Colombia ranks 10th worst on terrorism risk index

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia ranks 10th worst on terrorism risk index
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 13:23
Matt Snyder

Maplecroft, a U.K.-based security company ranked Colombia as the tenth most vulnerable nation to terrorism according to its terrorism risk index. Colombia was ranked behind Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, the Palestinian occupied territories, Congo, and the Central African Republic in descending order of risk. Maplecroft ranked 198 countries in total.

Colombia was ranked highest in the Western Hemisphere for terrorist threats and was labeled as possessing an "extreme risk" of terrorist attacks. Of the countries ranked higher than Colombia all were either located in either Africa or the Middle East.

In April, Maplecroft stated that the risk of violence in Colombia had increased throughout the country since 2009 and that it was particularly high in the north due to the actions of paramilitaries.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/18078-colombia-ranks-10th-worst-on-terrorism-risk-index.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. "an 'extreme risk' of terrorist attacks"? Criminy, the government & military are "terrorists."

Yes, I'd say that trade unionists, human rights workers, teachers, community activists, journalists, political leftists, peasant farmers, Indigenous leaders and anyone who challenges the rightwing political establishment is at extreme risk of being murdered--by Colombia's government and military (funded with $7 BILLION in U.S. taxpayer money).

This report is awkward. Who are the "terrorists" in Colombia? Amnesty International, for instance, said that 92% of the murders of trade unionists in Colombia were committed by the Colombian military itself (about half) and its closely tied rightwing paramilitary death squads (the other half).