Colombia This Week
11/08/2006
Fri 04 –FARC attacks ahead of Uribe’s inauguration; civil society presents peace plan
· A car bomb exploded outside a police station in Cali (Valle del Cauca department), killing four police officers and one civilian. No one has admitted responsibility yet, although the department’s governor Angelino Garzon said the FARC were to blame. Two soldiers were also killed while searching for explosives in Tolima department. The attacks, which occurred three days before President Uribe starts his second term, brought the week’s death toll to 32, Reuters reports.
· The Colombian organisation, the Permanent Civil Society Assembly for Peace presented a peace plan. The plan suggests that the regional elections scheduled for October 2007 be used as a “plebiscite for a ceasefire”; that Latin American governments form a “Contadora Group” as has happened in Central America; that the UN Secretary General play a mediating role, and that the EU and the US change their cooperation policies towards Colombia so as to strengthen democracy and human rights, the BBC reports.
· After the death of six manual coca eradicators last week, the government decided to fumigate the Macarena National Park. The Colombian environmental organisation Al Verde Vivo expressed its concern over the measure which, according to them, will pose serious risks for both the environment and the people living in the area, El Tiempo reports.
· Víctor Manuel Murcia, alias Chichico, military chief of the FARC column Teofilo Forero, was arrested in the south of Bogota. Chichico, who is accused of the kidnapping of three US citizens in 2003, had allegedly arrived in the capital to carry out an attack on the day of Uribe’s inauguration, AFP reports.
· Four communities in Arauca department are protesting against the behaviour of the oil multinational Occidental Petroleum (OXY). The company is putting pressure on the farmers to hand over their lands and is contaminating water with chemicals, the US based Colombia Support Network reports.
Sat 05–Paramilitaries meet Costa Rica President; US legislators support UNHCHR office
· Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica, met with four demobilised paramilitary chiefs, who had requested the meeting hoping to get Arias’ support for the peace process in Colombia. Arias, who received a Nobel Peace Price in 1987 for his role in the Central American peace processes, expressed his wish to contribute to peace in Colombia, while Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno suggested that 20 demobilised paramilitaries attend training on peace processes and reinsertion provided by the Fundacion Arias, AP reports.
· 80 members of the US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, sent a letter to the State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, where they expressed their support for the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Colombia and recommended that its mandate should not be changed, El Tiempo reports.
· The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not attend the inauguration of Uribe’s second term on 7th August. Although Chavez had initially confirmed his attendance, he later said he was too tired to travel after a 14-day trip to Europe, Asia and Africa, EFE reports.
Sun 06 – Vital information on massacre revealed ; Asafamipaz asks for humanitarian exchange
· A detained paramilitary who wishes to obtain benefits under the Justice and Peace Law revealed to the Attorney General’s office important information on the El Salado massacre. The massacre took place in Bolivar department in 2000 when paramilitaries from the Northern Block killed 38 peasants. The detainee also provided information on more than 140 murders in which he took part, El Tiempo reports.
· Asafamipaz, the organisation of relatives of members of the armed forces taken hostage by guerrilla groups, asked President Uribe to make the humanitarian exchange a priority of his second mandate. The organisation also asked the President to make the first move by demilitarising the municipalities of Pradera and La Florida in Valle del Cauca department, Caracol Radio reports.
· The FARC sent a message of solidarity to Fidel Castro, after an operation forced him to temporarily hand over presidential duties, AP reports.
Mon 07 – FARC ideologue arrested ; high state of alert ahead of Uribe’s inauguration
· Freddy Escobar Moncada, alias Mateo, who is accused of being the ideologue of the Jacobo Arenas front of the FARC, was arrested in Aguadas (Caldas department). The capture came as a surprise to the mayor of Medellin Sergio Fajardo, who had appointed Escobar to the management committee of the Medellin Public Works company, EPM. Escobar was also a professor at the University of Antioquia, AP reports.
· The police and the army are on a high state of alert ahead of President Uribe’s inauguration. 30,000 police officers have been patrolling the streets of Bogota, searching vehicles for explosives and weapons. Grenades and rifles were found in a hotel in the centre of the capital, only a few yards away from the Presidential Palace, the BBC and Caracol Radio reports.
· About 300 hectares of coca crops have been fumigated in the Macarena National Park since the measure was adopted on Friday. The government expects the operation to take less than a week, El Colombiano reports. However, El Tiempo reported on Friday that the necessary consultations with indigenous groups had not taken place yet.
· According to Diego Palacio, the Minister of Social Protection, it is not clear yet what will happen to the Institute of Social Security (ISS). The ISS has been at the centre of a debate recently, after the vice-Minister of Health revealed that it was operating with a deficit of 400 billion pesos (c.US£170m). President Uribe made assurances that the restructuring of the organisation would not involve its privatisation, El Tiempo reports.
