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The names behind the numbers

Here is a list of the trade unionists assasinated in Colombia in 2006. The number killed in 2007 increased and the list hasn't been compiled yet.

http://survey07.ituc-csi.org/getcountry.php?IDCountry=COL&IDLang=ES

Just imagine if this kind of politically motivated slaughter were taking place in Venezuela - do you think the US media would just ignore this? I think the self-serving American hypocrites would be all over this if it were happening in Venezuela.

By vladimiro on Mar 23, 2008, 11:43 in Politics & the war. AddThis Social Bookmark Button


vladimiro says on Mar 23, 2008, 11:43:

Asesinatos: El 2 de enero, fue encontrado en el Municipio de Puerto Wilches, Departamento de Santander el cuerpo de Carlos Arciniegas Niño, amarrado y con visibles signos de tortura y con tres impactos de bala. Estaba afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria Agropecuaria (SINTRAINAGRO).

El 4 de enero, en el Municipio Yumbo del Departamento del Valle, fue asesinado Armando Espinosa Misael, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores del Municipio de Yumbo (SINTRAMUNICIPIO).

El 5 de enero fue asesinada Rosabel Rincón, en el Municipio de Villavicencio, del Departamento del Meta. Estaba afiliada a la Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria (FENSUAGRO).

El 8 de enero, en el Municipio Inza del Departamento del Cauca, fue asesinado Manuel Antonio Tao. Afiliado a la Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria (FENSUAGRO).

Ese mismo día (8 de enero) también fue asesinada Hortensia Neyid Tunja Cuchumbe en el Municipio Inza, Departamento del Cauca. Afiliada a la Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria (FENSUAGRO).

El 21 de enero, en Bogotá, fue asesinado Jorge Abril Parra, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria Metalmecánica, Metálica, Metalúrgica y Siderúrgica (SINTRAIME).

El 23 de enero, en el Municipio de Tulúa, Departamento del Valle fue asesinada María Isabel Fuentes Mejía. Afiliada al Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación del Valle (SUTEV)

El 3 de febrero en el Municipio de Riohacha, Departamento de la Guajira, fue asesinada Eneida Josefa Quintero Epieyo, estaba afiliada a la Asociación de Educadores de la Guajira. ASODEGUA.

El 6 de febrero fue asesinado José Giraldo Parra Osorio en el Municipio Puerto Rico, Departamento del Meta, afiliado a la Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria (FENSUAGRO).

El 13 de febrero, en el Municipio Sincelejo, Departamento Sucre, fue asesinado Arturo Santos Guzmán, afiliado a la Asociación de Educadores de Sucre (ADES).

El 23 de febrero, fue encontrado el cuerpo sin vida del educador Guillermo Zemanate Bermeo, en el Municipio de Popayán, Departamento del Cauca. Se encontraba desaparecido desde el 14 de febrero. Estaba afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores del Cauca (ASOINCA) y trabajaba en la Institución Educativa "El Túnel, del Municipio de Cajibio, Cauca.

El 27 de febrero, fue asesinado Giovanny Toloza García, en el Municipio Saravena, Departamento del Arauca, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Carne. SINTRACARNE.

El 2 de marzo, en el Barrio El Cincuentenario, Municipio de Barrancabermeja, Departamento Santander, fue asesinado por un sicario, Héctor Diaz Serrano, cuando se dirigía a su centro de trabajo.

El 2 de marzo, en el Municipio Salamina, Departamento de Caldas, fue asesinado Jhon William Vásquez Vargas, afiliado a la Asociación Sindical de Empleados del Instituto Nacional Penitenciario y Carcelario (ASEINPEC).

El 6 de marzo, fue asesinado Samuel Manrique Pérez, en el Municipio Puerto Asís, Departamento Putumayo, afiliado a la Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria (FENSUAGRO).

El 7 de marzo, en el Departamento del Arauca, fue asesinada Luz Marina Farias Rodríguez, afiliada a la Asociación de Educadores del Arauca

El 8 de marzo, en el Municipio Puerto Santander del Departamento Norte de Santander fue asesinado William Rafael Ortiz Cárdenas, afiliado a la Asociación Sindical de Institutores Nortesantandereanos (ASINOR).

El 14 de marzo, fue asesinado Derly Narváez en el Municipio Florencia del Departamento del Caquetá, afiliado a la Asociación Nacional de Trabajadores/as y Empleados de Hospitales, Clínicas, Consultorios y Entidades Dedicadas a la Protección de la Salud (ANTHOC).

El 22 de marzo, fue asesinado Norberto Castillo Romero en el Municipio Santa Catalina, del Departamento Bolívar, afiliado al Sindicato Único de Educadores de Bolívar. (SUDEB).

