Colombia This Week
22/05/2006
Fri 12 –Paramilitaries threaten University of Antioquia; international mission to monitor elections
· Students and teachers of the University of Antioquia in Medellin received threats from a paramilitary group called Self Defence Forces of the University of Antioquia. The authorities believe the threats are not serious and said that the language used in the letter is inconsistent with that usually used by paramilitary groups. Daniel Mejia, president of the Democracy Corporation, an organisation that groups the demobilised paramilitaries of Medellin, denied that any of its members is responsible for the threats, El Colombiano reports.
· The National Electoral Council, the Military Forces and delegates of the presidential candidates have agreed that an international mission would monitor the 28 May elections in 200 towns in 13 departments of the country. The mission will count with officials from the Organisation of American States (OAS), the EU and various non-governmental organisations, Caracol Radio reports.
· The director of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office in Colombia, Carmen Rosa Villa, said that extrajudicial executions need to be investigated by the civilian rather than the military penal justice system. The remark was made in relation to the investigation the army is carrying out over the activities of the IV Brigade in Antioquia department, El Colombiano reports.
· According to a new report from the National Trade Union School (ENS), the inscription of new union organisations in Colombia has fallen dramatically during the Uribe administration. While 394 unions were registered between 1999 and 2003, only 36 union organisations were registered in the period 2003-2005, ENS reports.
· The EU- Latin American summit in Vienna ended with an agreement to build closer ties between the two regions. While negotiations for a free-trade zone were agreed between the EU and Central America, the same could not be done with South America because of internal divisions, the BBC reports.
Sat 13– Head of police’s brother arrested in drug ring; vital information in Northern Block PCs
· General Oscar Naranjo, the head of the judicial police, said he was shocked to learn that his brother was arrested in Germany for suspected involvement in a major European drug trafficking ring. Naranjo spent most of his career fighting drug cartels and played a key role in the operation that brought down drug baron Pablo Escobar, AP reports.
· The Attorney General’s office has extracted vital information from the two computers that were in possession of Edgar Ignacio Fierro Florez, member of the Northern Block paramilitary group who was arrested last March. According to El Nuevo Herald, drug traffickers are offering $1 million in return for the destruction of the electronic archive, El Tiempo reports.
· The NGO AgroGuejar rejected accusations by the director of the police that it is boycotting manual eradication in the Macarena National Park. Hector Torres, member of the organisation’s board, said that AgroGuejar is participating in the eradication process through alternative productive projects and explained that the peasant demonstrations in the area has not been influenced by the FARC, El Tiempo reports.
Sun 14 – Leyva withdraws candidacy ; Church to excommunicate those who help to abort
· Alvaro Leyva, presidential candidate for the National Movement for Reconciliation, decided to abandon the electoral race due to lack of guarantees for his safety. Leyva added that he would serve better as a symbol of peace and that he would keep working for the release of hostages, Reuters reports.
· According to a survey by RCN Radio, 60% of the Colombian population agrees with the decision of the Constitutional Court to partially legalise abortion. On the other hand, the archbishop of Bogota Pedro Rubiano said that the people who practiced or helped to carry out abortion, including the magistrates of the Court, would be excommunicated, RCN Radio and AFP report.
· Fighting between the army and members of the FARC and ELN in the departments of Antioquia, Meta and Valle del Cauca led to the death of 13 rebels, EFE reports.
Mon 15 – Six people killed in Santander ; Colombia’s competitiveness improves
· Six people were killed by a group of armed men in Sabana de Torres (Santander department). Among the victims were the President of the Municipal Council, his wife and two children. The massacre happened eight days after the death in combat of the FARC chief El Tombo, and the authorities believe that the two events are linked, Colprensa reports.
· According to the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook from the IMD, Colombia ranks 40 worldwide in a survey of 61 countries and regions and as the second-most competitive economy in Latin America behind Chile. A separate ranking from the World Economic Forum shows that last year Colombia boosted its competitiveness more than any other Latin American country, the Latin Business Chronicle reports.
· In an interview with the W Radio, the Foreign Affairs Minister Carolina Barco said that Colombia might be invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as an “extra member”. According to the senator Rafael Pardo, Colombia’s participation in the alliance would be a strategic error for its relationship with Venezuela, El Tiempo reports.
· US trade negotiators denied that discrepancies exist between the English and the Spanish version of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). However, the Colombian Agriculture Minister Felipe Arias and the chief negotiator Hernando Jose Gomez will travel to Washington to find a solution to the dispute, El Tiempo reports.
