Colombia This Week
25/08/2006
Fri 18 –Nine paramilitary chiefs still at large; Church optimistic about humanitarian exchange
· After 16 paramilitary chiefs were captured or handed themselves in to the authorities, doubts remain as to what will happen to the nine who are still at large. The 16 chiefs, who have been temporarily housed in a police station in Rionegro (Antioquia department), read a communiqué urging their ex combatants not to break the peace process and the remaining chiefs to hand themselves in to the authorities. In their statement, they also reiterated that they consider themselves political prisoners, El Tiempo reports.
· The president of the Catholic Church’s Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Luis Augusto Castro, expressed his optimism about the progress made towards a humanitarian exchange with the FARC. Castro said that there is good will on both the government’s and the armed group’s part and that an international commission is working, together with the church, towards the goal, Caracol Radio reports.
· 11 members of an international drug trafficking organisation were arrested during a joint operation by the Anti-narcotics Police, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Attorney General’s office. The organisation, which was based on Colombia’s Atlantic coast, was responsible for the shipping of 60 tonnes of cocaine to the US. All of the arrested will be extradited to the US, Colprensa reports.
· The Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo said that negotiations for a trade agreement between Colombia and Venezuela would start this week, Caracol Radio reports.
Sat 19–Opposition questions paramilitaries’ arrest; drug-trafficker eligible for J&P Law
· The President of the Liberal Party Cesar Gaviria said that President Uribe owes the country an explanation for the recent turn of events in the negotiation process with the paramilitaries. Gaviria also suggested that the arrests were the result of a concerted decision between the paramilitaries and the President in order to calm US criticisms. Jaime Dussan, from the Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democratico- PDA) went as far as to qualify the whole episode as a publicity stunt designed to benefit the paramilitaries, AFP reports.
· Juan Carlos Sierra, alias El Tuso, was acknowledged by the government as a member of the Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) and therefore as potentially eligible for benefits under the Justice and Peace Law. El Tuso, who is an alleged drug trafficker wanted in the US, had been turned down on these grounds in earlier stages of the negotiation with the paramilitaries. The opposition senator Luis Fernando Velasco said this is further evidence that the government is negotiating with “drug-traffickers disguised as paramilitaries”, AP reports.
Sun 20 –Uribe commits to lower poverty rate ; paramilitary chiefs given a warning
· President Uribe said he is committed to lowering the poverty rate from 49% to 35% during his second term. For this to happen, he added, Colombia needs to keep growing at a 6% annual rate for the next four years. According to the government, poverty levels have already dropped from 60% to 49% during Uribe’s first mandate; however, analysts suggest that the government has altered the way poverty is measured and that 70% of the population still lives under the poverty line, the BBC reports.
· The Controller General Antonio Hernandez Gamarra criticised the proposed tax reform for being “neutral”. According to Gamarra, the reform should aim at increasing the state’s revenues, so that more resources can then be allocated to social expenditure, Caracol Radio reports.
Mon 21 – Pretelt responds to NY Times ; FARC deny progress in humanitarian exchange
· The Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt responded to an article published in the New York Times, according to which the war on drugs in Colombia has been lost. The Minister quoted government figures that show that the extension of coca cultivation has been reduced by half during the last five years, and said that, rather than criticising Colombia, the world should be grateful for its efforts in combating drug production and trafficking, El Tiempo reports.
· The FARC denied that any progress is being made towards a humanitarian exchange, as high-level members of the Catholic Church had suggested. Raul Reyes, member of the guerrilla group’s secretariat, said that any negotiation is impossible without the government’ commitment to demilitarise the municipalities of Pradera and La Florida in Valle del Cauca department. Reyes also denied that meetings between the group’s representatives and government’s officials are taking place, EFE reports.
· 35 Colombian mercenaries hired by an American security firm to work in Iraq complained of being defrauded by the company. ID Systems had initially promised them $2,700 a month but, once in Iraq, the soldiers’ wages were suddenly lowered to $1,000. When the soldiers protested, the company did not allow them to leave the country and even threatened to hurt their families, AFP reports.
· The Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo visited Panama to discuss possible solutions to the trade dispute between the two countries. Colombia applied restrictions on products coming from the Colon Free Zone (ZLC) in Panama in 2005, when an increase in contraband was registered; as a result, Panama threatened to take the dispute to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), AP reports.
Tues 22 – Communities threatened in Choco ; Liberal Party wants to limit President’s powers
· Members of Afro-descendent communities in the Jiguamiando and Curvarado river basins (Choco department), as well as members of national and international human rights groups accompanying these communities, received death threats from paramilitaries operating in the area. The targets of the threats had denounced the development of illegal plantations of African palm on lands belonging to their communities. The threats coincide with reports that paramilitaries are stepping up their activity in the area, Amnesty International reports. Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture, Felipe Arias, acknowledged this week that 15,000 hectares of African palm, out of the 25,000 present in the region, have been acquired through illegal practices, El Colombiano reports.