El 25 de marzo, fue asesinado Harvey Jovanny Morales Guevara, en el Municipio Ciénaga del Departamento Magdalena, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores/as de la Industria Minera y Energética (SINTRAMIENERGETICA).

El 28 de marzo, fue asesinado Max Villa García en el Municipio Barranquilla del Departamento Atlántico, afiliado a la Asociación de Educadores Distritales de Barranquilla (ADEBA).

El 30 de marzo, fue asesinado Arselio Peñas Guatico, en el Departamento del Chocó, afiliado a la Unión de Maestros del Chocó (UMACH).

El 1 de abril, fue asesinado en el Departamento de Chocó, Jhon Jairo, afiliado a la Unión de Maestros del Chocó (UMACH).

El 2 de abril, en la noche, fue asesinado Daniel Cortez Cortez, mientras se encontraba desempeñando sus labores como trabajador de la Electrificadora de Santander en el Corregimiento Las Montoyas, Municipio de Puerto Parra. Unos sujetos le dispararon varios tiros que provocaron su muerte inmediata. Afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Electricidad de Colombia (SINTRAELECOL).

El 8 de abril, fue asesinado Edgar de Jesús Rave Serna, en el Departamento de Antioquia, afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA).

El 11 de abril, fue asesinada Hermelinda Lozano Plata Hermelinda, en el Departamento de Valledupar, afiliada a la Asociación de Educadores del César (ADUCESAR).

El 11 de abril, en el Municipio Coyaima, Departamento de Tolima, fue asesinado Henry Pérez Díaz, afiliado al Sindicato Unitario de Trabajadores de de la Construcción, SUTIMAC.

El 23 de abril 2006, apareció el cuerpo en total estado de descomposición, de Jaime Enrique Gómez Velásquez, ex Presidente del Sindicato de Teléfonos de Bogotá. Se encontraba desaparecido desde el 21 de marzo de 2006.

El 23 de abril, fue asesinado Alvaro Garnica Diaz, en el Municipio Montería, Departamento de Córdoba, afiliado a la Asociación de Maestros de Córdoba (ADEMACOR).

El 25 de abril, fue asesinado Marlos Cuadros Beltrán Marlon en el Municipio Cartagena, Departamento Bolívar, afiliado al Sindicato de Conductores de Taxis de Cartagena (SINCONTAXCAR).

El 29 de abril, en el Municipio Arauquita, Departamento del Arauca, fue asesinado Nelson Martínez, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción. (SINDICONS).

El 26 de mayo, en el Departamento de Cundinamarca, fue asesinada Gilma Serrato. Afiliada a la Asociación de Educadores de Cundinamarca (ADEC).

El 2 de junio, en el Municipio Yarumal, Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado Julio Enrique Vergara Adarve, afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA).

El 6 de junio de 2006, fue encontrado el cuerpo sin vida de Luis Antonio Arismendi Pico, en el Municipio de Zipacón, Departamento de Cundinamarca, quien se encontraba desaparecido desde el 28 de abril de 2006, luego de salir de su lugar de trabajo en Bogotá, junto con la Sra. Belquis Dayana Goyeneche, quien también desapareció. Era Presidente del Sindicato "Manuela Beltrán" de Trabajadores/as y Expendedores de Alimentos y Bebidas de la Plaza de Mercado del Barrio San Francisco (SINDIMANUELABELTRAN).

El 7 de junio, en el Municipio de Medellín, Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado Mario de Jesús Giraldo Aristizabal, afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA).

El 14 de junio, en el Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado William Fabio Carrillo Salinas. Afiliado a la Asociación de Colocadores de Apuestas Permanentes y Loteros de Antioquia (ASCAPLAN).

Ese mismo día (3 de julio) también fue asesinado Iván Ñañez, en el Municipio San Pablo, Departamento Nariño, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores/as del Magisterio de Nariño (SIMANA).

También el 3 de julio, fue asesinado Humberto Navarro Ribon, en el Municipio de Valledupar, del Departamento Cesár, afiliado a la Asociación de Educadores del Cesár (ADUCESAR).

El 6 de julio, fue encontrado muerto el profesor Francisco Ernesto García, en el Municipio Samaniego, Departamento Nariño, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores del Magisterio de Nariño (SIMANA).

El 6 de julio, fue encontrado el cuerpo de Efrén Alonso Motta Acosta, en el Municipio Samaniego, Departamento Nariño. Se encontraba desaparecido desde el 27 de junio de 2006. Afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores del Magisterio de Nariño (SIMANA).

El 12 de julio, fue asesinado Helber Orozco Pinzon en Bogotá Departamento de Cundinamarca, afiliado a la Asociación de Educadores de Cundinamarca (ADEC).

