Scandal rocks Colombia's leadership

[Judi Lynn]

Scandal rocks Colombia's leadership
Evidence of links to death squads imperils progress
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff | December 14, 2006

BOGOTÁ -- The Colombian government, the recipient of billions of dollars in US aid to fight drugs and a leftist insurgency, is under siege as evidence mounts of links between right-wing death squads and dozens of officials loyal to President Álvaro Uribe.

In the past week, the country's Supreme Court summoned six legislators to answer accusations that they conspired with paramilitary leaders who are alleged to have killed tens of thousands of leftist sympathizers and ordinary civilians and run drug trafficking networks since the 1980s. They are among two dozen sitting and former lawmakers, governors, and other public servants being investigated for or charged with colluding with paramilitary death squads to fix elections, plan massacres, share in corruption proceeds, or help the militias get a better deal in peace talks.

The so-called "para-political" crisis threatens to close in on Uribe, President Bush's best friend in a region increasingly dominated by leftist politicians. It also risks setting back Colombia's efforts to make peace with armed insurgents on the left and right who have terrorized civilians and trafficked drugs for decades.

Despite the demobilization over the last three years of 31,000 members and allies of right-wing death squads, there are widespread reports that their political influence and hold over organized crime and drug trafficking remains intact.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/12/14/scandal_rocks_colombias_leadership/

[AX10]

1. Columbia's government is but a cabal of terrorists who...

continue to support he so-called "war on drugs".

[BridgeTheGap]

4. It's more like

The war on those who are not part of our network for dealing drugs...
A little long, but more accurate.

[closeupready]

2. Thread title has a sort of "Breaking News: dog bites man" quality to it

n/t

[Dr.Phool]

3. Columbia? I'm shocked!

Shocked.

[thingfisher]

5. "It also risks setting back Colombia's efforts

to make peace with armed insurgents on the left and right who have terrorized civilians and trafficked drugs for decades.

Despite the demobilization over the last three years of 31,000 members and allies of right-wing death squads, there are widespread reports that their political influence and hold over organized crime and drug trafficking remains intact."

I guess all that American aid for the war on drugs hasn't been very effective, eh? Armed insurgents on the left AND right? So are they both fighting against, the middle?

Drugs, arms, intelligence agencies, death squads.....

[Judi Lynn]

6. AP Exclusive: Uribe ally allegedly profits from paramilitary terror

AP Exclusive: Uribe ally allegedly profits from paramilitary terror
The Associated PressPublished: 2006-12-14 16:10:06

BOGOTA, Colombia: A political ally of President Alvaro Uribe is under investigation for allegedly doing business with illegal right-wing militias as head of a company that sells fruit to Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. for shipment to the United States and Europe.

Juan Manuel Campo, a member of the Uribe-allied Conservative Party's executive committee, heads a company that ships 40 tons of plantain bananas a week to the Coral Gables, Florida-based company from land cleared of its rightful owners through intimidation by banned paramilitaries.

The federal prosecutor's office and the attorney general's office, which regulates public servants, opened investigations after residents of the fertile jungle zone just south of Panama complained to human rights organizations.

Officials in both offices told The Associated Press this week that they are trying to determine whether Campo, 30, had benefited economically from ties with the militias.

The revelation comes amid a growing political scandal in which other close Uribe allies have been jailed on charges of creating and bankrolling paramilitary militias, which have committed thousands of murders and perpetrated widescale land theft over the past decade.
(snip/...)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/14/america/LA_GEN_Colombia_Paramilitary_Business.php

[Judi Lynn]

7. The day these killers become afraid for their own lives, at the hands of politicians,

you know something very strange is going on. These particular Colombian paramilitaries have been slaughtering entire villages, USING CHAIN SAWS, and machetes, as well as traditional machine guns, etc., and they've driven hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes into hiding:

The attorney general's office announced in October that a confiscated computer belonging to a paramilitary leader known as "Jorge 40" contained evidence that politicians had accepted funds from paramilitaries, used their links to militias to intimidate their constituents into supporting them, and even plotted massacres. Since then, fresh revelations, arrest warrants, and resignations have followed.

"They are just turning over the first rock to see what worms are under it, and there are many more rocks to go," said Adam Isacson, Colombia program director for the Center for International Policy, an independent think tank based in Washington, D.C. "We still haven't gotten to the generals and colonels, the industrialists and landowners, or senior members of Congress. Nobody has any idea how high this will go."
(snip)

Two weeks ago, a pro-Uribe senator, Miguel de la Espriella, revealed that he and 39 other congressmen had signed a secret accord pledging loyalty to the militias at a meeting in 2001. The director of a government contracts agency resigned two days later, admitting that he had attended the meeting.
(snip)

While those now facing charges are politicians and police, human rights groups have long said the military was the worst offender, using militias to do the "dirty work" in the war against leftist guerrillas and sympathizers. The Department of Administrative Security, Colombia's secret police agency, was tainted last year when evidence emerged that its leadership was infiltrated by paramilitaries.

If charges against security forces are proven in court, Isacson said, "It'll be really hard for Washington to justify continuing $600 million a year in military and police aid to Colombia."
(snip)

".....There's more interest in shutting {the paramilitary chiefs} up than in getting them to tell the truth," because any one of them could be a star witness against scores of powerful officials, he said.
(snip)

http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/12/14/scandal_rocks_colombias_leadership/?page=2

(The original posted article)

[0rganism]

8. but remember -- Hugo Chavez is the real threat!

the Uribe regime is our ally in the War on Chavez! So what if Colombia occasionally massacres civilians and displaces millions of people from their homes? At least they're not nationalizing resources, holding fascist propagandists accountable for broadcast content, and educating the poor!

:spank: