Colombia This Week
01/09/2006
Fri 25 –Increase in displaced population in Arauca; Ecuador protests over border incident
· The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered a significant increase in people forced to flee their homes in Arauca department due to the armed conflict. Up until July the ICRC office in Saravena was assisting an average of three families per month, but in August 700 people took refuge in the town and the ICRC assisted over 1,500 displaced people throughout the department, ICRC reports.
· The Ecuadorean Defence Minister, Oswaldo Jarrin, complained that bullets fired from Colombia hit the town of Puerto Nuevo, in Ecuador, injuring three people. According to the local press, this was due to intense fighting between the army and the FARC on the Colombian side of the border, EFE reports.
· Luis Carlos Villegas, president of the National Business Association (ANDI), suggested that the guerrilla groups monitor the progress of poverty eradication, in the framework of the Millennium Development Goals. According to Villegas, this could be a practical tool to advance the peace process, RCN Radio reports.
· In response to criticisms of the proposed tax reforms, the Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla announced that the government will produce a list of ten basic products that will be exempt from VAT, which will include potatoes, bread, eggs, meat and cassava, El Colombiano reports.
· Colombia’s first legal abortion was performed on an 11-year-old girl who was raped by her stepfather. The Catholic Church condemned the operation and threatened to excommunicate the doctors involved, the BBC reports.
Sat 26– Army involved in extortion scandal; exporters fear for higher tariffs
· The Attorney General’s office is investigating the alleged kidnapping of two businessmen, who were rescued by the army on 14 August in Barranquilla (Atlantico department). During the rescue operation, the six kidnappers, believed to belong to the FARC, lost their lives. However, it was later found that the two alleged hostages were criminals who had paid the army officers to kill the six men. The latter are now believed to be members of the extortion gang Envigado set up by former paramilitary Don Berna, Cambio reports.
· Colombian major exporters fear being seriously damaged by the expiration on 1 January of the special trade preferences between the US and the Andean countries. As the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will not be ratified before mid 2007, a 20 percent tariff on key exports will be applied if the special preferences are not renewed. The newly appointed Colombian ambassador to the US, Carolina Barco, said that she will launch an offensive for both a speedy ratification of the FTA and a renewal of the special trade preferences, AP reports.
· Bayron Ricardo Gongora Arango, a lawyer for the Colombian organisation Juridical Freedom Corporation (Corporacion Juridica Libertad) has been the victim of judicial persecution by officials from the Aburra Valley Metropolitan Police in Medellin. This is not the first time that authorities attempt to charge Gongora with being a member of the FARC, Peace Brigades International reports.
Sun 27–Monoleche arrested; more drug traffickers recognised as paramilitaries
· Jesus Ignacio Roldan, alias Monoleche, the paramilitary who handed himself in to the authorities for the murder of Carlos Castaño, will be interrogated on Monday. Monoleche will be tried according to the ordinary justice system until the Justice and Peace Law is applicable. According to preliminary versions, the victim’s brother Vicente and other paramilitary chiefs decided to kill Carlos Castaño, when the latter objected to drug-traffickers entering the negotiation process with the government and threatened to provide information to the US. Meanwhile, Vicente Castaño is still at large; however, the government has launched an operation to capture him in San Pedro de Uraba (Antioquia department), AP reports.
· More cases of drug traffickers recognised by the government as paramilitaries are being discovered. Victor and Miguel Angel Mejia Munera are in the list of the top 12 drug traffickers wanted in the US; however, they were granted the benefits of the Justice and Peace Law and their extraditions were suspended in December 2003. It appears that the brothers were not paramilitaries, having paid for the Vencedores de Arauca block in order to be able to enter the negotiations, El Tiempo reports.
· The inhabitants of San Onofre (Sucre department) denounced that demobilised paramilitaries have re-armed in the area and are holding meetings with local politicians to make sure that they get representation in the town council, El Tiempo reports.
· 30 kg of explosives have been found in a house in the Bogota neighbourhood of Ciudad Bolivar. The authorities believe that the explosives belonged to the Teofilo Forero column of the FARC, AP reports.
Mon 28 – Drug cartel family to sign agreement with US ; radio commentator killed
· 29 members of the Rodriguez Orejuela family, who used to run the Cali drug cartel, will sign an agreement with the US justice system by which they will hand in all their assets in exchange for “being left in peace”. The brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela had been extradited to the US in 2004 and 2005, where they have been sentenced to 30 years in prison, Semana reports.
· Atilano Segundo Perez Barrios, a radio commentator in Marialabaja (Bolivar department), was gunned down by unidentified assailants. Perez had denounced corruption and paramilitary influence in the area and had accused the five mayoral candidates of being financed by paramilitary groups, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports.
