In Colombia, paramilitary groups still spreading terror (Bush's S. American ally)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: L. A. Times

In Colombia, paramilitary groups still spreading terror
The new gangs, like rebels and drug traffickers, force people from their homes and farms, taking an enormous human toll. Displacement is accelerating in the southwest state of Nariño.
By Chris Kraul
December 3, 2008

Reporting from Tumaco, Colombia -- The Colombian government insists that paramilitary gangs are extinct. Try telling that to Antonio Domingo, a poor Afro-Colombian who was rousted from his home in the dead of night in August and told to leave town or be killed.

Antonio, 30, who declined to give his last name for fear of reprisal, said armed and uniformed fighters who identified themselves as members of a paramilitary force called the Black Eagles gave residents minutes to leave San Jose, their Pacific coast hamlet.


"We had furniture, chickens, yucca and plantains, but lost it all," said Antonio, interviewed at a camp for displaced people outside this port town in the southwestern state of Nariño. "They killed a friend of mine in front of us for no reason, maybe to make a point."

Antonio, his wife and infant son are part of an alarming upsurge this year of displaced people in Colombia. According to CODHES, a human rights group based in Bogota, the capital, 270,675 additional internal refugees were documented in the first half of this year, 41% more than during the same period last year.

The wave of uprooted humanity is matched by a parallel surge in the number of fighters, according to a study released last week by the New Rainbow Coalition, a peace group also based in Bogota. More than 100 new gangs have been formed, including as many as 10,000 fighters, and have a presence in one out of five Colombian counties, mostly rural ones.




Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-paras3-2008dec03,0,1448806.story?track=rss

[amyrose2712]

1. ...

[acmavm]

2. Ah Columbia, the home of bush**s narcoterrorist buddy Uribe.

Birds of a feather and all that...

[Peace Patriot]

3. The horrors of Bushwhack policy in Colombia will continue for decades.

$6 BILLION in military aid--to a government run by narco-fascists, who rule by death squad.

Thousands of people slaughtered--union leaders, small peasant farmers, human rights workers, political leftists, journalists, and sometimes simple bystanders--youths recruited for jobs, then killed and dressed up like guerrilla fighters, to up the Colombian military's "body count," to impress the monsters in Washington DC. And that isn't even the half of it: Thousands of peasant farmers sprayed with toxic pesticides, destroying tens of thousands of acres of food crops--and poisoning people and animals--in a disgusting land grab by the big, government-protected drug lords, ultimately to benefit Monsanto, Chiquita, Occidental Petroleum and other global corporate predators. This is the US "war on drugs." There has been not a dent in the cocaine production. In fact, it has never been a more prosperous trade. The intentions of this "war" were bad, bad, bad--to prop up the fascist government, to flood the country with weapons and mercenaries, to kick the poor off the land, and to create an armed camp next door to Venezuela (north) and Ecuador (south), for the purposes of destabilization and grabbing their oil.

Colombia is a house of horrors--largely created by the U.S. The horror began with Clinton's "Plan Colombia," and, with Bush, of course, we've had "Plan Colombia on steroids." The. worst. policy. ever. It is as bad as Iraq, accomplished in a different way.

As for the "war on drugs," Bolivia has the right idea. First of all, kick the DEA out. Then legalize small scale coca leaf use and growing. It is a traditional indigenous medicine and cannot be wiped out. But by ceasing the "war" on small farmers, you get them on your side as to dealing with the drug gangs and crime. And you don't suffer any of the horrendous side effects of "war"--widespread dissemination of lethal weapons, militarization of the police and the society as a whole, and the inevitable turn towards fascism. A SANE drug policy. Imagine.

And, of course, Bolivia--now that it has its first indigenous president (in a largely indigenous country), and now that democracy is flourishing in Bolivia, and now that Bolivia, as a result, has a SANE drug policy--it is demonized by the Bushwhacks, and we will see if it gets demonized by the Obama regime as well.

The "war on drugs" is, above all, a military/police-state BOONDOGGLE. And if Obama can't kill enough Afghanis to satisfy the greed and bloodlust of our war profiteers, then he will have to continue the carnage in South America, by force if necessary. Because behind that is the oil lust.

[formercia]

4. "San Jose, their Pacific coast hamlet."

Soon to be replaced by condos and luxury villas brought to you, courtesy of, BFEE Construction and Real-Estate Inc.

