitaries in the municipality of Aracataca in Magdalena department stopped a public bus carrying indigenous leader Maria Torres and dragged her from the vehicle. She was shot dead at the side of the road whilst her young daughter and niece were forced to watch.

July 12: A paramilitary death squad entered the community of La Union in Antioquia department and assassinated four men whose names they had on a list. One of the men was forced to dig his own grave before being killed by machete blows and a gunshot to the head.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2002/506/27599

There are lots of reports of the Colombian military surround small towns, cordoning them off, not letting people in or out, while the death squads (euphemistically called "paramilitaries") stomp in and torture, and terrorize the citizens before laying waste to them.

There's no mystery about what has been happening to any of us who have ever researched, is there?

Then we've got the phenomenon, miraculously, FINALLY reported by the Washington Post, after the practise has continued for years, and YEARS, of the Colombian Army (also the death squads) killing civilians, then either dressing the dead victims in clothing of FARC, or throwing down guns, or grenades to likewise identify them as "enemy." They call this practise "false positives."

More and more people are finding out even though our corporate media has refused to acknowledge the truth. Seeing the Washington Post actually run a story makes you wonder what the hell is going on now, as in why did they do it.

[gbscar]

38. Way to ignore that many crimes and paramilitary activities have in fact been reported by the media..

...in Colombia. I could, if I cared to do so, post links to many articles talking about paramilitary crimes and murders over the years, including recent cases. I could even try and check if those this article listed were included, though it's possible that they may not.

But what would be the use? Most of them are in Spanish, and you're convinced that things are simple and that the media reports nothing, so it must be true!

The Colombian mainstream media itself has presented many reports about those deaths falsely presented as guerrillas by the military, and in fact there have been people processed because of those barbarities. But that must be impossible, I suppose, according to your line of thought and how you're presenting the facts. The term "false positives" has showed up in many articles in Colombia, it's not something that is "anathema" to the "corporate media".

Of course, there are also stories about people being terrorized by the guerrillas, but apparently that does not suit your particular interest or "research". Too bad you could care less about those horrors, because they do not fit your presentation of reality.

Not to mention that the "Santos family" (actually several branches of the original family by now, plus other investors) is no longer in control of EL TIEMPO, for example, now that Planeta (from Spain) has the majority ownership, but I suppose that's also hard to understand.

[EFerrari]

68. Oh, please. The last time the Colombian Ambassador was on CSPIN

she sighed and nearly cried over the need to murder people in their sleep during border violations.

LOL! She was hilarious, replete with BushCo talking points -- talking about the murdered people just like Rumsfeld talked about murdered Iraqis that turned out to be cooks and teachers and shephards and tourists and kids.

The Colombian Ambassador defended that incursion as an action against "terrorists". She didn't say a word about the slaughtered students from Mexico. I'd say, she did a great impression of Condi "I got my shoes on sale" Rice.

You must really count on the fact that the people you are talking to must be idiots.

[Zynx]

73. Uribe's government is hardly the only one to deal with the violence of FARC.

[cal04]

25. Colombia's FARC confirms death of top leader

Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebel force on Sunday confirmed its founder and top commander had died of a heart attack in March, according to a video broadcast by Telesur news channel.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2431224920080525

[Judi Lynn]

34. Colombia Rebels Name New Leader to Succeed Marulanda

Colombia Rebels Name New Leader to Succeed Marulanda (Update1)

By Joshua Goodman

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia's largest rebel group today confirmed the death of its top leader, Manuel Marulanda, the latest blow to a Marxist-inspired insurgency that has been weakened by the demise of senior commanders and attacks by government troops.

The 77-year-old leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, died of a heart attack on March 26, one of his lieutenants, Timoleon Jimenez, said in a video sent to Venezuelan television station Telesur. A guerrilla known by his alias Alfonso Cano was named Marulanda's successor, said Jimenez, better known as Timocheko.

President Alvaro Uribe, who has received more than $4 billion in U.S. military aid since he was elected in 2002, yesterday said he hopes FARC's tribulations would prompt members to lay down their arms and free hostages, who include three American defense contractors. Marulanda's death was first revealed yesterday by Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.

