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Colombia This/Last Week

Fri 17 – Air raids on the Macarena National Park; new UN report on deforestation

· Colombia’s air force began bombing the Macarena National Park, after 6 soldiers were killed by the FARC last week. Although the Government had assured that the bombing campaign would only aim at specific targets and people would be evacuated, environmentalists said that the raids would destroy the park’s biodiversity and be as damaging as aerial fumigations, AP reports.

· A joint report by the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODC) and the National Direction of National Parks was published. The report showed that 82% of deforestation in the 18 Colombian national parks is due to reasons other than coca cultivation, such as agricultural, livestock and forestry exploitation. The report also drew attention to the slow extinction of the indigenous people Nukak Maku, whose territory is one of the most affected by deforestation and coca fumigations, El Diario del Sur reports.

· The Colombian organisation Corporacion Juridica Libertad (CJL) denounced the killing of 17-year old Susana Patricia Galeano in Argelia (Antioquia department). The crime was attributed to soldiers from the Army’s 4th Brigade, who told the girl’s family she was killed by a guerrilla member. The soldiers subsequently put pressure on the family not to report to the authorities the army’s responsibility in the killing, CJL reports.

· The Vice-president Francisco Santos launched a governmental campaign to prevent accidents caused by antipersonnel mines. The initiative, realised in cooperation with UNICEF, would not however include mine clearance. Santos remarked that this would not be a good use of resources until the FARC agree not to plant new mines, El Tiempo reports.

· Evangelical Church leaders held a conference in the Colombian island of San Andres to discuss solutions to the conflict and produce a document with recommendations to the government, the Church of England Newspaper reports.

Sat 18 – Threats to afro-descendent communities in Choco; ELN-government talks in Cuba

· The Colombian organisation Justicia Y Paz denounced a series of threats and acts of intimidation against afro- descendents in Curvarado and Jiguamiando (Choco department). The victims of these threats had denounced the expropriation of private lands and collective territory by paramilitaries for African palm cultivation. Similarly, the mining company Muriel Mining Corporation was awarded rights to extract gold, copper and other materials on 2,000 hectares in Choco. Part of this land belongs to afro- descendent communities who have not been consulted or notified of the decision, Justicia y Paz reports.

· The second round of exploratory talks between the government and the ELN started in Cuba. Antonio Garcia, spokesman for the armed group, expressed his wish to move to a phase of proper negotiations, where reforms to increase the political involvement of all sectors of society would be discussed. The government agreed on the need to move to a phase where a ceasefire could be implemented, Reuters reports.

· President Uribe met with US President Bush to discuss the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Washington. He also met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who promised to support the second phase of Plan Colombia. However, no multi-year funding was approved, as Uribe had wished, but rather a financial commitment for the next fiscal year, EFE reports.

· The peace community of San Jose de Apartado denounced the illegal detention of several of its members one year after a massacre took place in the community, the organisation dhColombia reports.

Sun 19 – Army investigates soldier abuse; ex-paramilitary makes confession

· The Colombian army said it is investigating allegations of abuse by officers at a training camp near Bogota. The statement came after the magazine Semana published photographs of 21 young soldiers who were allegedly beaten and raped by senior officers. The Commander in Chief of the Army, Gen. Castellanos, said the incidents do not reflect the general behaviour of the institution, Reuters reports.

· The former paramilitary chief Sergio Cordoba, alias El Gordo, confessed to the Attorney General’s Office that he and the Héroes de los Montes de María block used violence to steal land from peasants in the Bolivar department. The confession represents the first of its kind and will lead to restitution of the stolen assets to the victims, El Tiempo reports.

Mon 20 – Hostages dying in captivity; armed strike in the south of the country

· According to the Fundacion Pais Libre, every 3.6 days a hostage dies in captivity, and 5,461 people - out of the 22,582 who have been kidnapped in the last 10 years- are still held captive. The foundation also said that, whilst the FARC are responsible for the highest number of kidnappings, most hostages died while in the hands of the ELN, Colprensa reports.

· The FARC declared an armed strike in the departments of Putumayo, Caqueta, Meta and Guaviare to protest against President Uribe’s re-election campaign. The rebels attacked an electricity pylon in El Limon, leaving the whole department of Caqueta in darkness, and burnt ten vehicles in 48 hours, El Tiempo reports.

· Europe will start negotiations for a free trade agreement with the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) in May. The EU ambassador to Colombia Adianus Kutsenrather, said the agreement would be similar to the one Colombia is currently negotiating with the US, Caracol Radio reports.

· Colombia's government expects a boom in oil exploration in 2006, after the oil and gas sectors received total investments of US$1.5bn in 2005, the highest for 17 years, Colombia's presidential news service SNE reports.