[bitchkitty]

5. ¿Dónde está el ultraje?

I hear crickets chirping - where are all our self-styled "experts"?

Oh, silly me. They're busy bashing elected leaders in other threads...

[formercia]

6. La Siesta?

Zzzzzzz.

[formercia]

7. Similar to El Salvador

Land owners wanted to kick squatters off of land around San Salvador so that they could develop the properties. Under laws and traditions that went back to the colonial period, they were prevented from legally evicting the squatters, so they began to use death squads to terrorize the inhabitants and get them to leave under the cover of a supposed Marxist insurrection.

Of course, the Gringos were cut in on the deal in return for providing military aid.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Didn't know that happened near San Salvador, and for such a filthy reason.

It's simply killing people so they can steal their land. Period. Doesn't seem possible people could be that low, but they are, after all, right-wingers.

It's also happening in Paraguay, currently, with those huge landowners, as well.

[formercia]

9. Killing Native Americans for their land.

Europeans have been doing it for Hundreds of Years.

It started with Columbus.

[formercia]

13. I had spoken with a case officer that had just returned

from Central America in 1982.

He was visibly upset. He explained to me that the 'War' had nothing to do with Communism. It had to do with land and money. It's the way it always is and always has been.

They lied to him, they lied to me and everyone else in the CIA that wasn't 'in the know.'

[judasdisney]

10. LA Times article barely mentions Uribe. WTF?

Something stinks about this article. I smell a psy-op.

Should I be grateful for the coverage? Or should I ask questions about the nature of this article?

Why is Uribe let off the hook in this article?

[formercia]

11. As if Uribe has nothing to do with the death squads.

As long as the US government continues to support right-wing reactionary regimes, this will continue to happen.

[coalition_unwilling]

12. bookmarked -n\t

[Judi Lynn]

14. Colombia Confirms It Cannot Meet Necessary Prerequisites for FTA consideration

Posted December 4, 2008 | 10:47 AM (EST)
Colombia Confirms It Cannot Meet Necessary Prerequisites for FTA consideration

In his final debate with John McCain, President-elect Barack Obama made it clear why he opposed passage of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) - because of the problem with union assassinations in Colombia (still the highest in the world) and because the Colombian government has failed to investigate and prosecute those killings. This statement echoed Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, just last year, set forth the yard marks which were necessary for consideration for the Colombia FTA - namely, "concrete and sustained" results in dealing with continued violence against trade unionists, impunity and the role of paramilitary groups in that violence.



Fernando Botero, "Masacre"

On the issue of impunity, the Colombian government has successfully investigated and prosecuted around only 3% of the almost 2700 union killings since 1986, resulting in an impunity rate of 97%. And, recently, the Colombian Office of the Attorney General confirmed that this impunity rate will not be appreciably lowered.

Indeed, as Human Rights Watch recently explained in a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Congressman George Miller and Congressman Charles Rangel, "he Office of the Attorney General reports that as of October 20, the specialized prosecutors unit is only reviewing a total of 1,272 cases involving anti-union violence - including both threats and killings (even though nearly all of the 2,685 reported killings and more than 3,700 threats remain unresolved)." (emphasis added).

In short, impunity will not decrease very much in Colombia because the Colombian government, by its own admission, is not even looking into the vast majority of anti-union violence cases. This is an incredible admission by the Colombian government given its continued full-court press for passage of the Colombia FTA. This admission should finally end Colombia's chances at passage of the FTA, at least so long as Barack Obama is President and Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/colombia-confirms-it-cann_b_148394.html

[Judi Lynn]

15. More from the same article, which many people don't know:

Further, Human Rights Watch noted that the Colombian government has failed to abide by the order of a well-respected judge to investigate the role played by the Nestle Corporation in the murder of union leader Luciano Romero. The issue of such corporate responsibility in the murder of trade unionists continues even as Colombia, on December 6, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the massacre of striking banana workers in the town of Cienaga, Colombia at the behest of then United Fruit Company (now, Chiquita Banana, a company which has continued to fund atrocities in Colombia). This event inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez's portrayal of the murder of banana workers in One Hundred Years of Solitude - a book I am told is the very favorite of none other than Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Paramilitary Resurgence Wreaks Terror

Paramilitary Resurgence Wreaks Terror
Dec 9 2008
Annalise Romoser

The people of Tierralta in northern Colombia thought that the worst was finally behind them. In the mid 1990s, the town had been a hotbed of paramilitary violence, causing droves of residents to repeatedly flee combat, threats, and indiscriminate killings. But a government-sponsored demobilization of paramilitary militias in 2004 was supposed to change all that.