``We're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of a conflict that has cost our country so much,'' Santos said in a press conference today in Bogota. ``Hopefully Cano will come to his senses and knock on the door of peace, because if he does the government will be there to welcome him.''

Santos said he hoped Cano, an academic from Bogota whose middle-class background differs from FARC's peasant base, would opt for a negotiated settlement to the nearly half-century insurgency. Until that happens, he said military operations against the group would continue.

More:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aFO4p0HfRmks&refer=latin_america

[BeautifulHyperwolf]

43. The druglords are on their side

They won't go away anytime soon.

[Judi Lynn]

45. Try to work in some research. It can only help. n/t

[gbscar]

47. The same would apply for you, actually...if you researched FARC's drug ties from non-sympathetic...

...or non-outdated (beyond the mid-1990s) sources.

There are sources that even present a more nuanced perspective of how their links to drugs have evolved, without falling into simplistic "oh, they're all druglords".

http://www.mamacoca.org/feb2002/art_ferro_Farc_y_coca_Caguan_es.html

It doesn't mean that they're *all* a bunch of drug lords who have the same exact ties you'd find within the paramilitary groups, no, but it does mean that their ties are far from the static and ever-unchanging mere "tax" on coca growth, that is supposedly all they ever do, if you simply take their own word for it and leave everything else ignored. Or just quote old U.S. statements from the 80's and 90's and leave it at that.

The nature of their links to drugs has changed from time to time, depending on the units and circumstances involved. But no...that must be unrealistic, they just tax and nothing else.

[Judi Lynn]

51. Why not share information IN ENGLISH with your American message board readers?

English should be just fine. Thanks.

[ohio2007]

53. Someone sent me this handy dandy google translator. It ROCKS !!

http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=es


I think there is something about the Arabic "right to left" language reading style that makes translation into our English "left to right" comprehension touchy at times if not damn near impossible.
The Arabic translation is dicey when dealing with 'sinister' no go sites from the dark side (as any other trasnaltions sites I've found )
but, it will work
with Spanish;

ie; from the article in question



Mucho se ha especulado sobre la relación de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia -FARC- con la economía de la coca. El propósito de este artículo es mirar esta relación desde una perspectiva regional (Departamento del Caquetá) e histórica (los últimos 20 años) con base en los testimonios de sus protagonistas (colonos y guerrilleros). La ubicación espacial, el seguimiento cronológico y la viva voz de los actores sociales involucrados permitió entender mejor esta compleja relación o, por lo menos, en una forma diferente a la de los discursos reduccionistas, sensasionalistas o incluso moralistas propios de los medios de comunicación masivos nacionales e internacionales.


---------
translates
---------


Much has been speculated on the relationship of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-FARC-with the coca economy. The purpose of this article is to look at this relationship from a regional perspective (Department of Caqueta) and historical (the last 20 years) based on the testimony of its protagonists (settlers and guerrillas). The spatial location, monitoring and chronological living voice of the stakeholders better understand this complex relationship, or at least, in a way different from the speeches of reductionist, or even moralistic sensasionalistas own mass media national and international.

http://www.mamacoca.org/feb2002/art_ferro_Farc_y_coca_Caguan_es.html

Now,
go out and "learn thyself" what the world thinks of the many sides of a story

[gbscar]

61. There are online utilities for that, like the Google one pointed out above...

...and translating it by hand would take too much time, unless a bare bones summary were made.

Honestly though, is there any problem with linking to Spanish sources when dealing with Colombia?

I understand you may not speak the language, but at least there are ways around that, to a certain extent, and it's actually somewhat necessary to look at Spanish sources to understand certain aspects of the situation. Whatever your ideology is.

[ohio2007]

52. FARC had contacts with German leftists: report ( from laptop data )

Left-wing Colombian FARC rebels had contacts with leftist groups in Germany, according to data on a laptop belonging to slain commander Raul Reyes, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday. Reyes, the number two commander in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed on March 1 in a raid by Colombian forces just inside Ecuador.

Emails on his laptop show that in January 2005 he sent his son to Germany in a secret mission, Der Spiegel said in an article to be published Monday.

