Colombia arrests 25 politicians

[Say_What]

US style *democracy* in Colombia

On edit: They're using the *terrorist* card like they used to use *communist* to justify intimidation, murder, and mayhem.

<clips>

By Associated Press
October 22, 2003

BOGOTA, Colombia — Police and soldiers rounded up at least 25 politicians with suspected ties to leftist guerrillas in pre-dawn raids Tuesday across one of the country's most violent provinces.

Rights groups denounced the mass arrests as a government attempt to stifle opposition ahead of elections on Sunday for municipal and state offices.

Hundreds of troops and police took part in the sweeps in northeastern Colombia's Arauca state, arresting the mayor of Arauca city, the president of the regional assembly, a candidate for state governor and five candidates for mayors of towns in the region.

Two former Arauca governors were also arrested in the Colombian capital, Bogota.



<http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/nation_world_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2420_2366606,00.html>

[Say_What]

1. State Dept: U.S. to Offer Reward for Information on Captured Americans in

Folks who read about it then will remember the CIA plane that was shot down and now the State Dept. is gonna offer $5 million for information. Wow. What does that tell you??

<clips>

State Dept. developing a campaign for $5-million reward

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States will be offering in "a few weeks" a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people involved in the kidnappings of four Americans in Colombia and the murder of one of those captives, confirms a spokesman for the U.S. State Department.

Responding to news reports about the reward, the spokesman said in an interview October 21 that the "campaign" for the reward is still being developed. The spokesman added that the reward will be administered by the State Department Office of Diplomatic Security's "Rewards for Justice" program.

The reward will expand on an existing initiative to assist the Americans being held in Colombia, begun earlier in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, said the spokesman. The reward would include the possibility of a U.S. visa for information leading to the location of the hostages, the spokesman said.

The State Department calls its Rewards for Justice program one of the "most valuable U.S. government assets in the fight against international terrorism," because "thousands of lives have been saved as a direct result" of its work.


<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=October&x=20031021174931neerge0.8709528&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html>

[Judi Lynn]

6. Isn't it odd that every time something strange happens there

it's always blamed on the leftists, and never on the violent, murderous right-wing para-militaries?

Chasing and murdering "leftists," union leaders, church activists in Latin America has been an obsession with some in our own government, apparently, for decades.

They were able to call them "Communists" for real propaganda bang for the buck, but since "Communists" are getting scarce as hens' teeth, calling them "terrorists" will do just as well. "They" are the ones who need to avert their eyes, and do all the slave labor, and stay out of the way when they aren't called, it would seem.

[denverbill]

7. Back in 1979, those 'hostages' would have been daily news.

Of course, they aren't 'US soldiers'. They are privatized soldiers working for Dyncorp, doing exactly what soldiers would do.

In effect, they are 'enemy combatants'; not members of the US Army or Columbian army, but fighting against the guerillas.

[Say_What]

8. 5 million USD makes one wonder who and what these guys

really are and what they know. That's a hell of a lot of scratch for three *security officers* or whatever the corporate press spun about them when this first happened.

[tom_paine]

2. You know the Busheviks are watching this

Taking bets on what year stuff like this starts happening in the Empire.

My guess, around 2015, during the final years of Emperor Jeb*s reign.

[Say_What]

3. I'd say they're master-minding it. Uribe is Uncle Sam's lap dog

:grr:

[el_gato]

4. it'll happen here much sooner than 2015

[Say_What]

5. that's my guess too. In an earlier article there are more details

Note that most of those arrests (on *suspicion of links to leftist rebels), took place in the oil-rich province of Arauca on the border with Venezuela.


<clips>

... Jorge Cedeno, the mayor of Arauca city, was among those being held.

Marxist rebels have long had a big presence in Arauca, and authorities say they have infiltrated local government and extorted oil royalties. The rebels also regularly bomb a pipeline supplying oil wells operated by U.S. firm Occidental Petroleum Corp. .

In a separate sweep, authorities said 97 suspected guerrillas were arrested in the eastern jungle region of Vichada.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally, made Arauca one of two special security zones after he was elected last year, giving the army powers to tap phones and round up suspects. The military staged several mass raids before the high court withdrew most of their new powers.

<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031022/wl_nm/colombia_arrests_dc_1>

[Say_What]

9. Grim scenario seen if Colombian referendum fails

A referendum to stick it to the people of Colombia so that the country can meet IMF austerity measures. :puke:

The outcome of this is worth following.

<clips>

... It's a tough challenge. Uribe needs more people to participate in the vote on freezing public sector wages and tackling corruption than voted for him in his landslide presidential election victory last year.

Economists are focusing on three scenarios: First, all 15 questions are approved, raising an estimated $7 billion in savings over seven years, and possibly leading to a credit rating upgrade from leading ratings agencies.

Success in the referendum would also be a personal victory for Uribe, and could boost his clout in Congress.

The second scenario is total failure: less than the required 6.3 million voters show up at the ballot box, and the vote doesn't count.

http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2003/10/22/rtr1118782.html