November 15, 2004

InfoBrief is a weekly news summary of events in the U.S. and Colombia produced and distributed by the U.S. Office on Colombia. Colombia This Week is reproduced with the kind permission of the ABColombia Group in London. Other sources include U.S. and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-profit and grassroots groups. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Office on Colombia. If you would like to receive InfoBrief please contact jess_hunter@usofficeoncolombia.org indicating why you would be interested in this weekly news service. Previous editions of the InfoBrief can be found at www.usofficeoncolombia.org

President Bush Set to Travel to Colombia President George W. Bush has announced plans to travel to Colombia to meet with President Alvaro Uribe, the White House stated in a press release. This is the first international travel President Bush has undertaken since his victory in the November 2 presidential election. According to the statement, the purpose of the visit is to discuss how the two nations are working together to “protect and promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law; fight terrorism and drug trafficking; and promote prosperity through economic growth and opportunity.” Also up for discussion will be the future of Plan Colombia, through which the U.S. has provided approximately $700 million annually to the Colombian government’s struggle to quell rebel forces and a rampant trade in cocaine. The meeting will take place November 22 in Cartagena, on the northern coast of the South American nation. In a related story, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will participate in the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in Quito, Ecuador November 17-19, the Department of Defense said. The Ministerial is a forum in which 34 countries in the western hemisphere will discuss issues of security, cooperation, and terrorism. In particular, Mr. Rumsfeld will ask other nations to help support Colombia’s efforts to suppress designated terrorist organizations and the drug-trafficking networks that fund their operations.

Colombia’s Top Anti-Drug Official Resigns Amid Scandal Colombia’s top-ranking official in the nation’s fight to end drug production and transportation, Luis Alfonso Plazas, resigned from his post last week amid accusations that he was renting out confiscated properties of detained drug smugglers for reduced rates. During a session of Senate, Plazas was accused of approving the under-priced lease of a number of confiscated properties taken from captured and convicted drug smugglers. Plazas was the head of the U.S.-funded National Anti-Narcotics Agency, which is charged with overseeing more than 42,000 properties seized from drug traffickers. Many such properties are mansions and country houses. Plazas’ absence will be filled temporarily by the Vice Minister of Justice, Mario Iguaran. In other news, an advisor in the Colombian Interior and Justice Ministry resigned recently in protest over the Colombian government’s fumigation policy, citing negative health and economic impacts on Colombia’s society, El Tiempo reported. Alberto Rueda said in his letter of resignation that, “As an advisor I was aware that the National Health Institute has no epidemiological program in place to know what the consequences are (of the fumigations program) on groups or inhabitants where it is applied.” He went on to say that it is absurd that $100 million is spent to reduce coca production by 15,000 hectares per year. Rueda’s letter indicated that he hopes his move will spark a national debate about the impacts of this program, including the role of the United States in Colombia.

New Army Chief Claims Colombia is Winning War The Colombian government has chosen a new military chief, the Associated Press reported. Soon after President Uribe appointed him as head of the Colombian Army, the new leader, General Reinaldo Castellanos, confidently stated that Colombia is winning the war against out-law left-wing guerillas and right-wing paramilitaries. Trained in the United States in 1981, Castellanos aims to maintain “good relations with the American military personnel,” during his tenure at the top of the Colombian military. Castellanos, a former commander of a Special Forces unit at the helm of Plan Patriot, said Thursday that he is “very optimistic,” about his new role. The general went on to say that he believes there is “no doubt” that government forces will be victorious in the armed conflict that has lasted more than 40 years. President Alvaro Uribe said during Castellanos’ swearing-in ceremony that the new chief’s main goal must be to defeat the elusive armed groups, saying that “The 578,000 square kilometers [360,000 square miles] of jungle won't be enough for the bandits to hide in.” Castellanos replaces General Martin Orlando Carreno, who served in the position for just under one year. Bogotá gave no indication as to why Carreno was removed from his command.

Changing of the Guard at Southcom President Bush’s appointee for the new head of the United States Southern Command officially took charge of U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers. Army Gen. Bantz Craddock, a former senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, succeeds Army General James Hill, who retired from the position. Speaking at the ceremony, General Craddock promised that he would give a “110 percent effort all day, every day and to lead by example." Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said of Craddock, he is "the right man to continue to strengthen the bridges of trust and cooperation" in the region. Craddock was set to travel to Colombia soon after officially taking over as head of Southcom.

Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.

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Colombia This Week

Fri 05 - Four international Trade Unionists deported; four officials fired after prison escape.

The Colombian Administrative Security Department (DAS) deports four international labour leaders on October 30, soon after their arrival at Bogotá’s international airport. The four, Victor Baez, general secretary of the International Confederation of Trade Unions’ Inter American Regional Organisation; Duncan Cameron, regional secretary of Washington-based Public Services International; Antonio Rodriguez, regional secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation; and Rodolfo Benitez, regional secretary of Union Network International—had planned to attend a Bogotá meeting of the Global Federation of Unions. Vice President Francisco Santos on 2 November called the expulsions “a mistake” and said the unionists could return to Colombia. But the unionists said it wasn’t a slip-up, Associated Press reports.

President Uribe directly dismisses four military officers after the escape of an army major jailed for taking part in an assassination attempt on Wilson Borja, a Trade Union leader and left-wing politician, from a military prison. Maj. Cesar Maldonado is the most recent imprisoned army official to break out of a military prison, rekindling suspicion that former colleagues are aiding the escapes of jailed officials. Vice President Francisco Santos told local radio Friday the escape "is an embarrassment" and added that any military officers who aided Maldonado's escape would be punished, AP reports.

The Regional Council for Indigenous People in Cauca (CRIC) reports that 500 Nasa indigenous living in the settlement of Tacueyo, municipality of Toribio (Cauca) remain in the area trapped between the Colombian army and the FARC group that are still fighting. Two soldiers have been reportedly killed, El Tiempo reports.

Colombia has lifted arrest orders on three paramilitary leaders, one wanted in the U.S. for drug trafficking, to allow them to coordinate the demobilisation of 3,000 of their troops. "The AUC has shown the will and commitment to carry out the demobilisation," the presidential resolution says. One of the three leaders is AUC chief Salvatore Mancuso, whom the U.S. wants to extradite for cocaine smuggling. The others are Ivan Roberto Duque and Ever Veloza. They had been wanted in Colombia for crimes including murder, massacre and kidnapping. The trio are now allowed to move freely in the country to carry out the demobilisation.

Sat 06 – Air bombardment kills one child and injures more; Official resigns for fumigation policy.

The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office (Procuraduria) reports that they intend to investigate a counterinsurgency operation carried out by the Colombian air force in Nariño which resulted in civilians being bombed for several hours and during which one child was killed and two more suffered injures, El Pais reports.

Alberto Rueda, a Colombian Interior and Justice Ministry advisor resigns in protest at the government fumigation of illicit crops. In his resignation letter, he complained the government has neglected to monitor the effect of the spraying on human health. The letter called the amount of money spent on fumigation “absurd.” It added that the U.S. does not live up to its responsibility in reducing drug consumption. The Colombian government last year received U.S. aid totaling more than $750 million, about 20 percent of which was devoted to maintaining a fleet of crop dusters and supporting aircraft that make almost daily sorties, fumigating crops of coca and opium poppy, the raw materials for cocaine and heroin, El Tiempo reports.

The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office (Procuraduria) gives its approval to the extradition to the United States of the leader of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), Salvatore Mancuso and the FARC commander Simon Trinidad, El Tiempo reports.

Rep. Wilson Borja Diaz, injured in a 2000 assassination attempt, suspects that the Colombian authorities have ‘disappeared’ Mayor Maldonado, a jailed Army major, to prevent him from incriminating other officers behind the hit, El Tiempo reports.

Sun 07 – New threat to kill President Uribe; UN study highlights worsening poverty in Colombia.

Colombia's FARC group reportedly calls on all its fighters to concentrate on assassinating President Uribe Velez, according to a message intercepted by Colombian officials. Although Mr. Uribe has been a target of the rebels since he first appeared on the national political stage, security forces have taken the renewed threat seriously and redoubled his protection. On Sunday, an unidentified man threw a grenade at a police station in the southern city of Pasto, shortly before Mr. Uribe was due to arrive for an event at a theatre four blocks away. Officials said it was unclear if Mr. Uribe was the target, BBC reports.

