InfoBrief – September 26, 2005
InfoBrief is a weekly news summary of events in the U.S. and Colombia produced and distributed by the U.S. Office on Colombia. Colombia This Week is reproduced with the kind permission of the ABColombia Group in London. Other sources include U.S. and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-profit and grassroots groups. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Office on Colombia. If you would like to receive InfoBrief please contact jess_hunter@usofficeoncolombia.org indicating why you would be interested in this weekly news service. Previous editions of InfoBrief can be found at www.usofficeoncolombia.org
U.S. Current Affairs and Media
- US-Andean Free Trade Agreement Still Unresolved On September 22, more than 1,200 lawmakers, business executives, and trade negotiators from the U.S., Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador met in Cartagena, Colombia to discuss the proposed Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). Negotiations on the proposed agreement, which began in 2004, have moved slowly due to differing opinions on agriculture and intellectual property issues. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, a strong supporter of the agreement, believes that free trade in the Americas can make the Western Hemisphere “the most potent economic engine in the world” and lift the people of the region “to greater prosperity and opportunity.” He stated that before the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement “roughly half the people in Chile lived below the poverty rate” and following market reforms that number had fallen to less than 20 percent. “We need to expand those opportunities to the poor living throughout Latin America. The way to do it is through greater trade, investment, and economic cooperation.” Although the Colombian government praised the new round of talks, thousands of protestors showed their opposition by holding a march in the cities of Bogotá and Cartagena. Some AFTA critics are concerned that unemployment would increase from the current official rate of 12%. Colombian and U.S. officials would like to conclude the talks and reach a final deal by November. “We expect to conclude negotiations in October, but we will have until mid-November to refine” details, said Hernando Jose Gomez, Colombia’s lead negotiator. Negotiators said that the final round of talks is projected to take place in Washington, D.C. from Oct 19-21.
- Amnesty Concerned for Union Leaders as Paramilitary Violence Continues Despite Demobilization Amnesty International said it is “seriously concerned” for the safety of Jose Onofre Esquivel Luna, a union leader in Colombia’s food workers union, due to suspected paramilitary death threats and the recent killing of his colleague, Luciano Enrique Romero Molina. Esquivel is a leader of the Bugalagrande Branch of the National Union of Food Industry Workers trade union (SINALTRAINAL) in Valle del Cauca province. The threats and killing, suspected to come from the right-wing paramilitary groups, raise questions about the groups commitment to renouncing violence as part of a peace deal with the Colombian government. Many organized paramilitary groups continue to commit acts of violence and threaten the Colombian population. A bout 10,000 Colombian militia fighters have disarmed since 2003 under a government program. According to Colombian human rights groups more than 2,300 people in Colombia have been murdered or kidnapped in areas controlled by the paramilitary since the government began the paramilitary demobilization program. In a recent Amnesty International (AI) report on paramilitary demobilization in Medellin, AI points out that even after the Colombian government negotiated the demobilization of the paramilitary groups in 2003, “continue to threaten nongovernmental organizations.” During a recent visit to Washington, President Uribe attempted to assure skeptical U.S. lawmakers that the paramilitary demobilization was on track to reduce violence in Colombia. A member of the staff of Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of Congress who has been concerned about the demobilization, indicated the meeting was positive. “The meeting with President Uribe was very positive, and we hope that our concerns can be addressed,” said the staff member.
