As news broke that 11 departmental legislators taken hostage by the FARC had been killed, Amnesty International called for the release of all hostages held by the two main Colombian guerrilla groups, FARC and ELN. In all, 12 legislators from the department of Valle were taken hostage on April 11, 2002 from their assembly hall in the Palacio de San Luis in downtown Cali. The story has received widespread coverage in Colombia.
As the second trial of FARC central command member Ricardo Palmera (”Simon Trinidad”) enters its second day, the timing of the bombings in Buenaventura, which have killed two and injured 30 civilians, seems very odd. The Colombian government has accused the FARC of committing the bombings and today El Tiempo reported that an alleged FARC leader responsible for the recent bombings in Buenaventura was taken prisoner. Would the FARC be so careless as to plan these bombings just days before the highest ranking member of their organization ever captured was to go on trial in Washington D.C.? Wouldn’t they be giving the prosecution some much needed ammunition (the first trial resulted in a hung jury)? Given that events in Colombia such as record drug seizures, often have an uncanny tendency to occur just before important votes in the U.S. congress on military aid (see also the so-called falsos-positivos), one wonders if the government claims that the bombings in Buenaventura were committed by the FARC are true.
A bomb killed a man and his granddaughter as they were riding in a passenger vehicle alongside a local school. Seven others were injured. The explosion took place in Juanchaco on the outskirts of Buenaventura.
Seven bombs (petardos) exploded in different parts of the Colombian port of Buenaventura injuring 23 people, including 7 children. The bombs targeted several civilian areas, as well as a police station and the local DAS office. Authorities have accused the Farc of detonating the bombs in retaliation for the recent killing of a Farc guerilla leader. El Tiempo’s story.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved continued funding for Plan Colombia. However the funding was 10% below what the Bush administration had requested and compared to previously funded levels, the bill increases funding for social programs while reducing the military component. Details can be found here.
Meanwhile the Colombian Senate voted to overturn the final version of the “Ley Gay“, the law recognizing same-sex unions. Slightly different versions of the bill had been approved by both the house and senate and the reconciled bill’s approval was widely expected. However a small group of senators tied to evangelical Christians and a faction loyal to Uribe voted to derail the bill 34-29. A large percentage of the 102-member senate was absent from the vote.
The Colombian House of Representatives also voted in favor of a bill that would switch responsibility for investigating wrong-doings by members of congress from the Procurador (Attorney General) to an ethics committee run by the congress (yes, they would investigate themselves). Two of the congressmen who voted for the bill, including one of the bill’s strongest supporters, are currently being investigated by the Procuraduría, according to a story in Thursday’s El Tiempo.
New allegations of campaign contributions by paramilitaries have further put the Uribe administration on the defensive just days before the U.S. House of Representatives is to take up the foreign aid bill, which includes funding for “Plan Colombia”. The allegations came from several sources, the first being a letter from Daniel Kovalik, an attorney for the United Steelworker’s Union, asking the U.S. State Department to investigate alleged paramilitary ties to the Uribe campaign and questioning the Uribe administrations efforts to investigate the murder of union activists in Colombia. Kovalik cited a video of an Uribe campaign event where alleged paramilitary boss Fremio Sánchez Carreño appears shaking hands with Uribe. The second allegation comes from reputed narcotrafficker Fabio Ochoa Vasco, who in an interview with the Colombian magazine Semana, claimed that paramilitary bosses collected funds for Uribe’s first presidential campaign in 2002. President Uribe, speaking at an event in Cartagena called the allegations “infamous”, claiming his campaigns were never short of money thanks to generous donations from “Colombians of good-will”. The story appeared here in yesterday’s El Tiempo. See also the AP’s story in USA Today.
Half of the money being spent on Plan Colombia is going to private US contractors, according to an AP story. This has led to concerns about continued Colombian reliance on outside contractors (rather than its own institutions) for maintaining public order. See also the Center for International Policy’s Colombia Program blog.
Colombia became the first country in Latin America, and only the second country in all of the Americas, after Canada, to recognize same-sex unions. The Colombian congress approved a proposal that would give same sex couples health insurance, social security, and inheritance benefits. President Uribe is expected to sign the measure into law.
Meanwhile a look at the Justicia section of today’s El Tiempo, shows the following headlines:
Four crimes shook the Army this week
The origin of 130 kilos of cocaine found in an Army truck is investigated
Soldiers who committed extortion against La Linea claimed to be guerrillas
Witness against ‘Don Berna’ [paramilitary leader] retracts testimony
Jaime Garzón was a humorist whose parodies of Colombian society and culture received wide popular acclaim. He was murdered on August 13, 1999. Carlos Castaño Gil, the head of the paramilitary group AUC, was subsequently convicted in absentia for having ordered Garzón’s murder. In the parlance of the Colombian justice system, Castaño was the autor intelectual. The autores materiales remain at large.
According to a Wall Street Journal article, the Uribe administration has hired four different public relations firms to lobby the US Congress for continued funding for “Plan Colombia” and approval of the free trade treaty between the US and Colombia. The PR firms, which have strong connections to the Democratic party, cost Colombia $100,000 (USD) per month.
Colombia Goes Full Tilt to Return to Grace
Uribe Administration, Seeking U.S. Trade Pact, Lobbies Hard to Overcome Scandal Allegations
By BOB DAVIS
The Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2007
WASHINGTON — To win approval of a new trade pact, Colombia is putting together a richly financed lobbying campaign piloted by ex-Clinton White House officials, complete with advertisements, a rapid-response media team and regular visits by Colombian bigwigs to Congress.
The necessity and breadth of such a campaign demonstrates just how far Colombia has fallen politically in Washington. For years, the Andean nation was considered a model ally that battled guerrillas and narcotraffickers and embraced free-market policies, unlike Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, who mocked President Bush and boasted of creating “21st-century socialism.”
But since Democrats took control of Congress this year, the focus has shifted to a deepening scandal in Colombia, where government officials have been accused of working with right-wing paramilitary leaders who have murdered hundreds of union members and other political foes.
The sharpest slap was delivered by former Vice President Al Gore, who pulled out of an environmental meeting in April rather than share a stage with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe because of what a Gore spokeswoman calls the “troubling allegations” in Colombia…The team includes the public-relations firm of Burson-Marsteller, headed by former Clinton pollster Mark Penn, who is also a top adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The firm has set up a campaign-style operation to respond immediately to any critical news about Colombia…
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