There his son met with members of the German communist party and with far-left politician Wolfgang Gehrcke, who offered to press the European Parliament to take the FARC off its list of terrorist organizations.

“It was a very positive meeting,” Der Spiegel quotes an email found on Reyes’s laptop. “We were able to substantiate several points to reactivate solidarity with the struggle of the Colombian people.”

Computer data discovered after the March 1 raid has already increased tensions in South America, with Colombia saying they proved links between the FARC and Ecuadoran and Venezuelan officials, including President Hugo Chavez.

The FARC is considered a terrorist organization by Washington. It is believed to hold around 750 people hostage including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, trafficking drugs to fund its insurgency.


http://www.thelocal.de/12083/20080525/

If there is a mass exodus of hostage released over the next several months, it will indicate that technology turned out to be the kiss of death for the jungle fighters






But what the world really wants to know; what kind of porn was extracted off the hard drive ?

Maybe California will demand back taxes from addresses
found in favorite place

[Andrushka]

54. "Emails on his laptop show..."

What doesn't the Magic Laptop show?! Why, just earlier today it lead some to believe that just by questioning the labelling of FARC as a "terrorist" group equates to supporting them!

Oh Magic Laptop, what will you come out with next?



(edit: sp.)

[ohio2007]

59. dead is still dead no matter how they track them down I suppose

finding the laptop was a non factor in recent captures,surrenders and stone cold death announcements


http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545910,00.html

only time will tell ;)

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,1143635,00.jpg
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,30434,00.html

[EFerrari]

63. Magic Laptop on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?

[Judi Lynn]

65. Good lord! You should have posted an alarm! Maybe that Drudge siren would work!

But it's a noble face, isn't it?

We're so lucky he stole our Presidency.

[Judi Lynn]

55. A Big Drug Party: Cheap cocaine on the way, thanks to a new Colombian law.

A Big Drug Party
Cheap cocaine on the way, thanks to a new Colombian law.
By Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
Posted Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005, at 7:24 AM ET



Uribe's plan will
let the
paramilitaries off
easy

In May, Colombian soldiers raided a cave near the Pacific coast and found 15 tons of cocaine ready to be loaded onto a squadron of speedboats for transport north. It was the biggest take ever in Colombia, worth $400 million on the American street, and the latest in a slew of busts this spring and summer. In the past several months, Colombian authorities have stumbled on multi-ton stashes and intercepted drug-loaded speedboats on a weekly basis. Military officials report that they are on pace to seize 60 percent more cocaine than they did last year.

But the increase is hardly cause for drug warriors to celebrate. Seizures are not up because of a new interdiction strategy. They are up because a recent Colombian law, designed to entice right-wing paramilitary forces to lay down their arms, is giving some of the world's biggest drug lords a chance to dump their wares, cash in, and launder their fortunes while avoiding what they fear most: extradition to the United States. The so-called Justice and Peace Law is meant to defuse Colombia's drug-fueled civil war, but it is turning into a windfall for the country's cocaine traffickers and the cocaine market in the United States and around the world.

The biggest players in the Colombian drug industry are right-wing paramilitary commanders—heavily armed thugs, often with ties to the army and the government, who have used drug profits to finance private armies and then used those private armies to protect their business and enrich themselves. The paramilitaries were formed in the 1980s as private armies to protect Colombia's landed elite from the marauding guerrillas of the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. But as their ranks swelled toward 20,000, the pull of the drug trade quickly took over from their original mission.

The paramilitaries now control more than half of Colombian drug exports—some $4.5 billion of the almost $10 billion of cocaine that hits the American street every year. (They also account for well more than half of the 10,000 civilian deaths in Colombia the past decade.) Many top commanders are drug lords who have donned an ideological label out of political convenience. The man behind the 15-ton stash seized in May, for example, is a paramilitary commander who goes by the name "Don Diego." He runs the Norte del Valle cartel—Colombia's biggest trafficking organization—and appears a few notches below Osama Bin Laden on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list. Several others, including a former Pablo Escobar associate named "Adolfo Paz," have been indicted in U.S. courts for dispatching boatload after boatload of cocaine to American shores. The State Department includes the paramilitaries on its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Despite all this, President Álvaro Uribe has staked his political fortunes on demobilizing the paramilitaries and bringing them back into the legal fold. Uribe has sold the amnesty offered by his Justice and Peace Law—which recently passed Colombia's congress and is awaiting his signature—as a first step toward ending the civil war. Unfortunately, the law proposes to deliver peace by forgoing justice almost entirely.