“We had to leave our lands because they were contaminated with paramilitaries," says one resident. "They are the reason we left the first time, and they are the reason we left the second time.” Those fleeing joined the ranks of Colombia's nearly four million internal refugees violently forced from their homes. But on the heels of the widely publicized demobilization of an estimated 30,000 paramilitaries—and after two displacements—many families returned with hope to Tierralta.

They began to re-establish themselves, believing the demobilization might finally bring some peace to their town. The renewed presence of small businesses, crops, and strong churches signaled a new sense of security and stability.

Azael Hernández returned in 2004 and established a modest convenience store. He became an active member of the Getsemani Protestant church and did his best to help his fellow displaced families trying to rebuild their lives. The community came to respect Azael as a strong community member.

Last June 15, the newfound stability of Tierralta was shattered when alleged members of a re-organized paramilitary group known as the "Black Eagles" kidnapped Azael. His disappearance led to an anguished eight-day search in which his family and church members unsuccessfully scoured the countryside for his body. The search team discovered a death-threat list circulating in the town with Azael Hernández's name and those of 11 other people. Issued by the Black Eagles, the list sent such panic throughout the community that by the end of the month, 27 families had fled Tierralta, many facing displacement for a third time.

"They had a list of 12 and it started with my husband. It was very hard on us to learn this," explains Azael's wife. "Now we are afraid everybody is at risk.” The mother of four presumes her husband was killed and his body thrown over a nearby hydroelectric dam.

More:
http://nacla.org/node/5307

[Judi Lynn]

17. Colombia: survivors remember "Massacre of the Bananeras"

Colombia: survivors remember "Massacre of the Bananeras"
Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 18:35.

Unions and social organizations held a commemoration Dec. 6 in Ciénaga, in the Colombian Caribbean coast department of Magdalena, marking the anniversary of the 1928 "Masacre de las Bananeras," carried out by the army against hundreds of striking workers of the United Fruit Company. Hundreds gathered in what is now called Plaza of the Martyrs to hear speeches and testimony from aging survivors of the massacre. Up to a thousand were killed by some estimates when the army surrounded and opened fire on a union rally in Ciénaga's central plaza in the midst of a strike over collective bargaining rights—although the official death toll was put at nine. (Radio Caracol, Dec. 6)

Chiquita Brands, successor company to the United Fruit Co., is currently mired in a scandal over collaboration with Colombia's right-wing paramilitaries. The company is accused of paying the paramilitaries up to $1.7 million, as well as directly providing weapons, over the past seven years. During this period, some 4,000 residents of Colombia's northern banan-producing regions have been killed by the paras.

http://ww4report.com/node/6500

[bemildred]

18. So all that stuff about disbanding them and disarming them was just bullshit?

Why, yes, yes it was.

[Judi Lynn]

20. In every possible sense, absolutely. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

19. Colombia's Supreme Court to Continue Investigating Politicians Suspected of Paramilitary Ties

Colombia's Supreme Court to Continue Investigating Politicians Suspected of Paramilitary Ties
December 10, 2008

In October the administration of President Alvaro Uribe withdrew controversial legislation that Human Rights Watch had vigorously criticized. The bill would have impeded investigations of the links between paramilitaries and politicians by eliminating the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over members of Congress. Human Rights Watch has documented crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses committed by the paramilitaries, and the Court has been making real progress in investigating over 60 members of Congress-nearly all from Uribe's coalition-for suspected ties to these groups. The Uribe administration proposed the bill in July 2008 and had strongly promoted it. Human Rights Watch met with the Minister of Interior and Justice to present our reasons for opposing the bill and told authorities we would publicize our analysis in a report. The report covers the unprecedented progress that Colombia's institutions of justice are making in breaking the influence of paramilitaries' mafia-like networks, as well as the many ways in which the Uribe administration has repeatedly undermined that progress. Two days before the report was released in Bogota, President Uribe suddenly announced that he was withdrawing the bill.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/10/colombias-supreme-court-continue-investigating-politicians-suspected-paramilitary-ti