Tues 08 – Uribe sworn in for second term; HRW sends letter to President
· President Uribe was sworn into office in a ceremony attended by presidents and officials from more than 20 countries. In his inaugural speech he promised to seek peace with the FARC but said that he will maintain the tough security policies that contributed to the reduction in kidnappings and murders in the last four years. The President said that he would like to follow the example of Spain, where the government negotiated with the guerrilla only after the latter stopped perpetrating armed actions. Uribe also pledged to tackle the country’s social problems, promising to improve education, health and housing while balancing free-market economic policies, the BBC and the International Herald Tribune report.
· Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to President Uribe where they assess his fist four years in power and make recommendations for his next term. According to the organisation, many policies adopted in Colombia in the last four years have eroded the rule of law and led to violations of human rights. The main recommendation to the President is that the decree regulating the Justice and Peace Law be in line with the recent sentence of the Constitutional Court, El Tiempo reports.
· A family of six, including one child, was massacred by an armed group in Zaragoza (Antioquia department). The police believe that those responsible for the murder were former paramilitaries currently involved in drug trafficking, Reuters reports. Another man, the indigenous Duglas Antonio Perez Silvaja, was killed in Puerto Asis (Putumayo department) by alleged paramilitaries, who then dressed him in a uniform to claim he belonged to the guerrilla, the Colombian NGO Minga reports.
· The governments of Chile and Colombia agreed a timeframe for negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement to start next October. Chile was also officially invited to rejoin the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), from which it had withdrawn in 1972, El Colombiano reports.
· The President of the European Parliament, Joseph Borrell, said that the EU would not remove the FARC from the list of terrorist organisations, as the guerrilla group had asked. Borrell also added that the FARC need to show commitment to peace not only through words but also through deeds, El Tiempo reports.
Weds 09 – CNRR meets with demobilised; disappointment at Uribe’s speech
· The National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (CNRR) met with representatives of demobilised paramilitaries to agree on a timeframe to elaborate an agenda of discussion on truth, justice and reparation. According to Eduardo Pizarro, president of the commission, there is a commitment on the part of the paramilitaries to compensate victims with assets acquired illegally. During the meeting, Pizarro also expressed his concern over paramilitaries “recycled” in criminal gangs, El Colombiano reports.
· Members of Congress from the Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático - PDA) expressed their disappointment that President Uribe did not mention the humanitarian exchange in his inaugural speech. The families of the kidnapped also said that they were expecting something more concrete from the President. However, they were hopeful after they received the news that Uribe had met with the former minister Alvaro Leyva to discuss a way of reaching a humanitarian agreement with the FARC, Caracol Radio reports.
· During the International Day of Indigenous People, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) asked illegal armed groups to keep the indigenous population out of the conflict and to respect the distinction between combatants and civilians. UNHCR has repeatedly warned that indigenous groups in Colombia are increasingly at risk of violence and even disappearance as a result of the conflict, UNHCR reports.
· President Uribe proposed to privatise Corelca, the main thermal energy company of the country. Uribe explained that the returns from the sale would be used to finance infrastructure on the Atlantic coast, such as roads and ports. The infrastructure would be built to gain competitiveness in the context of the Free Trade Agreement with the US, RCN Radio reports.
· The President of the Senate, Dilian Francisca Toro, openly invited the FARC to the Congress to discuss the humanitarian agreement and alternatives for peace. The previous day a committee had been formed in Congress to deal with the issue of peace negotiations, El Colombiano reports.
Thurs 10 – Five Awa indigenous killed in Nariño; Children’s Law under scrutiny in Congress
· The OHCHR in Colombia condemned the massacre of five Awa indigenous people in Altaquer (Nariño department). According to witnesses, men in masks and camouflage shot the three men and two women after accusing them of being members of the FARC, the OHCHR reports. Luis Evelis Andrade, president of the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC), said that this year about 6,000 indigenous have been displaced, 32 have been killed and 12 have been kidnapped, Caracol Radio reports.
· A controversial Children’s Law is currently under scrutiny in Congress. Supporters of the bill expressed their anger when it was revealed that the Finance Minister had lobbied senators to remove a clause guaranteeing free education, as this would cost four billion pesos’ (c. US$300m) per year, El Tiempo reports. The sections on criminal responsibility are also controversial, as they would allow young people between the age of 16 and 18 to be sentenced to up to eight years in prison. This would be particularly pertinent for children who have been recruited by armed groups, who would in this way be treated as criminals rather than victims, the Colombian Coalition against the Use of Children in the Armed Conflict 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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