Colombia This (last) Week

Fri 21 –Venezuela withdraws from the CAN; Peñate to reform the DAS

· The Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez confirmed that his country will withdraw from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). The announcement generated concern among the Colombian business community, as, thanks to the CAN and trade relationships with Venezuela, $2,097m entered the country in 2005. The employment generated by bilateral trade is also estimated to be around 1m people on both sides of the border, El Tiempo and Caracol Radio report.

· The director of the police intelligence service (DAS), Andres Peñate, said that he will take serious measures to reform the agency in the wake of its worst corruption crisis in 52 years. Some of these measures include the purchase of new lie detectors to randomly test 400 key personnel every year. Peñate himself took the lie detector test as soon as he started the job six months ago, Reuters reports.

· Six deputies from Boyaca department joined the increasing ranks of Liberal Party members moving to the pro-Uribe parties. The Liberal Party presidential candidate Horacio Serpa accused the government of buying deputies by promising to boost public works projects in their respective departments, Colprensa reports.

· The Alternative Democratic Pole invited the ELN to give up arms and take part in the country’s political life by joining the party. However, Antonio Garcia, military chief of the ELN, declined the offer, saying that, at this particular moment, politics is not a priority for the armed group, El Tiempo reports.

· President Uribe announced that he will request more US assistance to increase aerial fumigations. He also added that the land to be manually eradicated will increase from 40,000 to 50,000 hectares, EFE reports.

Sat 22–17 soldiers killed in FARC attack; Santos accuses Swiss NGO of supporting FARC

· Rebels from the guerrilla groups FARC and EPL ambushed a military convoy in Hacari (Norte de Santander department), killing 17 soldiers and DAS officers. The ambush, which represents the deadliest attack on security forces this year, occurred during operation “Troya�?, whose main objective was the guerrilla chief Victor Ramon Navarro Serrano, alias Megateo, the BBC reports.

· The Vice-president Francisco Santos complained that the Swiss government, through its Ministry of Cooperation, is financing a Swiss NGO that supports the FARC. Santos called on the Swiss government to take responsibility in dealing with this issue, El Nuevo Siglo reports.

· Pedro Gil Trujillo, a city councillor in La Rivera (Huila department), was arrested on charges of masterminding the guerrilla attack that killed nine of his colleagues on February 27 this year. Although he denies the charges, Trujillo is reported to have been a member of the FARC for at least five years, AP reports.

· After meetings with different sectors of civil society and local governments, Antonio Garcia, military chief of the ELN, said that the armed group would not yet commit to de-mining projects and to an end to kidnappings, which were the main requests of his interlocutors. However, he said that the ELN will stop attacking gas pipelines, El Tiempo reports.

Sun 23 – Army officer arrested for drug-trafficking ; underground FARC base found

· Carlos Suarez Pedraza, a retired army officer, was arrested on charges of trafficking cocaine for the Norte del Valle drug cartel. The authorities believe that a further seven police officers are involved in the criminal gang, AP reports.

· The army discovered the first underground FARC base in Algeciras (Huila department). According to Colonel Miguel Ernesto Perez, the camp is a sophisticated work of architecture, which was built to keep the armed group’s chiefs hidden during army incursions, Caracol Radio reports.

Mon 24 – Jaime Gomez found dead ; $330m international aid reached Colombia in 2005

· Jaime Gomez, former trade union leader, historian and adviser to the senator Piedad Cordoba, was found dead in Bogota, after disappearing on 21 March 2006. Soon after the body was found, Piedad Cordoba denounced irregularities in the investigation, saying that the place where it appeared had already been searched on three different occasions, El Pais reports.

· International cooperation financed projects in Colombia to a total of $330m during 2005. Sandra Alzate, director of the Colombian government’s department of international cooperation said that international aid serves a double purpose, as it is a sign of political support, while at the same time contributing to the improvement of living standards of poor communities. The US is the biggest provider of aid with a $125m annual contribution, while Spain provides $18m a year, SNE reports.

· The Venezuelan Attorney General’s office announced that it will request the extradition of Pedro Carmona, one of the organizers of the 2002 anti-Chavez coup, who is currently receiving asylum in Colombia. The announcement came as a surprise, as President Chavez had previously agreed on Carmona living in Colombia, and is seen as a further sign of the deteriorating relationship between the two countries, AFP reports.

· During a meeting with Thomas Kupfer, Swiss ambassador in Bogota, the Vice-president Francisco Santos denied that he had ever suggested that the Swiss government or a Swiss NGO supported the FARC. However, he said he remains worried that a webpage by the FARC is produced in Switzerland, Caracol Radio reports.

· An ex FARC rebel said that the guerrilla group is investing more and more resources in the production of films and videogames to show “the other side�? of the FARC. The videos are distributed internationally or through NGOs to increase support, but they are also used internally to motivate the rebels, AFP reports.

Tues 25 – More demobilised to benefit from the JPL ; Uribe asks for Lula’s mediation

· A second list of a further 495 demobilised paramilitaries who want to benefit from the Justice and Peace Law was handed in by the High Commissioner for Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo to the Interior Ministry. The list was made known while Colombian officials were in Brussels negotiating further support from the 25 EU member states for the application of the Law, Colprensa and EFE report.

· The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that he might join the CAN again, if Peru and Colombia were not to ratify the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) they signed with the US. Meanwhile, President Uribe reiterated its commitment to the FTA and travelled to Brazil to ask Brazilian President Lula da Silva to act as a mediator in the crisis, RCN Radio and El Colombiano report.