· The Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo visited Peru to discuss trade, integration and cooperation issues. Araujo later described the relationship with the neighbouring country as “exemplary”, AP reports.
· President Uribe liquidated the state postal company Adpostal, which was experiencing a structural crisis. The government assured that the rights of the firm’s 750 employees will be respected, RCN Radio reports.
Tues 29 – Weapons to be used for victims’ monuments ; FARC willing to talk to government
· The National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation urged the government to issue a decree that allows the melting-down of the weapons handed in by demobilised paramilitaries. According to the Commission, the metal obtained should then be used to build monuments in memory of the victims, tools for communities affected by violence and material to build houses, El Colombiano reports.
· Raul Reyes, spokesman for the FARC, said that the armed group is willing to establish contacts with the government to reach a humanitarian agreement and is ready to accept the invitation by the President of the Senante, Dilian Francisca Toro, to discuss the issue in Congress. Reyes also stated that the FARC would prefer to negotiate with President Uribe himself, RCN Radio reports.
· The High Commissioner for Peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, revealed that paramilitary chief Vicente Castaño, who is wanted by the authorities in relation to his brother’s death, requested a meeting with the government a week ago. However, after President Uribe agreed to the proposal, Castaño did not contact the authorities again, El Tiempo reports.
· Troops of the army’s Nueva Granada battalion have been responsible for human rights violations, arbitrary detentions and disappearances against the inhabitants of Mina Gallo ( Bolivar department), who were accused of being members of guerrilla groups. Cosme Pabon, a youth from the community, was also found dead after the soldiers retained him, the Colombian organisation Sembrar reports.
· The President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, dismissed the claim that two Nicaraguans operating for the FARC were attempting to murder him. According to the local press, the FARC also wanted to free Hector Martinez, a guerrilla member who was captured in Costa Rica three weeks ago, AFP reports.
Weds 30 – CCJ criticises draft decrees; new funds for MAPP-OEA
· The government published the drafts of two decrees regulating the Justice and Peace Law on the internet in order to stimulate a public consultation. The Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) criticised the documents, which contradict the sentence of the Constitutional Court by allowing paramilitaries to subtract the time spent in concentration zones from their prison terms, by considering reparation with legally acquired assets only as a measure of last resort and by qualifying paramilitarism a political crime, the CCJ reports.
· The Organisation of American States Mission in Support of the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP-OEA) will extend its monitoring operations to 12 regions of the country thanks to new funding from the US and Holland. The US provided the organisation with $1.9 million to support the reinsertion process, El Colombiano reports.
· During a meeting with President Uribe, Pamela Cox, the World Bank’s vice-president for Latin America, praised the economic achievements of the Colombian government and promised support for the next four years. The World Bank has approved four projects in Colombia in 2006, to the value of $423 million, El Colombiano reports.
· The anti-narcotics police confiscated nine estates belonging to Diego Montoya, chief of the Norte del Valle drug cartel. According to the police, the estates were used for the production and shipping of cocaine, El Tiempo reports.
· According to official Norwegian sources, the Colombian government and the ELN will meet again in Cuba in September. Norway is one of the countries that are facilitating the negotiation, together with Spain, France and Switzerland, RCN Radio reports.
Thurs 31 – Another drug trafficker on paramilitary list; new Children’s Law approved
· John Eidelber Cano Correa, a drug trafficker wanted in the US, was included in the list of the 2,695 demobilised paramilitaries eligible for the Justice and Peace Law that the government published on the internet. Cano was arrested in October 2005; however, his extradition has now been suspended, El Nuevo Herald reports. On the general controversy regarding the presence of drug traffickers in the negotiation process, the Attorney General Mario Iguaran stated that drug trafficking was an integral part of paramilitary activities, RCN Radio reports.
· The new Children’s Law was approved by the Congress. Children aged 14 to 16 can now be detained only for crimes of extortion, kidnapping and murder, while those aged 16 to 18 can be detained for a wider list of serious crimes. The minimum working age for children was increased from 14 to 15. Finally, a clause on free education was removed on request of the Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla, El Tiempo reports.
· The Ecuadorean Foreign Minister, Francisco Carrion, qualified the Colombian response to the border incident as “unsatisfactory”. In its note, Colombia asked Ecuador for more information in order to find those responsible and said that the bullet was fired by FARC rebels. However, according to Ecuadorean police, the kind of bullets used indicate that they came from the army, Caracol Radio reports.
· A study by the Fraser Institute in Canada revealed that Colombia scores very poorly among investors because of their perception of the legal system. According to the study, international investors think that the Colombian legal system is not independent from personal interests, Caracol Radio 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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