October 11, 2004

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 the InfoBrief can be found at www.usofficeoncolombia.org

U.S. Congress Doubles Troop Cap in Colombia A finalized version of the 2005 Defense Department Authorization Act (H.R. 4200) was passed by a House-Senate conference committee on Saturday will double the number of United States military personnel authorized for deployment in Colombia. The measure also grants a fifty percent increase on the cap for U.S. contractors in Colombia. In February, the Bush administration requested that the so-called troop cap be increased from 400 to 800 and the number of contractors be upped from 400 to 600. The House and Senate versions of the bill had gone in two different directions on the troop cap. After an amendment, the House bill would have allowed only a small increase in U.S. troops, from 400 to 500, and would have held the contractor presence at 400. By contrast, the Senate granted the full request of 800 troops and 600 contractors. In the end, the Senate version prevailed and the full increase was granted. Many independent groups have rejected such an increase, citing Colombia’s poor human rights record. Others have suggested the increase could lead the U.S. down a slippery slope towards greater participation in Colombia’s internal armed conflict. The Center for International Policy (CIP) cautions that the U.S. must “pay attention to the many warning signs - continuing human rights problems, floundering negotiations with paramilitary groups, the guerrillas' continued strength, the Bogotá government's fiscal crisis, the lack of a strategy to meet urgent social and economic needs - indicating that we are going further down the wrong path in Colombia.”
AUC Proposes Demobilization of 3,000 Troops A proposal to unconditionally demobilize three thousand troops from the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) was offered during negotiations last week between the Colombian government and the AUC, in an attempt to revive the stalled peace talks. Negotiators for the AUC and the Colombian government’s Commissioner of Peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, agreed to terms under which the AUC would demobilize “a number no less than 3,000 combatants,” including two major figures in the AUC leadership, Salvatore Mancuso Gomez, who is the leader of the AUC, and Iván Roberto Duque Gaviria, a political leader also known as ‘Ernesto Báez’. The agreement calls for the demobilization of paramilitary fighters to begin November 3 and finish by the end of the year. While there was no confirmation of what factions will lay down their arms, speculation surrounded the possibility that the ‘Vencedores de Arauca’, ‘Bananeros’ and ‘el Catatumbo’ groups will demobilize. U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, William Wood, said that the United States would consider supporting such a demobilization process for paramilitary groups, but indicated that it would depend “on whether the paramilitary groups fulfill their obligations to end the violence and drug-trafficking and that they accept justice, including the incarceration of those guilty of criminal atrocities and the extradition of those who have broken U.S. laws.”
Report Indicates that U.S. Training of Colombian Troops on the Rise A new report indicates that Colombia is by far the top recipient of U.S. training in Latin America with 12,947 Colombian troops being trained in 2003, up from 6,477 in 2002. Bolivia was second on the list in 2003 with 2,045 troops trained. The report, entitled Blurring the Line: Trends in U.S. Military and Training Programs in Latin America co-produced by the Latin America Working Group (LAWG), the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Center for International Policy (CIP), points out that in the region the number of Latin American personnel trained by the United States increased by 52% from 2002 to 2003. The report also states that almost all of the increase comes from a sharp rise in Colombian trainees as Plan Colombia becomes fully operational and evolves into a larger counterinsurgent effort. This is one of two recent reports released by the LAWG examining U.S. policy in the region. The second, entitled September’s Shadow, studies how the U.S. response to 9/11 has affected U.S.-Latin American relations. To read the reports, go to http://www.lawg.org/docs/BlurringTheLines.pdf and http://www.lawg.org/docs/SeptembersShadow.pdf
Florida Governor Jeb Bush Plans Visit to Colombia The governor of Florida plans to travel to Bogotá in pursuit of contacts in Colombia’s private sector. Between February 20 and 23, Bush intends to travel to the South American country with between 80 and 100 government and business executives in order to establish links to the Colombian economy, which has grown by 4 percent in 2004. Trade between Florida and Colombia has risen 5% this year to $2.2 billion, leading Colombia to be ranked sixth in the list of Florida’s top trade partners. Once he arrives, Governor Bush hopes to meet with Colombian President Alváro Uribe to discuss opportunities, especially those involved with computer hardware and software services, financial services, and medical equipment, according to the company planning the trip, Enterprise Florida.

There will be no Colombia This Week until mid November due to staff travel. We apologize for the inconvenience.