Colombia's Uribe Says Gore Shunned Him

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Apr 20, 3:40 AM EDT

Colombia's Uribe Says Gore Shunned Him

By TOBY MUSE
Associated Press Writer

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Vice President Al Gore withdrew from an environmental conference in Miami Friday and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Gore had pulled out to avoid appearing with Uribe, who is battling new accusations that he aided far-right death squads.

Phone messages left with press representatives for Gore were not immediately returned.

But Uribe, the Bush administration's closest South American ally, said at a press conference in Bogota that Gore's decision was a sign of the damage being done to Colombia by the constant accusations against the president. Uribe said he still planned to attend the New America Alliance Green Forum.

Uribe called the press conference to refute an opposition lawmaker's allegations that while Uribe was governor in a northern state in the mid-1990s he let paramilitaries use his property for meetings and killings.
(snip)

Gore's office informed conference organizers that he "would not attend the event because he could not share the stage with the president of Colombia after the political debates in Colombia against the Uribe Velez family and against the president," Uribe said in the hastily called news conference at the presidential palace.




Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/COLOMBIA_AL_GORE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-04-20-03-40-21

---

Alvaro Uribe and his American friend

[IndianaGreen]

1. Uribe has the blood of innocents on his hands

Kudos for Gore for avoiding this criminal.

[Larkspur]

2. Yep, good for Gore to shun Uribe

[IndianaGreen]

3. Let's see which of our Democratic Presidential candidates follow suit

and how many decide to pander to Uribe.

[sam sarrha]

4. cold be dangerous to piss off Psychopathic megalomaniacs like Uribe and Bu$h

[xchrom]

5. hey -- being buddy buddy with deathsquads and george bush

is no way to win a popularity contest.

[bemildred]

6. Attaboy Al. Extra credit for good judgement and spine. nt

[cliss]

7. I'm not sure that's the end of the story.

I read somewhere that Al Gore's family is connected with some company in Colombia.
Not sure of all the details, but it doesn't sound good. Sorry, that's all I have.:smoke:

[Judi Lynn]

8. It's still a good idea for Gore to focus on Uribe's connections to the terrorist

paramilitaries, and their connection to Uribe's own family and cabinet members.

Americans should not be forced to underwrite a brutal, corrupt government with the third largest foreign aid package in the world.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Colombia's Uribe says Gore snubs him over scandal

Colombia's Uribe says Gore snubs him over scandal


By Hugh Bronstein
REUTERS

7:13 a.m. April 20, 2007

BOGOTA – Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, facing allegations that he supported right-wing death squads, said former U.S. Vice President Al Gore pulled out of a conference on Friday where the two were scheduled to speak.
Uribe said Gore's office contacted him to say he would not attend the conference in Miami because of the scandal in which eight members of Uribe's congressional coalition are in jail awaiting trial for backing drug-running paramilitaries.

The cocaine-funded militias, branded terrorists by Washington, have massacred thousands of Colombians in the name of fighting left-wing rebels.

Uribe, a key U.S. ally in Latin America, denies having supported the militias and challenges his critics to provide evidence of wrongdoing.

Gore's cancellation came after U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, froze $55 million in military aid over the scandal. As chairman of the subcommittee that oversees foreign assistance, Leahy is pushing for a tougher line on Colombia, which receives billions of dollars in U.S. aid.

Isaac Lee, head of Poder magazine, which is sponsoring the conference, confirmed Gore's cancellation and told Colombian radio that the scandal is hurting chances that the Andean country can clinch a free trade agreement with Washington.

More:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070420-0713-colombia-uribe-gore.html

[Judi Lynn]

16. "Parapolitics" threatens to harm Colombia's ties with US"

ANALYSIS: "Parapolitics" threatens to harm Colombia's ties with US

By Sandra Parra Apr 21, 2007, 3:35 GMT

Bogota - A scandal over ties between pro-government politicians and Colombia's right-wing paramilitaries has begun to hurt relations between President Alvaro Uribe and the United States.