· Ecuadorean soldiers and FARC rebels engaged in a battle in Santa Rosa de los Cofanes in Ecuador. According to military sources, the rebels were trying to establish a clandestine base on the Ecuadorean side of the border, EFE reports.

Tues 21 – Debate on reinsertion programme; head of army resigns over scandal

· The director of the Reinsertion Programme, Juan David Angel, said the process of reinsertion of demobilised paramilitaries is working, despite reports that former combatants are forming new criminal groups. Angel added that the percentage of those going back to criminal activities amounts to only 5% of the total number of demobilised paramilitaries, compared to 10% in other countries with similar experiences of conflict, El Colombiano reports. Meanwhile, Antonio Lopez of the Democracy Corporation, an organisation created by the former Cacique Nutibara and Heroes de Granada blocks, said the criticisms they received have cast a shadow over the good work they are doing in Medellin, El Colombiano reports.

· Gen. Reinaldo Castellanos, Commander in Chief of the Colombian army, resigned over the torture scandal, and was replaced by Gen. Mario Montoya. President Uribe had criticised the military for making the allegations public only hours before the magazine Semana came out, the BBC reports.

· Danish police have charged four people who sold T-shirts bearing the logo of the FARC with supporting banned terrorist groups. A spokesman for the company said “"Fighters and Lovers are not supporting terrorists but freedom fighters who are carrying out legitimate resistance against regimes which repress and torture citizens", Reuters reports.

· U.S. authorities arrested four Colombian nationals off the coast of Panama on charges of distributing cocaine with a street value of more than $90 million, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency reports.

Weds 22 – FARC reject Uribe’s proposal; new taxes to be introduced with the FTA

· The FARC rejected President Uribe’s recent call for a peace process and denounced the negotiation with the paramilitaries as a legalisation of the paramilitary policy of the state. They also added that “dialogue is impossible with this government while it persists in its media strategy to characterize the insurgency as narco-terrorism”, EFE reports. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy urged the rebel group to seize the chance offered by a European-proposed prisoner swap and free dozens of hostages. The statement came one day before the 4th anniversary of Ingrid Betancourt’s kidnapping, Reuters reports.

· The government announced it could introduce new taxes to support those agricultural sectors that would be negatively affected by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Polo Democratico rejected the proposal as detrimental to the general well being of the Colombian population, while Carlos Rodriguez, leader of the Colombian Trade Union Confederation (CUT), threatened a general strike if the measure is implemented, Caracol Radio reports.

· 10 Latin American ambassadors met at the Colombian embassy in Washington to discuss proposed reforms to migration policy that the US senate will debate in March. The diplomats agreed to lobby against the reform, which will include building a barrier on the US-Mexico border and the criminalisation of undocumented migrants, AP reports.

· The World Food Programme (WFP) suspended its operations in Catatumbo (Norte de Santander department), after two of its staff were attacked by an illegal armed group who also stole their vehicle. The suspension of food delivery will affect more than 12,000 people in the area, El Tiempo reports.

· Guido Romero, a peasant leader from the Peasant Association of the Valley of the Cimitarra River, was killed by paramilitaries in Cantagallo (Bolivar department), the Colombian human rights organisation CREDHOS reports.

Thurs 23 – 4th anniversary of Betancourt’s captivity; success for Coca Sek

· A ceremony was held in Paris to mark the 4th anniversary of Ingrid Betancourt’s captivity. Events such as theatre performances are also planned for the whole week to draw attention to her case and other kidnappings, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, the Presidency of the EU published a declaration deploring the tragedy of the Colombian hostages and urging the rebels to conclude a humanitarian agreement with the government, the EU reports.

· Coca Sek, the coca-flavoured fizzy drink produced by indigenous communities in Cauca department, is proving a very successful experiment. 40,000 units have been sold so far, compared to the only 2,000 that had been predicted. The project is also providing a legal market to 170 coca producers who would have otherwise sold their crops to drug-traffickers, El Pais reports.

· At the swearing-in ceremony for the new army Commander in Chief Gen. Montoya, President Uribe called on the military to finally defeat the country’s rebel groups, taking a renewed hard-line tone after his recent peace overtures to the FARC were rejected, AP reports.

· Diego Camilo Figueroa Rincon, human rights defender from the organisation Justicia y Paz, was wrongly accused of belonging to the FARC and is facing a trial on the basis of false information produced by the police intelligence service (DAS), Justicia y Paz 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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By Lionheart on Feb 27, 2006, 06:17 in Politics & the war.

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 27, 2006, 09:25:

The carnaval of Barranquilla is on. :)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Monpirri says on Feb 27, 2006, 09:30:

Yeah, please Hold on until the Carnaval of Barranquilla finish, lol!

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

0 funny, 0 helpful.