More:
http://www.slate.com/id/2123343/

[gbscar]

62. Funny how recent events at the very least make one question the premise's accuracy, completeness n/t

nt

[Judi Lynn]

56. More on Colombia's right-wing President, Álvaro Uribe:

ÁLVARO URIBE VÉLEZ

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez is a loyal ally of George Bush and Tony Blair in the ‘war on terror’, but has used all the means at his disposal to make sure that the truth about his links to paramilitary death squads and the drugs cartels remains hidden.

By his own admission Uribe is a man of the Right, determined to use a ‘firm hand’ against the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia), the world’s largest and oldest guerrilla army. He inherited swathes of cattle-ranching land from his father Alberto Uribe Vélez, himself subject to an extradition warrant to face charges of drug trafficking in the US. Uribe Jr grew up with the children of Fabio Ochoa, a key player at the time in the Medellín cocaine cartel.

Uribe’s credentials are impeccable: educated at Harvard and Oxford, he was elected Mayor of Medellín, the second city of Colombia, at the tender age of 26. But he was removed from office after only three months by a central government embarrassed by his public ties to the drug Mafia. He was then made Director of Civil Aviation, where he issued pilots’ licences to Pablo Escobar’s fleet of light aircraft flying cocaine to Florida.

In 1995 Uribe became Governor of his home province of Antioquia. Convivirs – private security services – and paramilitary death squads enjoyed immunity from prosecution under Governor Uribe and were free to launch a campaign of terror. Thousands of trade unionists, students and human rights workers were murdered, disappeared or driven out of the province.

Uribe’s paramilitary connections deterred many journalists from looking into his ties to the drug cartels. An exception was Noticias Uno, a current affairs programme on the TV station Canal Uno. In April 2002 this programme examined alleged links between Uribe and the Medellín cocaine cartel. After the reports were aired, unidentified men threatened to kill the show’s producer, Ignacio Gómez.

More:
http://www.newint.org/columns/worldbeaters/2004/10/01/alvaro-uribe-velez/

[gbscar]

67. What always gets me about those articles, even if I technically dislike and oppose Uribe...

...on my own personal terms, is how "black and white" some people have to describe him and the Colombian situation in general, how many details they have to omit or simplify in order to get their points across. I find it to be somewhere between bothersome and amusing.

Everything is admittedly based on existing accusations and, normally (not always), even existing facts, of course, and that alone contributes to making Uribe someone I find personally disgusting, but the presentation of such information leaves a lot to be desired from an intellectual level.

Yes, he's bad, but he's not necessarily going to fit the most extreme conclusions one can draw from a one sided and simplified (if not occasionally sloppy) description.

For example, there's a lot of assumptions that are only supported by circumstance, but not all the facts are there. There may well be indications that Uribe's father was in fact involved in the drug business, one way or another, but where is the supposed U.S. extradition warrant that is mentioned only occasionally?

If the document were real, it would be extremely very easy to find, even in old newspapers within Colombia, not to mention the U.S.

Also...did Uribe actively do something out of the ordinary in order for those licenses to be provided to drug lords, or did he simply fail to prevent that or looked the other way? How many other Civil Aviation Directors have been guilty of that, before or since, and what should be said about them? Or did Uribe just magically provide everything necessary for the first time and out of the blue?

No, it's not like somebody has pillaged all U.S. and Colombian libraries and archives trying to erase anti-Uribe content, as a very simplistic description in this article could imply, so I think better articles could be written. Even from an anti-Uribe perspective.

Or what about the other details of the GMP case and how it was resolved, even before Uribe came to power in 2002. That still doesn't make Moreno or his company free of suspicion, but hey...presenting all the facts, even those that aren't exactly useful for this article's purposes, can't hurt, can it?

