Colombian Educators on Strike

The Colombian Federation of Educators (Fecode) went on strike on May 23, to protest education cuts in the new “Ley de Transferencias”, a proposed law which funds public education in regions outside the national capital Bogota. The director of Fecode, Witney Chávez claims that the law falls “20 trillion pesos” (roughly USD $10.4 million) short of the amount mandated by the 1991 constitution. President Uribe, claiming the new law actually increases spending for public education, has threatened to suspend the educators’ salaries if they continue their strike.

The following Flash presentation describes one of the largest protest marches in Bogota in recent memory, which took place on May 30 in support of the strike. Here is a detailed story from El Tiempo.

Fecode website.

Keep your friends close….

One image from Bush’s recent trip to Colombia which perhaps most accurately portrays the relationship between the U.S. and Colombia,

shows a U.S. Secret Service agent frisking a Colombian cadet in the honor guard that was about to welcome Bush and his party to Bogota.

Another image taken later that day depicts Uribe with his hand over his heart during the playing of the U.S. national anthem. Two images which highlight the humiliating extent to which Colombia has been reduced to a stooge of the George W. Bush and previous U.S. administrations.

NYT on Colombian Free Trade Deal

The New York Times, in a thoughtful editorial today called on the Uribe administration to expand its investigations into the murders of Colombian union activists:

Editorial
Getting to a Colombia Trade Deal

Published: May 29, 2007

Free trade agreements with Peru and Panama now seem headed toward Congressional approval, after the Bush administration agreed to incorporate the basic labor standards long insisted upon by House Democrats. But a separate trade pact with Colombia rightly remains in legislative limbo over a much starker labor problem. Colombia leads the world in the killing of labor activists.

Under pressure from Congress, President Álvaro Uribe’s government has finally begun acknowledging the problem. But it has yet to demonstrate that it means to take effective steps to protect endangered workers and punish those who terrorize them. While the number of killings has declined somewhat over the past few years, it is still unacceptably high. Last year, an average of six union activists were murdered per month. And until now, far too few of these crimes have been energetically prosecuted. Of the 2,100 labor murders recorded since 1991, there have been convictions in only 37 cases.

read more….

More of the Same: Wolfowitz Out, Zoellick In

Robert B. Zoellick, one of the original neocon signers of the famous letter from the Project for The New American Century calling for a war in Iraq, has been named to replace Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank:

Zoellick to Be Nominated as World Bank President
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 29, 2007; 6:00 PM

President Bush has decided to nominate Robert Zoellick, the former U.S. trade representative and former deputy secretary of state, to be president of the World Bank, a senior administration official said today.

“We believe Bob Zoellick is uniquely qualified for the job,” said the official, who requested anonymity because Bush has yet announce the choice. “He really has an incredible resume and he has the trust and respect of many officials around the world. He also believes deeply in the World Bank’s mission of lifting people out of poverty.”

read more…

More “Parapolitica” Controversy

Alvaro Uribe has created even more controversy with a vaguely worded “propuesta de excarcelacion” wherein he would free congressmen recently imprisoned as a result of the parapolitica scandal if they divulge all that they know about their collaboration with paramilitary groups. The proposal has received virtually universal condemnation by opposition politicians and newspaper editorialists. Opposition senator Gustavo Petro claimed that Uribe wants to “free his political friends who are in prison” and adds that the proposal is unethical given that one of the president’s relatives is also being investigated in the scandal.