- U.S. Government Provides Assistance for Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid In September, the United States government provided humanitarian assistance to war-ravaged communities and vehicles to a human rights protection program. On September 19, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered seven vehicles to Colombia’s Interior and Justice Ministry’s Human Rights Protection Program. A U.S. government statement indicated that the program is charged with “protecting the life, liberty and security of human rights defenders in Colombia.” According to U.S. officials, the U.S. government has provided nearly $15 million since 2001 to the human rights program. Meanwhile, U.S. and Colombian officials were on-hand in the embattled village of Toribio, in southwestern Colombia, to oversee the distribution of medicine and other humanitarian aid on September 24. A $20,000 donation from the U.S. government paid for the medicine and will also help fund construction at a local hospital. Toribio, mostly inhabited by Nasa Indians, was attacked by left wing FARC rebels in April of this year, killing 8 people and displacing 2,500 others and destroying 26 homes. A U.S. army official who helped with the relief effort called poor regions of Colombia, such as Toribio, “breeding grounds” for rebel recruitment. The soldier said he believes that this government assistance “will go a long way to prevent [FARC] recruitment.” He added that acts like these show that "the Colombian government wants to win over the people [in Toribia]. It needs to.”
- U.S. State Department Hosts Young Andean Diplomats An International Visitor Leaders Program organized by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs brought young diplomats from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela for ten days in September. The program aims to broaden their understanding of U.S. foreign policy toward the Andean region. They attended meetings in Washington with State Department officials, members of the Department of Agriculture, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies among others. They also met with Representative Dan Burton (R-IN), who is the chairman of the House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. One of the program participants, Maria Ximena Espitia Meza, third secretary of the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Relations, was “surprised by the number of U.S. officials watching and following the Andean region.”
Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.
On Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Afro-Colombian leader Zulia Mena will speak at the Chicago Religious Leadership Network’s (CRLN) Annual Membership Luncheon in Chicago. The luncheon will be held at the Episcopal Church Center from 12 noon – 2 pm. For more information, contact Gary Cozette of CRLN at 773-293-2964 or gcozette@crln.org.
An international conference entitled, “Partnering for Peace: Colombia and U.S. Communities in Solidarity” will be held in Chicago from October 21-23, 2005. For more information, please visit: http://www.chicagoans.net/conference2005 or contact John Lindsay-Poland at the Fellowship of Reconciliation at (415) 495-6334 or at forlatam@igc.org.
Colombia This Week editing date 26/09/05
Fri 16 – Former President Turbay dies; coast guard seizes cocaine in Pacific.
- Former Colombian President Julio Cesar Turbay, who spent the last year advocating that current leader Alvaro Uribe be allowed to run for re-election, dies of heart failure at age 89. Turbay, who was president from 1978 to 1982, also played a backstage role in the naming of former President Andres Pastrana as ambassador to the United States last month. During his presidency, Turbay confronted a crisis in which M-19 rebels stormed the Dominican Republic Embassy in Bogota, holding hostages for 61 days, Reuters reports.
- U.S. Coast Guard, acting on Colombian intelligence, intercepts a ship towing an unmanned submarine-like vessel containing more than 2 tons of cocaine, Colombia's anti-narcotics police chief reports. The boat was raided off the coast of the Ecuadorian-owned Galapagos Islands. The underwater capsule, which was attached by a metal cable, was designed so smugglers could tow it below their boat and escape detection if drug agents searched the ship, AP reports.
Sat 17 – Uribe discusses anti-drug programmes in US; peasants welcome para demobilisations.
- Members of the US Congress meet with visiting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to discuss his government's efforts against rebels and narco-terrorists. The Colombian leader went to Capitol Hill to meet US lawmakers and discuss steps he is taking to fight narcotics, disarm rebels, and reform the country's judicial system among other topics, Washington Post reports.
- The Peasants’ Association for the Medio Atrato (COCOMACIA) in Choco welcomes the announcement made by the paramilitary group Elmer Cardenas Bloc in entering peace negotiations with the Colombian government. Nevertheless, the peasants’ association urges the Colombian authorities to oversee the demobilisation process and protect their land from being converted into concentration zones, preventing further displacement and honouring and defending the rights of the Afrocolombian communities over their territories.
Sun 18 – Colombia to fumigate national parks; US NGOs denounce killing of Luciano Romero.