· The Liberal Party will present a proposal for constitutional reform, by which the powers of the President would be limited. The reform would entail limiting the President‘s power to elect autonomous bodies, such as the Central Bank Board, and extending the time in office of the Constitutional Court’s judges, so that they do not coincide with the President’s. The proposed reform would stipulate that the heads of controlling bodies such as the Controller General’s office and the Inspector General’s office should not be members of the ruling party, El Tiempo reports.
· Following information provided by demobilised paramilitaries, the Attorney General’s office reported that 95 corpses have been found in 44 mass graves. The investigation is particularly concentrated in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region, where 18 mass graves have been found, and where paramilitary groups under the command of Jorge 40 and Hernan Giraldo operated, El Tiempo reports.
· The authorities are investigating a tape recording in which Jorge Briceño, alias Mono Jojoy, one of the FARC military leaders, urges the guerrilla group to attack European companies, as a response to the EU keeping the armed group on the list of terrorist organisations, RCN Radio reports.
· The Mayor of Bogota, Luis Eduardo Garzon, started collecting signatures to promote a plebiscite on restricting the use of arms by civilians. According to figures from the Police, 70% of murders in the capital are committed with fire-arms and one out of three Colombians owns a weapon, Caracol Radio reports.
Weds 23 – Decrees regulating J&P Law are ready; drug trafficker demobilisation challenged
· Two decrees regulating the Justice and Peace Law were prepared by the Interior Ministry and are awaiting approval by President Uribe. According to the Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt, the decrees will establish the non-retroactivity of the Constitutional Court’s sentence and will count the time spent by paramilitaries in the concentration areas as part of their prison sentences. The minister also assured the paramilitaries that they would be judged under the same terms that they had negotiated, El Tiempo reports.
· The Organisation of American States (OAS) Mission in Support of the Peace Process in Colombia expressed surprise at the news that the drug trafficker Juan Carlos Sierra has been added to the list of demobilised paramilitaries. Sergio Caramagna, head of the mission, said that his organisation does not have any record of Sierra’s demobilisation. In a letter to Caramagna, the High Commissioner for Peace Juan Carlos Restrepo, defended the government’s position and complained that the OAS did not consult with Colombian authorities before making a public statement, AP reports.
· The Attorney General’s office opened an investigation against Colonel Edilberto Sanchez, former head of the Army’s 13th Brigade’s intelligence services, in relation to the forced disappearances that took place when the armed group M-19 occupied the Palace of Justice in 1985. The investigation represents the first serious attempt to shed light on those events, El Tiempo reports.
· The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will leave Colombia after six years. Robert Rennhack, head of the IMF mission, said that the Colombian government achieved a fiscal balance in 2005, that all economic indicators are positive and that therefore the presence of the Fund is not necessary anymore, Colprensa reports.
· The Paris-based Observatory for the protection of human rights urged the Colombian government to take measures in order to stop the recent wave of attacks and threats against human rights defenders. The Observatory, whose members are the World Organisation Against Torture and the International Human Rights Federation, is particularly concerned about the murder of trade unionist Arturo Montes Bonilla on 17 August in Barrancabermeja (Santander department), EFE reports.
Thurs 24 – Investigation into Castaño’s disappearance; community leader shot in Medellin
· The Attorney General’s office arrested five people in relation to the disappearance of paramilitary chief Carlos Castaño Gil in 2004. According to testimonies by the captured and other witnesses, Castaño Gil was murdered by killers operating under the order of the victim’s brother Vicente Castaño, who is himself a former paramilitary leader, currently engaged in the negotiations with the government. The remains of Castaño Gil have not been found yet, but investigators are examining the contents of two mass graves in Antioquia department, El Colombiano reports.
· Heider Jose Ramirez, a community leader of the Comuna Trece neighbourhood in Medellin, was shot dead. According to the Colombian organisation Popular Training Institute (IPC), new armed groups are operating in the area and have already caused several deaths this year; however, General Orlando Paez Baron, head of the local police, denied this is the case, Caracol Radio reports.
· Hector Espinel Cardoso and Yesid Remigo Vargas Cuenca, two former police officers, were arrested on charges of drug trafficking. Vargas Cuenca is a nephew of the former director of the National Police, Octavio Vargas Silva, El Tiempo reports.
· During an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, the FARC leader Raul Reyes said that Ingrid Betancourt, who was taken hostage by the group four years ago, is in good health, AFP 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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