For the complete story (Spanish) read here…

“Parapolitica” Update

Recently, members of the Colombian congress and Alvaro Uribe’s own cabinet have come under scrutiny for their alleged ties to paramilitary groups. The allegations come from demobilized paramilitaries hoping to benefit from Colombia’s “Justice and Peace” law. Among them is Salvatore Mancuso (who incredibly has his own website). Another former paramilitary, Rafael Garcia, has accused his former boss, head of the Colombian intelligence agency DAS, Jorge Noguera, of collaboration with paramilitaries. Garcia is in jail awaiting trial. Noguera was in jail for one month and was subsequently released due to a “procedural error” by prosecutors. Here is an update from the NY Times:

Death-Squad Scandal Circles Closer to Colombia’s President

By SIMON ROMERO; JENNY CAROLINA GONZáLEZ CONTRIBUTED REPORTING FROM MEDELLíN.
Published: May 16, 2007

President Álvaro Uribe, the Bush administration’s closest ally in Latin America, faces an intensifying scandal after a jailed former commander of paramilitary death squads testified Tuesday that Mr. Uribe’s defense minister had tried to plot with the outlawed private militias to upset the rule of a former president.

Speaking at a closed court hearing in Medellín, Salvatore Mancuso, the former paramilitary warlord, said Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had met with paramilitary leaders in the mid-1990s to discuss efforts to destabilize the president at the time, Ernesto Samper, according to judicial officials.

Mr. Mancuso also said that Vice President Francisco Santos had met with paramilitary leaders in 1997 to discuss taking their operations to the capital, Bogotá.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry said the minister would not comment. The spokesman said a meeting did take place in which Mr. Santos, the defense minister, discussed an effort to reach a peace plan between two guerrilla groups and the paramilitaries.

The vice president, who was traveling outside the country, was not immediately available for comment.

read more…

Historical Footnote 2

British Admiral Edward Vernon tried taking Cartagena de Indias during the 1742 War of Jenkin’s Ear. Vernon failed to take the heavily fortified city from the Spanish, but a British colonist in his fleet, Lawrence Washington, would name his estate in the Virginia colony after him.

In 1815, Spanish General Pablo Morillo retook the city from New Granadian rebels after a 106-day siege, during which the rebels in Cartagena formally declared themselves part of the British Empire, a gesture which was “politely declined” by British officials in the Caribbean.

source:
D. Bushnell, The Making of Modern Colombia, University of California Press, p. 45.

En el Fuego Cruzado….

Rotundamente condenamos la violencia contra civiles y no-combatientes por parte de los actores del conflicto armado Colombiano. Aqui, un caso de abuso flagrante cometido por la guerrilla:

Colombia: Amnistía Internacional condena los ataques contra la población de Toribío

“Nosotros desde allá veíamos cómo cada uno destruía, poco a poco, este pequeño pueblo.”
Testimonio de un líder de la comunidad indígena de paz de Toribío

La guerrilla vulnera una vez más el derecho internacional humanitario con el uso indiscriminado y desproporcionado de la fuerza, ha declarado hoy (20 de abril) Amnistía Internacional ante las informaciones sobre los combates que se han desarrollado en los últimos días entre las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) y las fuerzas de seguridad en una zona habitada por miembros de comunidades indígenas.

Leer mas…

Historical Footnote 1

Mariano Ospina Rodriguez, while president of Colombia (1857-1861) quietly asked Washington to consider annexing Colombia to the US.

Reference:
Daivd Bushnell, The Making Of Modern Colombia, University of California Press, p. 119.

To the Maid: You’re Invited

Great story by Colombian-born journalist Marcela Sanchez:

To the Maid: You’re Invited
Bolivia Challenges Stodgy U.S. Positions with New Policies (and Unconventional Invitations)

By Marcela Sanchez
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, April 27, 2007; 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON — The invitation to the Latin American diplomatic community began like any other: “The Bolivian Embassy is pleased to invite you.” What followed — “If you employ a worker at home, please encourage her to attend” — was a bit less predictable, but logical for an event meant to commemorate the International Day of the Domestic Worker.The response? “Absolute silence,” according to Gustavo Guzman, Bolivia’s ambassador and host of the March 30 event. A representative of the Cuban Interests Section made an appearance, but no ambassador showed up. That left the organizers, along with local activists, politicians and a few domestic workers, to celebrate without them.

read more…