- The Colombian government plans to spray the country's national parks with herbicide despite protests from environmental groups. Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt said spraying the parks would save them from destruction at the hands of drug smugglers, who damage the environment with chemicals used to make cocaine, such as sulphuric acid: "The government's duty is not to allow our nature reserves to be wiped out by these ecological criminals," Pretelt told reporters. Environmentalists say spraying with the herbicide glyphosate, in a US-funded programme, will damage pristine jungle environments and harm indigenous peoples. Two-thirds of Colombia's 80,000 hectares of coca leaf was planted in 13 of the country's 51 nature reserves at the end of 2004, according to satellite data from the United Nations, Reuters reports.
- The US human rights community is saddened to learn of the murder of Luciano Romero Medina, a valiant defender of human rights. Luciano had been a leader of the Sinaltrainal labour union in the company where he worked for 22 years. Due to his efforts defending worker's rights, Luciano's life was threatened and he was forced to leave Colombia. He went to Spain where he participated in a protection solidarity programme, returning to Valledupar just a few months ago, before being murdered, allegedly at the hands of paramilitaries, Colombia Support Network reports.
Mon 19 - Ecuador concerned by Colombia's herbicide; families of hostages reject military rescue
- Ecuador asks the United Nations to conduct research on the threat to health of a herbicide used by Colombia to wipe out coca grown along their shared border. In the meantime, the Ecuadorian government has asked Colombia to suspend spraying activities within six miles (10 km) of the border, Ecuador's President Alfredo Palacio said. He told the opening meeting of the UN General Assembly's 60th session that studies done to date on the safety of the herbicide glyphosate "suffer from technical and methodological deficiencies." Bogota points to a study by the Organisation of American States that concluded the chemicals used do not harm either humans or the environment, Washington Post reports.
- Mother of Ingrid Betancourt Yolanda Pulecio urges Colombian President Uribe to desist from a military solution in the resolution of the kidnapping of her daughter. She said: ‘The only way to bring the kidnapped home is through a humanitarian agreement’, adding that no government could guarantee the safety of the kidnapped victims in a military attempt, Efe reports.
- Suspected members of the 50 th front of the FARC group attack a police patrol outside the city of Armenia, in the Quindio department, killing one patroller and injured two more. Troops were sent to pursue the rebels, Colprensa reports.
- Four people from the Bello Horizonte settlement in Valledupar are killed by armed men, authorities report. Colombian police blame the Self-defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) for the massacre, Colprensa reports.
Tues 20 – Pressure as Constitutional Court begins deliberations; UNHCR denounces recruitment.
- Colombia's Constitutional Court begins deliberations over the legality of a controversial amendment that would allow President Uribe to run for an unprecedented second term next year. Meeting behind closed doors, the Court's nine magistrates have until November 15 to reach a majority vote in favour of or against the re-election proposal, which was passed by the legislature in December. The fate of the amendment has fuelled intense speculation. If the court rules against re-election, Mr Uribe's backers have no other options to ensure his continuation in power. It would be too late to hold a referendum, for example. Furthermore, some analysts say that even if the ruling is favourable to Mr Uribe, his continuation in office for a further four years is not a certainty, Financial Times reports.
- Colombian paramilitaries and Marxist guerrillas are running kidnapping, extortion and smuggling rackets as they infiltrate the Ureña region and other communities near Venezuela's border, residents say. "There are more and more FARC in Apure and in Tachira [two western border states of Venezuela] present in the communities, and they are recruiting," said Virginia Trimarco, regional representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
- Former top Venezuelan military officials accused of trying to oust Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a 2002 coup are seeking refugee status in Colombia. Hector Ramirez, who was named Venezuela's defence minister during the failed two-day coup, is one of nine former or current military officers seeking refuge in Colombia. 'Unfortunately, we cannot return to our country, precisely due to political persecution,'' Ramirez said, according to the RCN radio website. The officers began arriving in Colombia in December, RCN said. If convicted of rebellion in Venezuela, they face up to 30 years in prison. The Venezuelan government sought to try several dissident officers for rebellion, but the Supreme Court absolved the group by a narrow majority in August 2002, provoking violent street protests by Chavez supporters.