El 23 de julio, fue asesinado en el Municipio Barrancabermeja, Departamento Santander, Jorge Guillén Leal. Trabajaba en la empresa Fertilizantes de Colombia S.A. y formaba parte de la junta directiva del Sindicato Nacional de la Industria Química, Agroquímica, Gases, Ramas Afines y Derivados (SINTRAINQUIGAS).

El 23 de Julio, en el Guadual, Departamento de Nariño fue encontrado muerto, Luís Hernando Chirán quien presentaba signos de tortura. Estaba desaparecido desde el 17 de julio de 2006. Afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores del Magisterio de Nariño (SIMANA).

El 25 de julio, fue asesinada en el Municipio Cali, Departamento del Valle, Maria Leticia Garcés Franky, afiliada al Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación del Valle (SUTEV)

El 27 de julio, fue asesinado, en el Municipio Barranquilla, Javier Pedroza de la Hoz, afiliado a la Asociación de Educadores del Atlántico (ADEA).

El 5 de agosto, fue asesinada Luz Marina García Martínez, en el Municipio Puerto Asís, Departamento Putumayo, afiliada a la Asociación de Educadores del Putumayo (ASEP).

El 11 de agosto, fue asesinado Osvaldo Rodríguez Morales, en el Municipio Cartagena, Departamento Bolívar, afiliado al Sindicato de Conductores de Taxis de Cartagena (SINCONTAXCAR).

El 12 de agosto, fue asesinada Adelaida Ortiz, en el Municipio Ricaurte, Departamento Nariño. Afiliada al Sindicato de Trabajadores del Magisterio de Nariño (SIMANA)

El 17 de agosto, fue asesinado Fabio Martínez Rincón, en el Departamento Norte de Santander. Afiliado a la Asociación Sindical de Institutores Nortesantandereanos (ASINORT).

Ese mismo día (17 de agosto) fue asesinado en el Municipio de Barrancabermeja, Departamento de Santander, Carlos Arturo Montes Bonilla, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de Alimentos (SINALTRAINAL).

El 19 de agosto, fue asesinada Berta Inés Agudelo Valencia, en el Municipio Nariño, Departamento de Antioquia. Se desempeñaba como Secretaria de Asuntos de la Mujer y la Familia de la Subdirectiva Municipal de la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA).

El 22 de agosto, en el Municipio Arauca, Departamento del Arauca, fue asesinado Orlando Antonio Hernández, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores del Municipio de Palestina (SINTRAPALESTINA).

El 2 de septiembre, en el Municipio Arauquita, Departamento del Arauca, fue asesinado Ismael Monsalve Suárez, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Alcaldía Municipal (SINTROEPAR).

El 4 de septiembre, en el Municipio Santander de Quilichao, Departamento del Cauca, fue asesinado Luís Eduardo Cosme Taquinas, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Electricidad de Colombia (SINTRAELECOL).

El 5 de septiembre, en el Departamento del Arauca, fue asesinado Germán Solano, afiliado a la Asociación de Educadores del Arauca (ASEDAR).

El 10 de septiembre, en el Municipio Ariguani, Departamento Magdalena, fue asesinado Afranio Martínez González, afiliado al Sindicato de Educadores del Magdalena (EDUMAG).

El 13 de septiembre, fue asesinado José Gregorio Izquierdo, en un barrio residencial del Departamento de Arauca. Era presidente del Sindicato de Trabajadores de las Empresas de Servicios Públicos de Colombia (SINTRAEMSERPA) y miembro de la Junta Departamental del Comité Permanente para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos. Había recibido amenazas por parte de los grupos paramilitares que operan en la región. Los integrantes del Comité Permanente están cobijados bajo medidas cautelares otorgadas por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la OEA.

El 19 de septiembre en Medellín, Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado Jorge Iván Agudelo del Sindicato de Trabajadores del Departamento de Antioquia (SINTRADPTO).

Ese mismo día (19 de Septiembre) en el Departamento Bolívar, fue asesinado Alejandro Uribe. Afiliado a la Federación Agrominera del Sur de Bolívar (FEDEAGROMISBOL).

El 22 de septiembre, en Bogotá, Departamento de Cundinamarca, fue asesinado José Ignacio Amaya Ruiz, Secretario de Asuntos Sindicales de la Asociación Colombiana de Empleados Bancarios (ACEB).

El 9 de octubre, fue asesinado en la ciudad de Tulúa, Departamento del Valle del Cauca, frente a algunos de sus compañeros de trabajo, Jaime Andrés Sánchez Gutiérrez, afiliado al Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Carlos Sarmiento Ingenio San Carlos (SINTRASANCARLOS).