At least I don't think so, but well...it's always the usual stuff.

[struggle4progress]

77. 1984 documents suggest drug link to Uribe family

Reprinted from Miami Herald

BY GERARDO REYES
El Nuevo Herald

Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, Colombia's former justice minister who led a campaign against drug trafficking in the 1980s, once said President Alvaro Uribe and his father were models of how Colombian society had been infiltrated by drug dealers, according to legal documents obtained by El Nuevo Herald.

In a sworn declaration made in 1984, Lara Bonilla's sister declared that he had cited the case of a helicopter that had been captured in a huge cocaine laboratory in the south of Colombia that, according to government information, was owned by the president's father, Alberto Uribe Sierra. He had made the statement just weeks before his assassination by ''sicarios'' from the Medellín Cartel ...

http://www.colombiasolidarity.org/en/node/169

[Judi Lynn]

78. Great to see this article! Have heard about the helicopter, also.

Another reporter from the same paper, Gonzalo Guillén, has been getting so many death threats after Uribe targeted him when he wrote about his connections to the narcotraffickers that he has gone on the run. He was getting phone calls, e-mails, etc, and a body guard simply disappeared before he and family went into hiding.

When Uribe doesn't like someone he simply makes a big thing of pointing them out publicly and then the death threats start, and often the person disappears permanently. He has even targeted human rights workers.

I heard years ago from someone who moved here from Colombia that Uribe's father was completely connected to the narcotraffickers, and was killed by them. I knew very little about Uribe at the time, but what I heard stuck in my mind.

[Judi Lynn]

57. Food for thought: From Coca-Cola to Cocaine: ‘Tis the Season for Hypocrisy in Colombia

December 19, 2005

From Coca-Cola to Cocaine: ‘Tis the Season for Hypocrisy in Colombia

by Garry Leech

Several events that occurred in the final weeks of 2005 represent a microcosm of the hypocrisies evident in the security and economic policies being implemented by the Bush and Uribe administrations. The recent demobilization of the Central Bolivar Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) shed more light on the Colombian military ’s collusion with the right-wing paramilitary group. Just as disturbing is President Alvaro Uribe’s recent acknowledgement that the Colombian military has been implicated in a plot to overthrow the democratically-elected leader of neighboring Venezuela. Meanwhile, the inequities in Washington’s “free trade” policies were again made evident by the realization that the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of indigenous Colombians would not be afforded the same rights as those enjoyed by U.S.-based multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola.

While Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe has intensified the war against the country’s leftist guerrillas, his administration has engaged in a farcical demobilization process with right-wing paramilitaries. The December 12 demobilization of almost 2,000 fighters of the AUC’s Central Bolivar Bloc presented the latest evidence of the Colombian military’s collusion with right-wing paramilitaries. Little fuss has been made over the fact that the paramilitary group handed over two helicopters armed with heavy machine guns at the demobilization ceremony.

There have been allegations over the years that paramilitaries have used helicopters during military operations. The Central Bolivar Bloc’s handover of the two helicopters appears to confirm these claims. However, the question that needs to be asked is how, given the fact that the Colombian military controls the skies with aircraft and tracking technology provided under Plan Colombia, could the AUC operate helicopters unbeknownst to the government?

When the two principal operating zones of the Central Bolivar Bloc are taken into account—the coca growing regions of Putumayo and southern Bolivar—it is inconceivable that the paramilitaries would have been able to operate helicopters without the Colombian military’s knowledge. Both of these zones have been heavily militarized under Plan Colombia with the government maintaining control of all airspace in order to conduct aerial fumigation operations. The Colombian military’s command of the skies is, after all, one of the principal reasons that neither of Colombia’s two leftist rebel groups possess helicopters. Simply put, it is too easy for the military to locate them, either visually or with tracking equipment. And yet, the paramilitaries appear to have no problem using helicopters.
(snip)

Despite the fact that some 13,000 AUC fighters have “demobilized” over the past two years, the Bogotá-based Resource Center for Analysis of the Conflict (CERAC) recently reported that paramilitaries killed 658 civilians during the first six months of 2005, more than double the amount for the same period in each of the previous two years. Which raises the question: What sort of peace is the Uribe administration achieving with its demobilization process?
(snip)

However, the secret recipe for Coca-Cola includes the use of an extract from the allegedly dangerous coca leaf. For more than a century, the U.S. government has given the Coca-Cola Company an exemption with regard to the importation and use of coca leaves in its famous soft drink. Consequently, the Stepan Company, a New Jersey-based chemical manufacturer, is permitted to legally import coca leaves from Peru, which it then processes for Coca-Cola.