Tues 16 – Uribe “to extend demilitarised area”; new paramilitary group in Norte de Santander
· President Uribe said that if he gets re-elected he would ask the FARC to start negotiations and added that he would be ready to extend the proposed demilitarised area. The mayor of Pradera (Valle del Cauca), one of the two municipalities in the area, welcomed the announcement but asked the president to implement the measure immediately and not to use it for electoral purposes, the BBC and Caracol Radio reports. Meanwhile, the defence minister Camilo Ospina said the counter-insurgency military action will be continued in Uribe’s second term, until the irreversible defeat of the FARC, the Financial Times reports.
· The police confirmed the presence of a newly formed paramilitary group in Norte de Santander department. The main activity of the Black Eagles, integrated by members of the demobilised Catatumbo block, is drug trafficking, Colprensa reports.
· According to figures from the National Police, street crime is responsible for the majority of violent deaths in Colombia, while homicides related to the armed conflict represent only 27% of the total, El Colombiano reports.
· Jose Vicente Cano Parra, chief of the DAS anti-explosives department for the Department of Huila, was arrested while taking part in a kidnapping in the department, Caracol Radio reports.
Weds 17 – Violent clashes in Cauca leave one dead; strike paralyses the judiciary
· Amnesty International expressed its concern over the excessive use of force by the security forces during the National Itinerant Summit of Social Organisations in Cauca department. 15,000 members of indigenous, peasant, afro-descendent and social organisations were holding a demonstration against the Free Trade Agreement, the re-election of President Uribe, fumigations and the lack of agrarian reform, by blocking the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Piendamo. The security forces shot at and sprayed tear gas on the demonstrators, causing the death of Pedro Coscue, a member of an indigenous community, and injuring 50 people. Ambulances and medical staff have been prevented from entering the area to treat the wounded. Several people are also missing. Both the authorities and the media have portrayed the demonstration as orchestrated by the FARC; however, the National Indigenous Organisation (ONIC) has strongly denied this, AI reports. The Human Rights Ombudsman, Volmar Perez Ortiz, issued a statement by which he asked the government to provide guarantees for the demonstrators, to accept their request of negotiation and to start an investigation into the use of excessive force, the Human Rights Ombudsman’s office reports.
· The judicial sector has been carrying out a strike for the last seven days to ask for an increase in their salaries. The strike, which is costing the country 4 billion pesos a day, could threaten the normal running of the elections on 28 May. Other sectors, such as forensic doctors, miners and banana plantation workers, have also announced that they will go on strike, El Tiempo reports.
· According to the Free Country Foundation, kidnapping of people belonging to the middle classes is increasing. While in the 80s and 90s it was mainly upper classes who were victims of kidnappers, more hostages now belong to the 3rd and 4th social strata, for whom ransoms of 3-5 million pesos are requested and paid more quickly, El Tiempo reports.
· During a visit to Germany, the Foreign Affairs Minister Carolina Barco asked Europe, where demand for cocaine has been increasing in the last few years, for more support in the fight against drugs. Barco also asked European countries to provide more support for the reinsertion of demobilised paramilitaries, RCN Radio reports.
· Colombia signed a trade agreement with Russia, which will facilitate the access of Colombian products to the Russian market. The products which will be affected are sugar, coffee, meat, bananas and flowers, EFE reports.
Thurs 18 – UN office hopes its mandate is renewed; Colombian drug baron arrested in Brazil
· The director of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office in Colombia, Carmen Rosa Villa, said she is confident that the Colombian government will renew the mandate of the office before it expires in October and once the elections are over. The office was created in 1997 to monitor the human rights situation in the country and to assist the Colombian government with matters related to human rights. In her annual report published in February, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, had recommended that the mandate be renewed and left unchanged, El Colombiano reports.
· Colombian-born Pablo Rayo Montano, one of the world’s most wanted drug traffickers, was captured in Brazil as part of an international operation called Twin Oceans. More than three dozen others were arrested in simultaneous raids in nine countries. The gang is accused of shipping more than 70 tons of cocaine to the US, which is now seeking to extradite Montano, AP reports.
· The Vice-president Francisco Santos complained that teachers in public schools have been distributing leaflets criticising President Uribe and inviting people to vote for Carlos Gaviria Diaz. Santos also said that he will report the fact to the Inspector General’s office, RCN Radio reports.
· Albeiro Alonso Jimenez Ramirez, alleged head of the 10th Front of the FARC, was arrested in Venezuela. The 10th Front operates in Arauca department and in the Venezuelan state of Apure, 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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