El 9 de octubre, en Santa Marta, Departamento Magdalena, fue asesinado John Justo Zarate Granados, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Instituto del Seguro Social. (SINTRAISS).

El 10 de octubre, fue asesinado Javier Valenzuela en San Carlos, Departamento de Nariño, afiliado al Sindicato de Base del Municipio de San Carlos Nariño.

El 11 de octubre, en el Municipio Carepa, Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado Jesús Marino Mosquera, afiliado al Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria Agropecuaria (SINTRAINAGRO) e integrante de la Comisión Obrero Patronal en Urabá – Antioquia.

El 16 de Octubre, fueron asesinados los campesinos José Mario Guerrero Garzón y Héctor Jairo Yate, ambos afiliados a La Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria (FENSUAGRO), en el área rural del Municipio de Ibagué, Departamento de Tolima. Las fuerzas militares acantonadas en el área, manifestaron que estos dos líderes campesinos murieron en combate con las fuerzas militares, versión que ha sido negada por los campesinos y por la organización sindical.

El 18 de octubre, en Riochacha, Departamento de la Guajira, fue asesinado Douglas Mejia, afiliado a la Asociación Nacional de Funcionarios y Empleados de la Rama Jurisdiccional.

El 26 de octubre, fue asesinado Jairo de Jesús Escobar Morales, en Santa Marta, Departamento de Magdalena, afiliado al Sindicato de Educadores del Magdalena (EDUMAG).

El 31 de octubre, en Bogotá, Departamento de Cundinamarca, fue asesinado Efraín Gordon Mardoqueo. Afiliado a la Asociación Nacional de Funcionarios y Empleados de la Rama Jurisdiccional (ASONAL JUDICIAL).

El 31 de octubre, fue asesinado Hugo Hernán Perafán Gómez, en el Municipio de Villavicencio, Departamento del Meta, afiliado a la Asociación Nacional de Funcionarios y Empleados de la Rama Jurisdiccional (ASONAL JUDICIAL).

El 3 de noviembre, fue asesinado Jorge Wilson Ospina Espinosa, dentro de la Casa de la Cultura del Departamento de Antioquia, afiliado al Sindicato de los Trabajadores Oficiales de los Municipios de Antioquia (SINTRAOF�N) desde hace más de 11 años.

Ese mismo día, en Vigía del Fuerte, Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado Jesús Elías Perea Quejada, afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA).

El 16 de noviembre, en el Departamento de Magdalena, fue asesinado Esau Gutiérrez Gálvez, afiliado al Sindicato de Educadores del Magdalena (EDUMAG).

Ese mismo día (16 de noviembre) en Santa Marta, Departamento del Magdalena, fue asesinado Ramiro Romero Coba, afiliado al Sindicato de Educadores del Magdalena (EDUMAG).

El 18 de noviembre, fue asesinado Jorge Víctor Padilla Babilonia, en el Departamento de Córdoba, afiliado a la Asociación de Maestros de Córdoba (ADEMACOR).

El 18 de noviembre, en Cocorná, Departamento de Antioquia, fue asesinado Rodrigo de Jesús Rendon Galvis, afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA)

El 24 de noviembre, en Sabanalarga, Departamento del Atlántico, fue asesinado Carlos Hernández Llanos, afiliado a la Asociación Nacional de Trabajadores y Empleados de Hospitales, Clínicas, Consultorios y Entidades Dedicadas a la Protección de la Salud. (ANTHOC).

El 7 de diciembre, en Popayán, Departamento del Cauca, fue asesinado Víctor Alberto Espinosa Navia, afiliado a la Asociación de Institutores del Cauca.

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usher127 says on Mar 23, 2008, 11:48:

wow... ok, i'm a little naive, but who is killing them and why?

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juancegomez says on Mar 23, 2008, 15:01:

vladimiro: "Here is a list of the trade unionists assasinated in Colombia in 2006. The number killed in 2007 increased and the list hasn't been compiled yet."

Numbers differ, depending on who you ask, who they classify as unionists and so forth...not only in terms of the government's count vs. everyone else.

You say that there was an increase in 2007 but, IIRC, other sources, including the ENS, for example, argue otherwise,

Not that it's a good thing, evidently not.

"Just imagine if this kind of politically motivated slaughter were taking place in Venezuela - do you think the US media would just ignore this? I think the self-serving American hypocrites would be all over this if it were happening in Venezuela."

First off, from what I've read in several places, union members are usually killed for reasons related to labor disputes, which technically speaking isn't politically motivated. Not saying that it's a good thing, evidently *not* because the end result is pretty much the same in terms of death, but there's a difference there.

Second, evidently this is something that should not be ignored, and for whatever reasons the U.S. media has highlighted this situation in recent years, especially due to internal union / Democrat pressure.