More:
http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia223.htm

WHO KNEW?

[Judi Lynn]

58. This artlcle also touches on one of the Colombian paramilitary (death squads) plans to harm Chavez,

which DU'ers have discussed here repeatedly. It's always good to refresh memories on these plans, some of them fleshed out in Venezuela:

At the same time that the Colombian government claims to be achieving peace with the AUC and defending democracy from terrorism, it appears to be plotting the overthrow of the democratically-elected leader of a neighboring country. Uribe recently confirmed that ex-Venezuelan military officers opposed to President Hugo Chávez had met with Colombian military officers in a government building in Bogotá. Uribe also admitted that the building where the meetings took place houses Colombia’s intelligence operations directed at Venezuela.

Not only is the U.S.-supported military closely allied with right-wing paramilitaries responsible for most of the human rights abuses in Colombia, it is evidently working to destabilize the Andean region by seeking to oust Venezuela’s democratically-elected president. Which raises the question: What sort of war on terror and democracy promotion is the Bush administration engaging in?

http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia223.htm

[gbscar]

72. Considering what happened to the 2004 "paras", real evidence remains elusive when needed....

...most of them (over 60) were deemed to be not paramilitaries at all, by Venezuelean courts, and were even released.

Here, have a Venezuelan source:

http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/?act=ST&f=27&t=25198

And the 27 who were sentenced were later pardoned as well.

http://www.periodismo.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3734

This wouldn't really make sense if each and every alleged conspiracy against Chavez had the extent and the actual truth to it that Venezuelan authorities like to express by default, before the courts have even examined the case (the same goes for many Colombian claims against Chavez, if you have to ask).

Initial reports spoke of 100+ paramilitaries having being captured in an alleged attempt to attack Chavez, and many pro-Chavez websites still cite that as a fact, yet later developments (which often go unreported by sympathizers even though the Venezuelan government itself has no choice but to mention them) showed it wasn't so simple. To say the least.

It seems that most of those people were not paramilitaries at all, unlike what the Venezuelan government argued, and were just tricked, apparently by parts of the Venezuelan opposition.

Nor does that last pardon have much apparent logic if those 27 were that dangerous, but I guess one can come up with some sort of explanation if necessary. It does seem they were up to no good, in any case.

The specific plan you cite seems to be different, at first sight and from what I recall, but Leech isn't exactly providing us with Uribe's actual words on the matter, to contrast his description with what was actually said.

[Judi Lynn]

76. More on the slugs hired by Venezuelan opposition to commit murder in Venezuela:

The Venezuelan elite imports soldiers
by Marta Harnecker
May 23, 2004

~snip~
Since 'the conspiracies against Venezuela do not end with the capture of mercenaries in Caracas,' there must be many other infiltrators in other areas of the country; since this is not an isolated action, but one whose efforts to stop the process continue, one can reach but only one conclusion: it is necessary to prepare oneself for self-defense. This is why the President considered it opportune to take advantage of the occasion and to announce three strategic lines for defending the country. The most radical proposal was a call for the population to massively participate in the defense of the nation.

A week earlier, on the 9th of May, on the outskirts of Caracas, a paramilitary force was discovered, dressed in field uniforms. Later, more were found, raising the total to 130, leaving open the possibility that there are still more in the country. The three Colombian paramilitary leaders of the group are members of the Autonomous Self-Defense Forces (AUC) in Northern Santander state in Colombia.