Opposition Senator Gustavo Petro this week accused Uribe of leniency with paramilitaries when he was governor of the province of Antioquia in the mid-1990s.

Petro revealed a photograph of one of Uribe's brothers with former drug trade boss Fabio Ochoa, who was extradited to the United States in 2001. Petro also claimed paramilitary groups held meetings and even killed leftist rebels in estates belonging to the Uribe family.

The so-called 'para-politics' scandal has already led to the arrest of eight pro-government legislators, including the brother of foreign minister Maria Consuelo Araujo - who resigned over the case herself - and one governor.

Uribe denied the allegations on Thursday, and accused the opposition of trying to sabotage his administration's efforts to get the US Congress to approve a negotiated free trade agreement.

However, barely six weeks after US President George W Bush visited Colombia - Washington's closest ally in Latin America - President Uribe is clearly worried.

More:
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/americas/news/article_1294451.php/ANALYSIS_"Parapolitics"_threatens_to_harm_Colombias_ties_with_US

[Robbien]

10. I just love this story

See Gore can do so much good without the hassle of putting up with a presidential campaign.

[yurbud]

11. now if he would embrace the real democracies of South America

[ThomCat]

12. Good. Gore did the right thing.

x(

[Colobo]

13. I'm a fan of Uribe

and I'm glad Colombians reelected him.

[UTUSN]

14. That's my President, and that's why he makes decisions, AND.... here's to the FUTURE!!1 n/t

[Judi Lynn]

15. Gore quits green forum to protest Colombia leader

Gore quits green forum to protest Colombia leader
Miami Herald
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, April 21, 2007


MIAMI -- Former Vice President Al Gore, in a stunning slap at Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, pulled out of an environmental forum attended by Uribe on Friday, citing allegations the Colombian's allies colluded with far-right death squads.

The news of Gore's cancellation quickly eclipsed the pressing environmental issues discussed at the high-powered Poder Green Forum held in Miami. Gore, who has led an international campaign against global warming, was to have been the biggest star among the host of scientific and political luminaries.

Gore's absence prompted Uribe, who faces a deepening scandal over links between his supporters and right-wing paramilitaries, to defend his record repeatedly, first at a news conference and then when he addressed the Green Forum.

"I deplore the absence of Vice President Al Gore in this conference," Uribe said. "I hope that he pays attention to Colombia and closely examines the case."

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/158740.html

[Judi Lynn]

17. Colombia: U.S. Congress Should Maintain Hold on Military Aid

Colombia: U.S. Congress Should Maintain Hold on Military Aid

2007-04-20 | (Washington, DC, April 18, 2007) – The US Congress should maintain a hold on military assistance to Colombia until alleged links between paramilitary groups and state officials are thoroughly investigated, Amnesty International USA, the Center for International Policy, Human Rights Watch, the US Office on Colombia and the Washington Office on Latin America said in a joint statement today.
(snip)

On March 21, human rights organizations presented US officials with clear evidence of continued human rights violations by the armed forces. These organizations recommended that Rice not certify Colombia, and they were particularly concerned about reports that extrajudicial executions of civilians by the Colombian military have increased substantially over the last two years, a fact that the State Department's certification barely mentions.

"The United States established conditions for the release of military assistance to Colombia precisely because of ties between Colombian military units and paramilitary groups implicated in massive atrocities", said the joint statement.

"For Secretary Rice to certify Colombia's compliance at this time shows that the US is not prepared to uphold the law as intended," the statement said. "This sends a dangerous message that the US is willing to turn a blind eye to paramilitary activity and human rights abuses in Colombia."

More:
http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=3403&blz=1

[gratuitous]

18. Poor Alvaro! Now he has to go eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's

Or bite the head off a baby. I forget, what is protocol for a bloodthirsty dictator after he's so humongously embarrassed he could just die? Oh yeah, someone else has to die. Order up a baby!