But bringing Venezuela into this...let's just say that it doesn't help, either way (whether you want to praise or criticize that country).

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bamacellist says on Mar 23, 2008, 18:08:

I saw mentioned in an article a couple of months ago that there is one state in Venezuela which recently had an alarming spate of exactly these killings of union officers. So, it appears they would ignore it - they are ignoring it. The US press' interest in Venezuela pretty much revolves around the extravagant personality of Chavez and Venezuela's role as an oil producer.

"The future is much like the present, only longer."

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SiV says on Mar 23, 2008, 18:53:

JuanCe, hHow can murdering trade union activist en masse, not to mention the lack of police investigation and govt. protection afforded these groups, not be considered politically motivated?

What do you mean it is "technically speaking isn't politically motivated". What is the definition (and according to whom) of a politically motivated killing?

Stultórum númere infinitum est.

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juancegomez says on Mar 23, 2008, 19:47:

SiV: "JuanCe, hHow can murdering trade union activist en masse, not to mention the lack of police investigation and govt. protection afforded these groups, not be considered politically motivated?"

I don't think it's a matter of numbers alone, which are indeed massive by global standards though extremely far from being the automatic fate of most union workers, but of what seems to be the main reasoning behind them.

If you believe that union politics and labor disputes, including those which seem to motivate many of these murders, are always equivalent to politics on a national level, I respect that interpretation but I don't think they are exactly the same, even in those cases where the two may indeed overlap.

A company manager, to use a random example, may order the murder of an union leader because he thinks that will allow him to sign a contract with a multinational without having to spend time on annoying negotiations with the workers. Did he murder the union leader because of politics, in the national sense of the term? I would think not, with all due respect.

In other cases the murders may well be exclusively or partially motivated by national or regional politics, but let's see what the AFL-CIO says about the matter:

"While it is not always possible to establish a motive for the attacks on union members, analyses of these violations demonstrate that most are directly linked to the victims' participation in a labor dispute.

In the words of Carlos Castaño, formerhead of the AUC paramilitary umbrella group, "We kill trade unionists because they interfere with people working."37

Union leaders may also be targeted because of the key role that unions have played in advocating peace negotiations and condemning both paramilitary and guerrilla violence."

http://www.solidaritycenter.org/files/ColombiaFinal.pdf

Notice that they admit that most of those attacked are directly related to a labor dispute, which is, generally speaking, closer to the example I provided than to a purely politically motivated killing: "he's a union worker with the wrong political opinions, so let's kill him". Unless, again, you automatically want to equate labor disputes with national or regional politics.

The Carlos Castaño quote shows what is a possible reasoning behind that kind of murders. But it's likely that someone has to order the murder, the "people" that Castaño is referring to. If the workers aren't interfering with that "work", from this point of view, they would not be killed using that reasoning. Then other factors would come into play, such as the other alternatives that the report highlights (using the word "may", in fact). But that doesn't seem to be the main factor involved, or else the report would mention it as such.

Finally, impunity for these murders is indeed shamefully high, though it's worth repeating once more that the overwhelming majority of all other crimes suffer exactly the same fate, not just these kinds of murders.

Impunity can be increased through intimidation, intolerance, corruption or simple indifference, and I'm sure that may affect this kind of crime more than others, but the systematic nature of the problem can't be ignored. It's not like union members are being murdered with impunity while the rest of the system works like clockwork. Not at all.

Also, whether you believe it or not, there are actually government programs which do protect unionists, in the hundreds if not actually thousands, including bodyguards, bulletproof vests and vehicles. That doesn't mean there aren't irregularities and insufficiencies with these programs, because there clearly are. The report linked to above mentions some, in fact.

But the larger problem is that the government cannot, realistically, give enough bodyguards and other forms of protection to every single union member or even union leader, and that would not necessarily mean the end of attacks and threats. It fact, it usually doesn't.

What needs to change are the conditions and traditions which make it possible for some "people" to conclude that killing union leaders or workers is a viable option in the first place, and that's not something that merely depends on politics by this point in time, though a greater political will could start to move things in the right direction. In addition, I think it requires a change in social and business mentality, something which cannot happen from one day to another, and a more efficient and impartial law enforcement as well, which is easier proposed than implemented given how the entire system is still a long way from it.

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romy says on Mar 23, 2008, 21:16:

I would tend to associate the labour dispute murders to political motivations because I think of the fundamentals of marxism that battle the abusive owner-worker relationships. Application of power is deeply related to politics and that is what is being dealt with here.

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juancegomez says on Mar 23, 2008, 21:41:

romy: I'm admittedly a bit rusty on Marxism in general, so I'll have to take your word on that

I don't think that the application of power is necessarily related to politics in, say, labor disputes between a company manager and an union leader, but I admit that you can choose to interpret it like that if you wish to do so.