Some of the captured Colombian fighters have a long history as members of paramilitary forces. Others are reservists of the Colombian army and yet others were specifically recruited for the task in Venezuela and were surely tricked. Among these there are several who are minors.

A colonel of the Venezuelan air force was also detained, as well as seven officers of the National Guard. Among those implicated in the plot is a group of civilians headed by the Cuban Roberto Alonso, creator of the 'guarimbas,'<1> and Gustavo Quintero Machado, a Venezuelan, both who are currently wanted by the Venezuelan justice system.

What the real objectives were is now being discussed. One of them could have been to steal weapons so as to then attack the Miraflores presidential palace and President Chavez himself.

The government denounced the existence of an international plot in which the governments of the United States and of Colombian would be involved. U.S. Ambassador Shapiro denied that his country had any participation in the incident. And the Colombian president, for his part, solidarized himself with the Venezuelan government, affirming that he supports its actions against the members of the irregular Colombian military group, which then caused Chavez to publicly announce that he was convinced that President Alvaro Uribe did not have anything to do with the plot, even though he insisted on leveling charges against a Colombian general by the name of Carreño.

Even though the oppositional media conducted a big campaign to minimize the issue, trying to accuse the government of having organized a montage, so as to have a pretext for taking forceful measures that would impede a confrontation at the voting booth, every day more evidence surfaces that confirm the official version.

The Colombian attorney general's office has evidence that proves that paramilitary fighters were recruited and then transported to Venezuela and that extreme right-wing groups infiltrated intelligence services in the border town of Cúcuta. The proof was shown on the news program 'The Independent Network.' The program broadcast some intercepted recordings of paramilitary soldiers in Cúcuta, in which the operations they carried out in Venezuelan territory are reviewed.
(snip)

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5579

By the way, the recently removed head of Uribe's national security department has ADMITTED recently he knew of this. It was discussed fully here, over and over.



Colombian paramilitaries captured at a ranch owned by Cuban right-wing “exile” Roberto Alonso

January 25, 2005

The Granda Kidnapping Explodes
The US / Colombia Plot Against Venezuela
By JAMES PETRAS

A major diplomatic and political conflict has exploded between Colombia and Venezuela after the revelation of a Colombian government covert operation in Venezuela, involving the recruitment of Venezuelan military and security officers in the kidnapping of a Colombian leftist leader. Following an investigation by the Venezuelan Ministry of Interior and reports and testimony from journalists and other knowledgeable political observers it was determined that the highest echelons of the Colombian government, including President Uribe, planned and executed this onslaught on Venezuelan sovereignty.

Once direct Colombian involvement was established, the Venezuelan government demanded a public apology from the Colombian government while seeking a diplomatic solution by blaming Colombian Presidential advisers. The Colombian regime took the offensive, launching an aggressive defense of its involvement in the violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and, beyond that, seeking to establish in advance, under the rationale of "national security" the legitimacy of future acts of aggression. As a result President Chavez has recalled the Venezuelan Ambassador from Bogota, suspended all state-to-state commercial and political agreements pending an official state apology. In response the US Government gave unconditional support to Colombian violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and urged the Uribe regime to push the conflict further. What began as a diplomatic conflict over a specific incident has turned into a major, defining crises in US and Latin American political relations with potentially explosive military, economic and political consequences for the entire region.

In justifying the kidnapping of Rodrigo Granda, the Colombian leftist leader, the Uribe regime has promulgated a new foreign policy doctrine which echoes that of the Bush Administration: the right of unilateral intervention in any country in which the Colombian government perceives or claims is harboring or providing refuge to political adversaries (which the regime labels as "terrorists") which might threaten the security of the state. The Uribe doctrine of unilateral intervention echoes the preventive war speech, enunciated in late 2001 by President Bush. Clearly Uribe's action and pronouncement is profoundly influenced by the dominance that Washington exercises over the Uribe regime's policies through its extended $3 billion dollar military aid program and deep penetration of the entire political-defense apparatus.

Uribe's offensive military doctrine involves several major policy propositions:

1.) The right to violate any country's sovereignty, including the use of force and violence, directly or in cooperation with local mercenaries.

2.) The right to recruit and subvert military and security officials to serve the interests of the Colombian state.