[Judi Lynn]

19. Excellent remarks from a Colombian, on the Bush-promoted FTA:

The FTA Between Colombia and the US Cannot be Salvaged
by Jorge Robledo
April 21, 2007


From March 26 to March 30, I visited Washington, DC, along with Iván Moreno Rojas, Senator of the Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA-Alternative Democratic Party); Apecides Alvis, President of the Confederación de Trabajadores de Colombia (CTC-Colombian Workers Confederation); Boris Montes de Oca, Secretary General of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT-Workers Unitary Central Union); and other leaders of the main Colombian trade union federations. We exchanged views about the Colombian Free Trade Agreement with leaders of the AFL-CIO, Democratic Party Congressional members, and Thomas Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

In these meetings we reported that eighty Colombian agrarian organizations had just ratified the decision to reject the FTA. We explained why the Treaty should not be approved by either house of Congress, if the intention is to have mutually beneficial economic relations between our two nations. We specified that our disagreement with the FTA is not merely with particular parts but with the text as a whole, that is, with the very concept of so-called “free trade”, because its aim is a world that benefits only a handful of monopolies. To demonstrate the degree to which the “free trade” concept is regressive, even for the people of the United States, we noted that in the United States the minimum wage is just now being increased for the first time in ten years! This shocking fact confirms that neoliberal globalization implies degradation of living standards for all nations in the world. We explained that the atrocious violence that has afflicted and continues to afflict Colombia, which is understandably appalling to outside observers, makes it even more difficult for our country to compete on an equal footing with an economic competitor whose gross domestic product is 129 times larger than ours.

Colombia would suffer enormous losses due to the extremely one-sided character of what has been agreed in terms of tariffs, agriculture, industry, sanitary and phyto-sanitary controls, subsidies allowed to the United States, intellectual property, medicines, investment rules, procurement contracts, telecommunications, financial services, dispute resolution, the balance of payments clause, indirect expropriation, labor mobility, transborder commerce, and culture, among other things. In terms of labor conditions, Article 17.2 of the FTA would intensify the already shocking situation for Colombian workers by authorizing further weakening of labor standards for the benefit of employers. Article 18.2 does the same for environmental norms. To try to turn the FTA into a positive agreement by making a few cosmetic changes would be like trying to alter Frankenstein’s nature with a bit of lipstick and earrings.

By the time of our trip, it was clear that President Bush's administration had failed to secure Congressional approval of the FTA, as stipulated in the text agreed to with Colombia’s President. Bush had not even dared to introduce it for consideration by the US Congress since the Democratic Party, which had been ignored during the negotiations but is now in control of both Houses of Congress, had already communicated its intention to bury it. It became evident that while there are some Democratic Congressional members who pursue the impossible objective of "fixing" what’s wrong with the Agreement, there are others who remain faithful to the commitment to opposing “free trade” that contributed to their party’s victory in the November elections. The latter preferred that the Agreement not be ratified, allowing then a redefinition of policies regarding US relations with the rest of the world.

More:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=9&ItemID=12639

[kiteinthewind]

20. Good for Gore!! nt

[Judi Lynn]

21. Colombian President Hits Back

Colombian President Hits Back
Uribe Denies Family Had Paramilitary Ties

By Juan Forero
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 21, 2007; Page A11

BOGOTA, Colombia, April 20 -- Facing allegations that his family had ties to illegal paramilitary groups, President Álvaro Uribe issued fervent denials at a news conference here Thursday and in Miami on Friday as he tried quell a scandal that he said "puts at risk the greater interests of the country."

"Why condemn me without listening to me?" the president said in the nationally televised news conference in Bogota late Thursday. "I have to apologize for mistakes, but not for crimes."

The allegations prompted former vice president Al Gore to cancel his appearance Friday at an international environmental conference in Miami because Uribe was to attend. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Gore called the allegations against Uribe "deeply troubling."

"He believes that President Uribe should have every opportunity to address these unsettled allegations in Colombia, but until this very serious chapter in history is brought to a close, Mr. Gore did not feel it was appropriate to appear at the event," Kalee Kreider said.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042001869.html