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robi666 says on Mar 24, 2008, 10:18:

Juance, good analysis, indeed. And Siv, thanks for posting about this.

But, don't you think that we should take into consideration that an AUC umbrella group does not exist anymore, like it does not exist a central command, a secretariat like in FARC case.
Now, how can a political battle on a national scale could exist without such organisms?

The new groups, in my perception, appear to be more and more guided by economic local interests (whatever it could be, drug, palm oil, vacuna, etc.) than a wide political project and anti-insurgency.
More like common gangs than a group aimed by a widespread political sentiment (if there ever was a sincere one).
No evidence of central communiques (not in a noticeable extent, anyway), no manifestos, nothing.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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borat says on Mar 24, 2008, 10:25:

London Independent

Johann Hari: Why is Britain allowing money and weapons to pass into the hands of right-wing militias?

Monday, 24 March 2008

On the website of the British Foreign Office, a small photograph recently appeared. It shows Kim Howells, our Foreign Office minister, looking into the camera, smiling, as he is surrounded by gun-yielding men accused of murder. He had not been taken hostage. No: he was there to represent a government that gives these men money and military aid.

By tracing the story of this photograph, we can trace the worst aspects of British foreign policy – and find clues to why the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have crashed into their current bloody dead-end.

Howells was in Colombia, a country locked in one of the nastiest civil wars of the past century. It began more than 40 years ago, when some parts of the hungry, mixed-race majority began to fight against the fact that a tiny, white, land-owning elite held virtually all the country's wealth. Since then, it has hardened into a conflict between two gnarled human rights-abusing wings.

To the left, there are a slew of guerrilla groups – most prominently the FARC and the ELN – who fund themselves by kidnapping, extortion and "taxing" drug-producers.

To the right, there is the Colombian government and the right-wing paramilitary death-squads it has unleashed against any community of civilians suspected of leftish sympathies, or of challenging the elite. That's why to be a trade unionist in Colombia – organising for better wages and working conditions for your colleagues – is to carry a tombstone on your back: more are murdered there than in the rest of the world combined. Between them, these violent wings have killed more than 30,000 people and driven three million people from their homes.

Howells – our representative – was posing with some of those alleged to be the worst abusers. He was huddled with the High Mountain Brigades, who Amnesty International says have been involved in hunting down and murdering trade unionists.

Here's what our taxes help deliver to ordinary Colombians. On 10 January, at 10.30am, Colombian soldiers wearing balaclavas burst into the house of Rosa Maria Zapata, a 56-year-old indigenous woman. When the soldiers pointed their guns at her and barked that they wanted to know where the guerrillas were, she screamed back that she didn't know; she doesn't know any guerrillas. They told her she was hiding weapons for the FARC. They told her they knew. She howled and protested. So they started searching – and a moment later she heard gunfire. The police announced they had killed the guerrilla. She went running – and found her severely disabled 22-year-old son dead.

The British pro-peace group Justice for Colombia believes these soldiers received British training. They have documented 36 other civilians murdered by potentially British-trained forces in a six-month period, and they are asking the Foreign Office to outline exactly where our money goes.

How has Kim Howells responded? Easy. He says his critics "support FARC, a band of gangsters and drug smugglers", and that FARC is responsible for "most" of the murders in Colombia. In reality, Justice For Colombia is supported by more than half of all Labour MPs, and opposes all violence within Colombia. And the FARC – while unequivocally disgusting – is responsible for far fewer murders than the government and right-wing death squads, according to every major study.

So how did this happen? How did a minister in a Labour government end up parroting the propaganda of the Colombian hard-right? The British government says they have become the second biggest military donor to Colombia – after the US – because they want to promote human rights there. But if you had a few million pounds to support human rights in that country, the idea you would support the High Mountain Brigades is simply surreal.

No – the explanations for British backing lie elsewhere. The first is a desire to support the United States, because we project our power by being a loyal adjunct to American military might. If Britain wasn't offering these funds, the Bush administration would be alone in the world in backing the Colombian military.

We also do it to support the global "war on drugs". Since Bill Clinton's presidency, the US has been spraying hundreds of thousands of tonnes of chemical poisons onto the vast tracts of Colombia where the coca leaves essential for cocaine production are grown. All plants and trees die in their wake. Birth defects and cancer rates are rising. And the effect on drug production? It simply moves to another area. Drug production is so profitable and so popular that it cannot be fumigated off the face of the real world. Drug prohibition simply hands great swathes of the Colombian economy to armed criminal gangs, from the FARC to the right. It ensures they will always have enough money to buy enough guns to preserve their patches of territory.