3.) The right to allocate funds to bounty hunters or "third parties" to engage in illegal violent acts within a target country.

4.) The assertion of the supremacy of Colombian laws, decrees and policies over and against the sovereign laws of the intervened country
(snip)

http://www.counterpunch.org/petras01252005.html

More captured Colombian paramilitaries

Published on Monday, May 17,
by the Agence France Presse
Thousands Protest Colombian Paramilitary Presence in Venezuela
Chavez to Set up 'People's Militia'

President Hugo Chavez announced his government would establish "people's militias" to counter what he called foreign interference after an alleged coup plot by Colombian paramilitaries Caracas claims was financed by Washington.

Chavez also said he would boost the strength of Venezuela's armed forces as part of a new "anti-imperialist" phase for his government.

"Each and every Venezuelan man and woman must consider themselves a soldier," said Chavez.

"Let the organization of a popular and military orientation begin from today."

The president's announcement came a week after authorities arrested 88 people described as Colombian paramilitaries holed up on property belonging to a key opposition figure.
(snip/...)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0517-04.htm

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

12.30pm update

Colombian paramilitaries arrested in Venezuela

Jeremy Lennard and agencies
Monday May 10, 2004

Venezuelan police have arrested more than 70 Colombian paramilitary fighters who were allegedly plotting to strike against the government in Caracas, according to the country's president, Hugo Chávez.
Opposition leaders, however, were quick to dismiss the president's claim, calling the raids on a farm less than 10 miles from the capital a ruse to divert attention from their efforts to oust Mr Chávez in a recall vote.

During his weekly radio and TV broadcast, Hello Mr President, Mr Chávez said that 53 paramilitary fighters were arrested at the farm early on Sunday and another 24 were picked up after fleeing into the countryside.
The country's security forces were uncovering additional clues and searching for more suspects, he said, adding that the arrests were proof of a conspiracy against his government involving Cuban and Venezuelan exiles in Florida and neighbouring Colombia.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1213445,00.html



More captured Colombian paramilitaries

Three Venezuelan Officers and 27 Colombians Sentenced for Assassination Plot
A Venezuelan military court sentenced three Venezuelan military officers and 27 Colombians to two to nine years of prison for plotting an assault on Venezuela’s presidential palace and the assassination of President Hugo Chavez.Another 73 Colombians and 3 Venezuelan officers, who had also been suspected of participating in the plot, were freed after spending 17 months in prison.

118 Colombians were captured in May 2004 on a ranch just outside of Caracas, wearing Venezuelan military fatigues. Many of them appeared to be Colombian paramilitary fighters who had been recruited for a mission in Venezuela to attack the Chavez government and to kill the president. Six Venezuelan officers were also arrested in the course of the investigation.
Some of the Colombians were peasants who had been lured to come to Venezuela with the promise of jobs. Upon arriving, though, they were forced to engage in paramilitary training exercises and were forbidden to leave the ranch. 18 of the Colombians were released immediately after the capture and returned to Colombia because they were minors between 15 and 17 years. The ranch belongs to Roberto Alonso, a prominent Cuban-Venezuelan opposition activist. The highest level officer to be sentenced was General Ovidio Poggioli, who had been charged with military rebellion and was sentenced to 2 years and ten months of prison. The other two Venezuelan officers are Colonel Jesús Farias Rodríguez and Captain Rafael Farias Villasmil, who were each sentenced to nine years of prison. The 27 Colombians were each sentenced to six years prison.
When the group of Colombians were first arrested, many opposition leaders argued that the government had staged the arrests, in order to make the opposition look bad. They pointed out that no weapons were found with the paramilitary fighters and that the whole operation looked far too amateurish to have any chance of success. Also, it was argued that it is practically impossible to transport 120 Colombian paramilitary fighters undetected all the way from Colombia to Caracas, considering that there are numerous military control points along the way.
(snip)

http://www.voltairenet.org/article130297.html

[Zynx]

74. Colombia is a classic case of where neither major actor is worth supporting.

It is like the Chinese Civil War where you had Mao and Chiang Kai-Shek. No thanks.