Weds 21 - 5 injured in FARC’s siege on Samaniego; drug laboratory found in Boyaca.
- Five police officers are injured in the latest attack of the 29 th front of the FARC group on a patrol in the Samaniego municipality in Nariño. According to the authorities the rebels sustained hostilities for more than six hours, prompting the bombardment of some rebel positions by the Colombian air force. Delegates of the Red Cross later confirmed they were trying to access the area but the presence of landmines is holding them back, Caracol radio reports.
- The Colombian army reports that they have raided a massive drug-laboratory in the rural area of Coper (Boyaca), the biggest on this kind discovered for many years. According to the reports the facilities, built four months ago by the Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), were able to host 70 people and crystallise up to 10 tons of cocaine every month, said Army Commander Gustavo Matamoros, Colprensa reports.
- As Colombia's vice-president Francisco Santos prepares to lobby members of the European Parliament, Amnesty International reports its concerns that the European Union may be about to approve financial support for demobilising paramilitaries. Amnesty warns that Colombia's new law will bring neither justice nor peace to the war-torn country, but on the contrary, will prevent full and impartial judicial investigations into human rights violations committed by paramilitaries and guerrilla forces. “The EU would be giving international legitimacy to a law that fails to meet international standards on truth, justice and reparation," said Dick Oosting, Director of Amnesty International's EU Office.
Thurs 22 – Nine police officers killed in Nariño; Cartagena corruption leads to journalists threats.
- At least nine Colombian police died and three were wounded by the FARC in an attack in south-western Colombia, a police spokesman reports. It was the latest in a series of offensives that have killed more than 300 Colombian security forces personnel this year. The police were killed when their truck was destroyed by a mine set off by remote control near the town of La Cruz in the province of Nariño, Reuters reports.
- President Uribe Velez condemns ‘categorically’ the threats made by ‘delinquents’ against Colombian journalists Juan Gossain, Director of RCN news, Mauricio Vargas, director of CAMBIO magazine and Julio Sanchez, director of radio ‘La W’. According to Juan Gossain, they received a phone call in which they were told: ‘If you and/or the other journalists keep reporting about what’s going on in the city of Cartagena…be aware of the consequences’, El Tiempo reports.
- The designated US special envoy for Latin America by the Bush administration, Tom Shannon, reports to the Committee of Foreign Relation in the US Senate that ‘impunity is not the answer to the Colombian conflict’ and that the United States will continue to demand the extradition of the paramilitary commanders and drug traffickers, Caracol radio reports.
- Ecuador destroyed a camp probably used by leftist Colombian rebels, Ecuador's Defence Ministry says, adding to evidence that the guerrillas regularly cross from the neighbouring country to seek refuge. The jungle camp, apparently used to store food and other supplies for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (FARC), was discovered by an Ecuadorian army patrol in the province of Sucumbios, near the Colombian border. A nearby drug processing plant, which officials said they also assumed belonged to the FARC, was also destroyed, the Defence Ministry said, El Tiempo reports.
- According to the Commander of the Colombian Army, Gral. Castellanos, more than 1,600 members of the armed groups have been killed in combat this year. He also reported the capture of 1,551 members of the FARC group and 255 from the ELN, adding that their troops have liberated 56 people kidnapped by the different armed groups, El Colombiano reports.
- A UK delegation of students and academics currently in Colombia denounce the tragic death of Jhony Silva Aranguren and the injury and arbitrary detention of students at the University of Valle. As a demonstration of solidarity, students at the Universidad del Valle held a protest against the brutal treatment of the population in the neighbourhood of Candelaria who have been protesting in response to the cut off of water in the area. In the attack, 21-year old student Johny Silvia Aranjuren was shot by police and died on the way to the Valle Hospital where other students gravely injured by police are currently being treated. The delegation demands that those responsible are brought to justice, UK-based Colombia Solidarity Campaign 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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