There is another way. More and more Colombians believe it is only by bringing drugs into the legal economy – where they can be controlled and taxed by the state – that the guerrillas and paramilitaries can be stripped of their cash-flow. From the current Conservative Interior Minister, Carlos Holguin, to the former Attorney, General Gustavo de Greiff, to the country's most popular singer, Juan Esteban Aristizabal, it is being argued that an end to drug prohibition is the only long-term solution to the civil war. Yet Britain demands the opposite.

There is one more crucial reason why we are supporting the Colombian military. The British oil firm BP controls half of Columbia's petrol output. The historian Mark Curtis argues the UK is keen to ensure resources "remain in the correct hands" – that is, "our" hands. In a highly unequal country angry at seeing its resources siphoned off by foreigners, that means supporting an elite who are willing to keep the majority in their place.

These three factors can help us to understand why the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq have gone so wrong. As in Colombia, we got in, in large part, out of loyalty to the US. As in Colombia, we are inflicting the "war on drugs" on Afghanistan. If we turned up in any country and announced that we were there to destroy 40 per cent of their economy, the people would fight back. This is why we are losing southern Afghanistan even to the hated Taliban.

And as in Colombia, the US-UK Coalition has misgoverned Iraq so catastrophically because it has been primarily driven by a desire to ensure that control of the country's resources went to the Right People. The protection of the Oil Ministry, while Baghdad's museums and hospitals and universities were looted and burned all around it, is only the most bleak symbol of this.

The image of Kim Howells squatting with a unit who are alleged to have tortured and butchered trade unionists can be seen as a Rosetta Stone for the dark side of our foreign policy. It is a reminder that, if we want to turn Britain into a force for human rights in the world, we have to campaign long and hard to turn much of it around. If we don't, it will end with more women like Rosa Maria Zapata, clutching her dead disabled son and asking why.

what you believe is not important, it's what you do that counts

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juancegomez says on Mar 24, 2008, 11:52:

"On the website of the British Foreign Office, a small photograph recently appeared. It shows Kim Howells, our Foreign Office minister, looking into the camera, smiling, as he is surrounded by gun-yielding men accused of murder."

Here we go again. He is indeed pictured with personnel from one of the High Mountain Battalions. Colombia has quite a few of those.

But accusations against one or more of those military units hardly mean that every single member of each and every High Mountain Battalion is being "accused of murder", at least as far as any reasonable person would be able to see.

If the minister was in the presence of the personnel from a specific unit, not an entire unit category, which has been accused of abuses, then such a statement would begin to make more sense.

"Howells was in Colombia, a country locked in one of the nastiest civil wars of the past century. It began more than 40 years ago, when some parts of the hungry, mixed-race majority began to fight against the fact that a tiny, white, land-owning elite held virtually all the country's wealth. Since then, it has hardened into a conflict between two gnarled human rights-abusing wings."

I usually like fairy tales, but not this one. Whatever happened to realistic and accurate descriptions of history?

"To the left, there are a slew of guerrilla groups – most prominently the FARC and the ELN – who fund themselves by kidnapping, extortion and "taxing" drug-producers."

And who do nothing else at all but merely "fund" themselves...yeah right.

"To the right, there is the Colombian government and the right-wing paramilitary death-squads it has unleashed against any community of civilians suspected of leftish sympathies, or of challenging the elite."

And so simplistic and incomplete descriptions continue.

"That's why to be a trade unionist in Colombia – organising for better wages and working conditions for your colleagues – is to carry a tombstone on your back: more are murdered there than in the rest of the world combined. "

That resulting reality is true, as this discussion has previously indicated, but presenting it in this manner and in this context is a considerable distortion as far as I'm concerned.

"Between them, these violent wings have killed more than 30,000 people and driven three million people from their homes."

Ignoring that displacement has other causes and involves other factors as well, beyond "these violent wings". What about pressure from druglords and multinationals or other sources of land or property concentration, what about fumigations, what about a simple lack of economic opportunities, etc. ?

"Howells – our representative – was posing with some of those alleged to be the worst abusers. He was huddled with the High Mountain Brigades, who Amnesty International says have been involved in hunting down and murdering trade unionists."

They are not Brigades, and they are made up of several different units, not a single one as this description too implies. Such a generalization is shameful. If the specific unit involved has been criticized, then so be it. But this vague nonsense tries to be emotional rather than logical.

"Here's what our taxes help deliver to ordinary Colombians. On 10 January, at 10.30am, Colombian soldiers wearing balaclavas burst into the house of Rosa Maria Zapata, a 56-year-old indigenous woman. When the soldiers pointed their guns at her and barked that they wanted to know where the guerrillas were, she screamed back that she didn't know; she doesn't know any guerrillas. They told her she was hiding weapons for the FARC. They told her they knew. She howled and protested. So they started searching – and a moment later she heard gunfire. The police announced they had killed the guerrilla. She went running – and found her severely disabled 22-year-old son dead."

Are those soldiers from a High Mountain unit, and if so, which one?

Did those soldiers and their unit receive UK aid, or did such aid have anything to do with the incident in some way, shape or form?

Guilt by association (or rather, extrapolations by association) is a rather poor legal concept, even if it works for moral rhetorics.

"The British pro-peace group Justice for Colombia believes these soldiers received British training."

Calling "Justice for Colombia" a "pro-peace" group almost makes me laugh...but well, if they do believe this, then at least they should be able to clearly explain their belief.

"They have documented 36 other civilians murdered by potentially British-trained forces in a six-month period, and they are asking the Foreign Office to outline exactly where our money goes."

Ah, so the key term is "potentially". That explains why everything here is so vague.

However, I do think, if this claim is accurate, that the UK government should be willing to be more open about where its aid goes, so I agree on that count.

" Justice For Colombia is supported by more than half of all Labour MPs, and opposes all violence within Colombia. "

Let's just say I am not exactly convinced about that last part. They give rather little attention to it on their website, last I checked.

"And the FARC – while unequivocally disgusting – is responsible for far fewer murders than the government and right-wing death squads, according to every major study."

Actually, that depends on what kinds of murders or violations you talk about. Most studies focus only on specific categories of murders and not on all murders per se, and in those it's true that the FARC are usually less responsible than the paramilitaries, and the government is usually the least responsible party (if, of course, you don't combine the government and the paramilitaries into a single mass of "evil").

When you factor other murder categories in, you can get things like the CERAC study which found a different trend than what is usually publicized or what is being repeated here. But alas...

"But if you had a few million pounds to support human rights in that country, the idea you would support the High Mountain Brigades is simply surreal."

If by that you mean the specific High Moutain Batallions, not Brigades, which have been accused of such abuses, and not the entire unit category as a whole.

"If Britain wasn't offering these funds, the Bush administration would be alone in the world in backing the Colombian military."

Actually, that is not entirely right either...but let's leave it at that.

"We also do it to support the global "war on drugs". Since Bill Clinton's presidency, the US has been spraying hundreds of thousands of tonnes of chemical poisons onto the vast tracts of Colombia where the coca leaves essential for cocaine production are grown. All plants and trees die in their wake. Birth defects and cancer rates are rising."

I'm completely against fumigations and current drug prohibition in general, so I agree with this general criticism, but let's not make a caricature out of this. Far from "all plants and trees" die in the wake of fumigations, though they are of course still quite harmful to people and the environment.

"There is another way. More and more Colombians believe it is only by bringing drugs into the legal economy – where they can be controlled and taxed by the state – that the guerrillas and paramilitaries can be stripped of their cash-flow. From the current Conservative Interior Minister, Carlos Holguin, to the former Attorney, General Gustavo de Greiff, to the country's most popular singer, Juan Esteban Aristizabal, it is being argued that an end to drug prohibition is the only long-term solution to the civil war. Yet Britain demands the opposite."

While the general legalization argument sounds good, I'm not certain that the "civil war" per se is that closely related to the matter, though that could still be a way to help.

"There is one more crucial reason why we are supporting the Colombian military. The British oil firm BP controls half of Columbia's petrol output. The historian Mark Curtis argues the UK is keen to ensure resources "remain in the correct hands" – that is, "our" hands. In a highly unequal country angry at seeing its resources siphoned off by foreigners, that means supporting an elite who are willing to keep the majority in their place."

That may the case, or part of it at least, but let's just say that this argument isn't exactly being handled properly here, considering the rest of the article.

"And as in Colombia, the US-UK Coalition has misgoverned Iraq so catastrophically because it has been primarily driven by a desire to ensure that control of the country's resources went to the Right People. The protection of the Oil Ministry, while Baghdad's museums and hospitals and universities were looted and burned all around it, is only the most bleak symbol of this."

Yes, because Iraq and Colombia are indeed so similar in this and other respects...or actually, not really that much at all.

"The image of Kim Howells squatting with a unit who are alleged to have tortured and butchered trade unionists can be seen as a Rosetta Stone for the dark side of our foreign policy. It is a reminder that, if we want to turn Britain into a force for human rights in the world, we have to campaign long and hard to turn much of it around. If we don't, it will end with more women like Rosa Maria Zapata, clutching her dead disabled son and asking why."

If that specific unit in the photo is the one involved, then this rhetoric would make more sense and I'd even agree, but it still wouldn't mean that every single High Moutain unit and each of their members deserves to be the target of such loose generalization.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

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