Colombia This (last) Week

Fri 07 – UNHCR concerned over Wounaan indigenous; two bombs explode on Bogota buses

· The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed its concern over the future of the Wounaan indigenous who have fled their communities in Choco and have arrived in the small town of Istmina. According to Philippe Lavanchy, director of UNHCR’s bureau for the Americas, some of the displaced have been staying in a ruined house with no running water, no electricity and no sanitation. The entire Wounaan population of the Middle San Juan River- about 1,748 people- is expected to take refuge in Istmina, but the small town has few resources and is struggling to cope. The Wounaan are also afraid of losing their identity if they are moved away from the river, which plays a central role in their culture, the UNHCR reports.

· Bombs exploded on two buses in southern Bogota, injuring 20 people, eight of whom were minors. Two children, aged nine and 11 respectively, were described as critical after being rushed to hospital with burns over half of their bodies. Authorities said that the near simultaneous blasts were likely to be the work of urban armed groups linked to the FARC, who are intensifying attacks ahead of the May presidential elections, AP reports.

· Trade union activist Daniel Cortez, from the electricity workers’ union Sintraelecol, was killed near the city of Barrancabermeja (Santander department) by a paramilitary death squad. Two other activists, members of the agricultural workers’ union Fensuagro, have been regularly followed by military intelligence officers in Popayan (Cauca department), the UK-based organisation Justice for Colombia reports.

· Telefonica SA, Spain’s largest telephone company, won the bidding in the privatisation process of Colombia Telecomunicaciones SA, the nation’s biggest state telephone company. The Spanish company will now be the owner of 50% plus one of Telecom’s shares, Bloomberg reports.

Sat 08 – Displaced follow paramilitaries for fear of guerrilla attack; 9 FARC rebels demobilise

· 700 paramilitaries and 1,200 displaced arrived in Casibare (Meta department), where the demobilisation of the Self-defence Forces of Meta and Guaviare will take place on Tuesday. The displaced explained that they feared that, once the paramilitaries had left their territories, they would find themselves at the mercy of the guerrillas. Counter-guerrilla troops were then sent to the areas abandoned by the paramilitaries and 100 peasants were able to return to their homes, El Tiempo reports.

· Nine members of the FARC demobilised in Nariño department. The nine rebels, who were presented in an official ceremony, are among the 222 FARC members who have demobilised since the beginning of the year, El Tiempo reports.

Sun 09 – Military exercise in the Caribbean Sea ; irregularities in Incoder

· The biggest military exercise in the Caribbean Sea will take place next week, when 32 countries from the Americas will join the US in a simulated war against drug-trafficking. Operation Society of the Americas has already provoked criticism from Cuba and Venezuela, countries that will not participate in the event and that see the exercise as a demonstration of US military power in the region, El Tiempo reports.

· The government ordered the temporary suspension of land distribution to displaced people, after irregularities in the process of land adjudication were discovered. Luis Ortiz and Omar Quesset, director and vice-director of the Colombian Institute for Rural Development (Incoder), were dismissed, Caracol Radio reports.

· Manuel Jose Cepeda Espinosa has left the presidency of the Constitutional Court. Cepeda was the magistrate who announced the Court’s decision in favour of the President’s re-election, Colprensa reports.

Mon 10 – Ex DAS director accused of corruption; 200 billion pesos job scheme for demobilised

· Jorge Noguera, ex director of the police intelligence service (DAS) and currently consul in Milan, is expected to travel to Colombia, after receiving accusations of links with paramilitaries. The allegations were produced by Rafael Garcia, ex DAS top official currently in prison, through the magazines Cambio and Semana. Noguera is accused of electoral fraud in the 2002 elections, of providing paramilitaries with black lists of trade unionists and academics, and of orchestrating a coup against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Colprensa reports.

· The government announced a plan to invest 200 billion pesos into productive projects that would employ demobilised paramilitaries. The Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt said that 1,500 demobilised are already employed in agricultural projects, while a further 1,500 are receiving training to work as civic guards on major roads. 1,200 demobilised are also working in the same capacity in parks and stadiums, Caracol Radio reports.

· The seven presidential candidates expressed their opinions on the relationship between Colombia and the US, in an interview with the daily El Tiempo. Most of the candidates criticised the foreign policy of the Uribe administration, which, according to them, is isolating the country from the rest of Latin America by forging strong bilateral ties with the US. On the contrary, Uribe described his foreign policy as a bridge between the US and Latin America, El Tiempo reports.

· The Colombian mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported having come into contact with new armed groups that call themselves self-defence forces in the departments of Nariño and Valle. However, the organisation has not been able to confirm yet whether these groups are directly involved in the armed conflict, El Colombiano reports.

· Police officers burst into the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Naya massacre, in Timbio (Cauca department). The policemen entered the area where the Alto Naya community, social organisations and humanitarian bodies were gathered, and started taking photographs of the participants, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) reports.

Tues 11 – Uribe defends Noguera ; Constitutional Court has new president

· President Uribe backed the ex director of DAS Jorge Noguera and defended the legitimacy and transparency of his government. Meanwhile, the other presidential candidates insisted that the current administration is now illegitimate because of allegations of irregularities in the 2002 elections, Caracol Radio and El Colombiano report.

· The new president of the Constitutional Court, Jaime Cordoba Triviño, said he assumes his new role at a critical moment for the political life of the country. He added that the examination of the Justice and Peace Law by the Court, which will take place during the next two weeks, will be carried out using purely judicial criteria, RCN Radio reports.

· The paramilitary fronts Heroes del Llano and Heroes del Guaviare demobilised in Casibare (Meta department). After the demobilisation of the two blocks, only the Peasant-Self Defence Forces of Casanare, under the command of alias Martin Llanos, are still operating in the region, Reuters reports.

· The families of the 12 ex members of the Assembly of Valle del Cauca department, kidnapped by the FARC, marched in Cali to mark the fourth anniversary of their captivity. They expressed their wish that the government and the FARC reach a humanitarian agreement, El Colombiano reports.

· Two army officers were arrested for the death of the indigenous German Zapata Escue, which took place 18 years ago in Jambalo (Cauca department). The case was passed to the Attorney General’s office in 2002, after having been under the jurisdiction of the military justice system, RCN Radio reports.

Weds 12 – Attorney General to investigate DAS allegations; paramilitary granted land by state

· The Attorney General’s office confirmed that it will investigate the accusations of paramilitary infiltration against Jorge Noguera. Meanwhile, Horacio Serpa, presidential candidate for the Liberal Party, said that the forthcoming presidential elections will need to be closely monitored by the international community, with the participation of the Organisation of American States (OAS), the United Nations and the European Union, RCN Radio reports.

· Jose Eleazar Moreno, a member of the Heroes del Llano block that demobilised yesterday, had been classified as displaced and had received 23 hectares of land by Incoder in 1997. Moreno confirmed that the authorities did not know he was a paramilitary and, although he recognised that he lied to them, Moreno said he hopes he can keep the land, El Tiempo reports.

· The remains of 32 people were found in a series of mass graves in La Gabarra (Norte de Santander department). The Catatumbo Block, a paramilitary group recently demobilised, is blamed for the killings, AP reports.

· The government reported that during the first trimester of 2006 the number of kidnappings dropped by 50% compared to the same period in 2005. In particular, in March the rate dropped by 66%, from 80 kidnappings in 2005 to 27 in 2006, El Colombiano reports.

· Three geologists working for the company Geostudios were kidnapped in Serrania del Perija (Cesar department) by ELN members, EFE reports.

Thurs 13 – Eight people die in mudslides; Elmer Cardenas block demobilises

· Eight people died in a series of mudslides in Buenaventura (Valle department), while 35 are still reported missing and 45 homes have been swept away. The area has been cut off from the rest of the country and rescue work has been hampered, as soldiers trying to evacuate residents were attacked by FARC rebels, the BBC and DPA report. The Colombian Red Cross has launched a national appeal to support those affected by floods, mudslides, high winds and avalanches during the winter season. According to the humanitarian organisation, 8,000 families have been affected since the start of the rainy season in January, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) reports.

· 309 members of the Elmer Cardenas paramilitary block demobilised in Necocli (in the Urabá region of Antioquia department). The group’s chief, El Aleman, did not demobilise, but he is expected to do so when two further units of the block will hand over their weapons in Choco and Northern Uraba. The demobilised said they will destine 80% of their state stipends to productive projects to ensure they will have employment opportunities, El Tiempo reports.

· The Colombian organisation Asfaddes and the Colombian government will launch an awareness campaign to invite people to report cases of forced disappearances. According to Asfaddes, more than 7,300 people have been forcibly disappeared since 1977, but the number could reach 15,000 taking into account the unreported cases, Caracol Radio reports.

· The FARC denied their responsibility in the bus explosions that caused the death of three people in Bogota last Friday. The guerrilla group accused members of the police intelligence service (DAS) of organising the attack, in order to justify the failure of the Democratic Security Policy, AFP reports.

· Antonio Garcia, military leader of the ELN, called for President Uribe to investigate allegations of fraud in the 2002 elections, in an interview with TV station Telesur. He also said that the issue of the ELN disarmament will be addressed simultaneously with that of reforms to increase democratic participation, AP reports.

Colombia This Week is a news summary produced and distributed by ABColombia Group. Sources include daily Colombian, US, European and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-governmental organisations and the UN System. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the ABColombia Group.

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By Lionheart on Apr 18, 2006, 15:41 in Politics & the war.