Risky Business

http://www.pulitzercenter.org/showproject.cfm?id=35
"The government of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe has been paralyzed by allegations that highly placed officials colluded with paramilitary groups implicated in assassinations and drug smuggling, even as Uribe presses the United States for a lucrative trade deal and to continue its massive flow of military and counter-narcotics aid. Journalist Phillip Robertson and videographer Carlos Villalon investigate the controversies swirling around America's most important Latin American ally and what they mean for the people of Colombia.

The Colombian government asserts that paramilitary groups are mostly demobilized but targeted assasinations, drug smuggling and forced displacement continue to be a fact of life in Colombia. More than 10 members of the Colombian congress are currently under indictment for collaborating with paramilitary organizations. International human rights groups allege that the influence of such groups on Uribe's government is greater still. A laptop computer that belonged to a paramilitary commander known as "Jorge 40" surfaced in October 2006 with records of hundreds of killings and conversations with Colombian politicians.

Against that background hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid flow into the country to fight cocaine production and to combat a civil war that has lasted some 40 years. Bush administration officials hail Uribe for a tough stance that has begun to turn the tide, they say, and has won broad public support. Critics say the heavy-handed approach betrays U.S. human rights ideals while inciting an escalation in violence. Robertson and Villalon explore the current human rights climate in Colombia and talk to the victims and perpetrators of paramilitary violence. "

http://pulitzercenter.typepad.com/risky_business/

Interesting blog including a video "On the River Tapaje"

By Desideria (Moderator) on Mar 21, 2008, 17:31 in Politics & the war.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Mar 21, 2008, 17:31:

bump

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

DodgerDogs says on Mar 21, 2008, 18:16:

There is some really pretty country around the Rio Tapaje area, I have been to Las Merecedes quite a few times.

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Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

Gator says on Mar 22, 2008, 08:13:

Paralyzed? Mi amour, not that we have notice. Hoiwever that area in Nariño would not be on our list to visit.

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

lampltr says on Mar 23, 2008, 20:06:

Desideria, fantastic link and web site....makes me pretty pissed off what is happening to the displaced, the ecological & human effects of spraying, and lastly the insurgency movement. Between the U.S. & the Colombian government, they are as much the blame rapidly depleting the food and water supply for these people. Sorry just my feelings anyways from what I have seen over the years from different parts of the world....major frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

goin_south says on Mar 23, 2008, 21:43:

surely, there must be a joke, about why Pasto is not on this map
...anyone??

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

Desideria (Moderator) says on Mar 24, 2008, 01:34:

Here's another map with Pasto on it, just for you Patito.

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"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe