Colombia This Week

29/06/2007

Fri 22 – Colombian economy grows 8% in first quarter; FARC commander captured in Medellin.

• Colombia's economy grew 8.09 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year earlier driven by strong expansion in construction and industry. The quarterly figure represents the gross domestic product without including growth from illicit drug crop cultivation. With that data, the growth was 7.98 percent, according to the DANE government statistics agency, Reuters reports.
• Colombian authorities say they have captured a leading rebel commander after tracking him for three months.Officials say 49-year-old Regulo Leal was arrested in Medellin. He was wanted on homicide and kidnapping charges. Authorities say Leal reportedly commands the 32nd Front of the FARC group, VOA news reports.

Sat 23-Civil resistance aimed at recuperating biodiverse lands; bomb explodes in Buenaventura.

• Indigenous and black communities of the department of Choco are trying to recover their lands and food sources, lost to the decades-long civil war that has taken its toll on this area of vast biological diversity. Cacarica is part of the Special Management Area of the Darien Mountains, which separate Colombia from Panama.  The violent displacement and illegal occupation of lands started after the Colombian Army carried out the Genesis Operation [in 1997] were denounced in the biodiversity hearing held by the non-governmental Permanent People's Tribunal, Colombia Chapter, on Feb. 26-27.  The tribunal held sessions in humanitarian zones initially established in 1999 when the displaced people decided to return to their territory of 103,000 hectares where the families live and try to protect themselves from armed attacks.  For the members of the community councils of the Cacarica, Jiguamiando and Curvarado river basins, food self-sufficiency and land recovery are a form of civil resistance.  "We won't allow people with weapons or multinational companies in our territory. We aren't neutral because we are victims of the conflict," Bernardo Vivas, founding member of CAVIDA and of the humanitarian zones, said in one of the meetings with international organisations that took part in the Tribunal session, IPS news reports.
• Seven bomb and grenade attacks blamed by authorities on the FARC wounded 23 people in Colombia's main port of Buenaventura, which moves about half of Colombia's international shipments, on Friday and Saturday, part of an intensifying drug war in the city. The attacks were directed at a police station and commercial areas frequented by civilians. Seven of the victims were children. Another bomb was deactivated by police. Police said the attacks began on Friday evening in The Oasis restaurant, which was destroyed by the blast. The last explosion happened at daybreak on Saturday. "The victims of this miserable, criminal, terrorist act were the poor people of Buenaventura," the departmental governor, Angelino Garzon told reporters, Reuters reports.

Sun 24 – Bomb kills two in Buenaventura; Attorney’s inspection Army’s base in look for disappeared.

• A man and a 3-year-old girl were killed on Sunday when guerrillas detonated a bomb at a tourist beach in Colombia's main port city, where rebels have been blamed for several attacks over the last two days, authorities said. Officials said the FARC detonated a bomb as a tractor passed through a beach area on the outskirts of Buenaventura, killing the man and the girl and wounding seven others. "This is retaliation from the FARC for the killing of one of their key leaders," Interior Minister Carlos Holguin told local Caracol Radio. "These bandits have decided to attack the civilian population and create acts of terror." Local television reported the bomb may have been intended for a passing police patrol. But tourists fled the beach after the attack, which damaged nearby buildings and left a crater in the road, Associated Press reports.
• A Commission of lawyers and members of the Colombian Judicial Police (CTI) inspected the premises of the Colombian Army’s Cavalry School in Bogota; several holes were excavated,  and clothes found. The premises were used 20 years ago by the Colombian army to confine those detained during the siege of the Palace  of Justice. Authorities are now investigating if those clothes belonged to those who left the Palace of Justice alive but never went back to their homes, Cambio magazine reports.

Mon 25 – Recent violence in Buenaventura threatens hopes of Colombia prisoner-swap deal.

• Bogota's mayor joined families of kidnap victims and about 300 schoolchildren in a demonstration meant to increase pressure on the government to swap imprisoned rebels for guerrilla-held hostages. The protest is "for the victims to pressure and hassle all they can and make those who have the power finally do something for this prisoner-swap," Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzon said. But with every new bomb, the prospects for a swap seem to fade away. Authorities blamed rebels for a series of bombings that killed three and injured 30 over the weekend in the Pacific coast city of Buenaventura, calling it retaliation for the navy's recent killing of a rebel commander. The Colombian Army reported that in recent days it had killed 11 more rebels in heavy combat, CNN reports.

Tues 26 – Violence between guerrillas forces 1,000 to flee in Arauca; Trinidad helped by Pinchao.

• Violence between guerrilla groups has forced approximately 1,000 people to flee the eastern Arauca region, the United Nations refugee agency reports.  The area has long been a stronghold of the FARC and the ELN groups which started fighting each other last year. Some 1,000 people have come forward in the past 18 months and said violence had forced them out of their homes. Describing insecurity in the area in a news release, UNHCR said a few days before its team visited the area, unidentified gunmen shot dead local right-wing councillor, Alejandrina Rincon, in broad daylight as she walked in the town with her eight-year-old son. She had been threatened, and other local leaders have also received threats.  In the past two years, 10 teachers have also been targeted by one or other group and five had to flee, according to UNHCR. In the scores of small villages dotted across the vast plains of Arauca, the situation is worse, the agency pointed out, because there, the fighting between the rival guerrilla groups is “at its most intense,” while locals report “the army and police are there only intermittently, if at all,” Relief Web reports.
• The prosecution of Ricardo Palmera, a senior FARC member jailed in the United States, suffered a major setback when a star witness said that he had never seen the man being tried on charges of kidnapping three U.S. defence contractors. "Never," said Colombian police officer Jhon Pinchao when asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb if he had ever seen Ricardo Palmera in the rebel camps where he had been held hostage. The testimony from Pinchao, came during the second trial of Palmera, 57, a rebel commander known as Simon Trinidad. The rebels call on Colombia and the United States to free all imprisoned FARC associates, including Palmera, AP reports.

Weds 27- AUC assessor “was Colombian Army lecturer”; FARC militia member detained in Buenaventura.

• In an interview with a radio station, Senator Miguel de la Espriella claimed that Mario Sandoval, the Argentinean born lecturer from a French University, who was acting as an advisor for the paramilitary commanders in their negotiations with the government of Uribe Velez, was at the same time a Professor at the Army’s War School in Bogota, Semana Magazine reports.
• The Colombian navy has captured an alleged rebel suspected of masterminding a wave of recent bombings that killed three people and wounded dozens in Buenaventura. Edwin Alexander Torres, wanted for allegedly running urban militias for the FARC, President Uribe's office said in a statement. Torres "planned and participated in multiple terrorist attacks, including those over last weekend," it said. The FARC has yet to comment on the attacks, Associated Press reports.
• Recent fighting in southern Colombia between the FARC and the Colombian Army in the remote rural area of Rio Tapaje (Nariño) has forced hundreds of families to leave their villages, Colprensa reports.
• At least 5,000 former gang members, right-wing militiamen and guerillas pledged to stop committing crimes by signing a peace agreement in the city of Medellin. The people gathered in a stadium and shook hands to end decades of clashes that have left thousands dead. The signing ceremony was organized and led by Medellin mayor Sergio Fajardo and also attended by Colombia's Defense Minister Juan Manual Santos, Xinhua news agency reports.

Thurs 28 – FARC reports 11 hostages killed; UK Minister meets Colombian trade union leaders.

• Eleven kidnapped regional politicians held hostage for five years were killed after a military attack on the jungle camp where they were being kept, according to a statement published by the FARC on news agency Anncol. The Interior Minister told Colombian media that they had no information on the reported deaths, stating that there was no way to independently confirm the report. "To the families of the dead deputies, we offer our deepest condolences. We will do all in our power to help them recover the remains as soon as possible," the FARC statement said. The report did not say where the clash occurred, saying only that there had been increased operations by the military in the zone in recent weeks. The head of Colombia's armed forces, Gen. Freddy Padilla, said in a statement that "military intelligence has not had any information where the deputies […] were being held by the FARC, and so has not ordered any rescue missions", the Washington Post reports.
• Lord Triesman, the UK Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Latin America met civil society and trade union leaders from Colombia and the UK at the House of Commons. After the meeting, Lord Triesman commended the TUC for arranging the Colombian group's visit to the UK. .” We regard the TUC and Colombian civil society as key partners in the region. The longstanding conflict in the country, fuelled by the illegal drugs trade, has been deeply damaging. Significant progress has been made by President Uribe's government, but serious concerns remain, especially on human rights. It is completely unacceptable that trade unionists and human rights defenders continue to be abused and killed” he said. During the meeting, Lord Triesman also drew attention to the G8's clear statement of support for President Uribe's recent decision to release a number of illegal armed group prisoners, and for the on-going efforts of the French, Swiss and Spanish Governments to support prisoner exchange negotiations. He agreed with participants that humanitarian initiatives of this kind offered the potential to contribute to the creation of a lasting path to peace in Colombia, The Foreign and Commonwealth office reports.
• The US and Colombia have agreed on new labour and environmental rules for the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) currently under negotiation. The changes reflect demands made by Democrats after they won control of Congress for stronger labour and environmental provisions in trade pacts. However, Democrats have raised additional concerns about the Colombia FTA  because of that country's long history of violence against trade union members.  A paramilitary scandal ensnaring members of President Uribe's party has also thrown a shadow over the pact.  Many opponents argue at least that more time is needed for Colombia to demonstrate its commitment to reducing violence and bringing murderers of trade unionists to justice, Reuters reports.

Top