· The presidential candidate Alvaro Leyva accused the government of organising a conspiracy to murder him, after the boat on which he was travelling was followed by an army helicopter and after he found a microphone in his campaign office. As a result, Leyva decided not to participate in the televised debate between the presidential candidates, AP reports.

· The Constitutional Court declared that the procedure by which the Justice and Peace Law had been approved in Parliament was constitutional. The Court’s decision was the first of 11 pronouncements in response to claims over the unconstitutionality of the Justice and Peace Law, El Tiempo reports.

· According to the Colombian NGO Codhes, new paramilitary groups integrated by demobilised combatants are operating in the departments of Choco, Nariño, Valle, Norte de Santander, Cauca and Cordoba, under the names of Power Rangers, New Generation and the Black Eagles, Caracol Radio reports.

Weds 26 – ELN- Government talks start in Cuba; Minister defends Forestry Law

· The third round of exploratory talks between the ELN and the government started in La Habana, Cuba. Antonio Garcia, military chief of the ELN, said that the discussion will centre on the definition of peace and added that the armed group will not agree with a government’s proposal for demobilisation and disarmament, but will require changes in the socio-economical structures that led to the conflict, AFP reports.

· The Minister of Agriculture, Andres Felipe Arias, said that the new Forestry Law, which came into force on Monday, will protect nature reserves and will not lead to the privatisation of forests. The law also states that thousands of hectares now used for extensive livestock production will be reforested, Caracol Radio reports.

· The Council of Indigenous Authorities denounced the harassment and torture suffered by three members of the La Pava indigenous community (Choco department) at the hands of the army on April 3. The army subsequently threatened the community and forced them to displace. Currently there are 62 members of La Pava displaced in the afro-descendent community of La Peña, the Council of Indigenous Authorities reports.

· Rafael Bustos, a Liberal Party councillor for the town of Campoalegre (Huila department) was shot dead. The number of councillors who have been killed since the beginning of the year has now reached 17, AFP reports.

Thurs 27 – AI writes letter to presidential candidates; investigation on Gomez’s death criticised

· In an open letter to Colombia’s presidential candidates, Amnesty International urged them to make public their plans of action to tackle the country’s human rights crisis, in particular the impact of the recent demobilisation process on the displaced population. According to the organisation, a series of government initiatives might end up legitimising the paramilitaries’ control over lands they have stolen. Therefore, Amnesty called on the international community not to fund agricultural projects that bring together peasant farmers, displaced people and demobilised paramilitaries. In the letter Amnesty also urged the presidential candidates to publicly express support for the introduction of a human-rights based legal framework for the demobilisation of illegal armed groups, AI reports.

· The Liberal Party asked the government to oversee the investigation of the death of Jaime Gomez. The request was made as the investigation by the National Forensic Institute was criticised by the victim’s family. The family is convinced that Gomez was forcibly disappeared and killed, and refuted the possibility that he could have been the victim of an accident or a robbery, El Colombiano reports.

· In the wake of several political assassinations in the run up to the presidential elections, the Alternative Democratic Pole candidate, Carlos Gaviria, asked the international community to send electoral observers to Colombia. Gaviria also requested that the government implement all the necessary measures to guarantee the presence of an international electoral mission, RCN Radio reports.

· The Army Commander in Chief, General Mario Montoya Uribe, admitted that new criminal groups, made up of demobilised paramilitaries and working for the drug cartels, had been detected in Valle del Cauca department. Salvatore Mancuso, former paramilitary chief, also confirmed that ex combatants have taken up arms again and are fully integrated in the drug trade, El Colombiano reports.

· 400 people were forced to abandon La Fonda (Cauca department), after they received threats from the FARC. Only 40 people have remained in the village to protect their houses, El Tiempo 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 May 2, 2006, 09:52 in Politics & the war.

juancegomez says on May 2, 2006, 19:56:

A couple of comments once again... -Andrés Peñate already began doing all that at the DAS last year.

-The Alternative Democratic Pole has also received support from several Liberal Party deputies recently.

-Either Vice-president Francisco Santos has been horribly misquoted (or paraphrased, actually), which wouldn't surprise me, or he's now backtracking a bit.

-There are now 1099 demobilised paramilitaries and potentially about 1500 (IIRC) jailed ones on the Justice and Peace list.

-As for Leyva, he has used the word persecution far more than the word murder (if not practically exclusively) when referring to this particular situation. As for the helicopter, the photo pretty much speaks for itself: Leyva's sitting on a boat in a wide river in a rural area, and a helicopter stands some distance away from him, at one side of the boat and not behind. Does that constitute persecution? The microphone deal is actually more potentially damning, though. Btw, there have actually been several televised debates to date, and Levya has only missed one so far.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Miguel says on May 3, 2006, 10:27:

Digame What happened to the story about the rats sniffing out and eating the land mines? I thought that was interesting and very positive.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte says on May 5, 2006, 06:53:

yo, dave... you're doin much to much home work...

posts that long require way to much work. especially for old guys like me.

how's life down in miami. hope all's well.

we--wife and daughter and i--will be back home in medellin the first week of june and spend a month or so there and then back to daytona the dull, then off to california to see the rest of the kids.

there's no rest for the weary.

douglas

0 funny, 0 helpful.