One in four Colombians suffers from hunger, the UN Development Programme reported at the end of October, in the latest study suggesting the country’s poverty is expanding. About 25.9 percent of the country’s 44 million inhabitants, (up from 21.8 percent in 1997), try to survive on less than $2 a day, the report said. The study found poverty most widespread in the provinces of Choco, Huila and Boyaca. U.N. World Food Programme chief Peter Goossens, said malnourished Colombians receive less food assistance than people in Sudan. Colombian Family Welfare Institute director Beatriz Londoño said that a Colombian dies from hunger every two days. Other recent studies have shown declining Colombian school attendance, literacy, health care and life expectancy. Poverty hits rural residents hardest, but those internally displaced by the conflict arriving in urban shantytowns have brought the dire conditions closer to Colombia ’s developed areas, Reuters reports.

Jaime Andres Marulanda, a member of a paramilitary group acting in Bogotá, publicly admits to the Colombian authorities that he has killed 137 people in 2002, saying he acted on orders of Bogotá paramilitary bosses. According to the report, most of the victims were inhabitants of the Ciudad Bolivar and Altos de Cazuca, El Tiempo reports.

Mon 08 – FARC rejects government proposal; Armed forces kill four paramilitary commanders.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reject the latest proposal made by President Uribe Velez to hold talks with FARC delegates in Bogotá to agree on an exchange of captives and jailed guerrillas. In a statement published on their website, the FARC group is asking for the demilitarisation of two municipalities in the Caqueta region, El Colombiano reports.

According to the Colombian authorities, four paramilitaries have been killed in the area of Mamon (Cesar). Among them was Major (r) David Hernandez, a former U.S.-trained Colombian military officer who went on to become a leader of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). Originally arrested in 1989 for the murder of a state government peace envoy while still working for the Colombian military, Hernandez escaped from prison and joined up with the AUC, eventually taking on a leading role. While in the Colombian army, Hernandez received training from U.S. military personnel at the School of the Americas, El Tiempo reports.

Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo visits the region of Catatumbo as tension grows in the area, after paramilitary commanders announce they will start with the demobilisation of up to 1,600 people in the next week. Villagers from the settlement of Campo Giles (Norte de Santander) have created a Manual of behaviour to use when the demobilised troops arrive in the area as planned in the demobilisation, El Tiempo reports.

Tues 09 – Commune leader killed in Medellín; FARC members kill indigenous leader.

Medellín- based Human Rights Collective ‘Seeds of freedom’ (CODHESEL) denounces the killing of Jesus Estrada in Medellín. He was ‘disappeared’ on Sunday night by a group of hooded people in the Comuna 3, and his relatives found his body the next day in the morgue of the city.

Colombian NGOs condemn the killing of another Mamo (indigenous authority) in the Sierra of Santa Marta. According to reports, a FARC unit killed 70 year old leader Mariano Suarez Chaparro, when he was accompanying a community towards a new settlement, El Espectador reports.

The Colombian Liberal party announces they have suspended nine Senators from the party after breaking the party’s discipline and voting in Congress for a constitutional amendment in support of President Uribe Velez. The president is seeking re-election despite the fact that the Constitution prohibits this, El Tiempo reports.

Member of the ELN facilitation Commission for Peace, Jaime Bernal Cuellar, reports that the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are planning to hold a round of negotiations in Mexico, Colprensa reports.

Colombian Police Chief Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro announces the capture of a commander of an urban FARC unit suspected of involvement in the February 2002 bombing of an exclusive Bogotá social club that killed 36 people, Colprensa reports.

Weds 10 – Chavez offers to mediate talks with FARC; Paras consolidate support in Congress.

After a meeting with Colombian President Uribe Velez, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offers to mediate talks between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), El Tiempo reports.

An article in the New York Times argues that the political coalition the Colombian paramilitary forces have created is at the apex of its power. They have placed their advocates in Colombian institutions like the attorney general's office and town and city halls, according to Western diplomats, rights advocates and Colombian lawmakers, but perhaps the most troubling sign of its influence is in Congress. There, Congress Representatives Rocio Arias and Eleonora Pineda are leaders of a group of 16 legislators from rural regions who, to varying degrees, openly support the paramilitary leaders, particularly their demands for a deal in which they would not serve jail time or face extradition in exchange for demobilising their forces.

More than 150 Colombian internally displaced people (IDPs) arrive in Ecuador, after being displaced by paramilitary groups acting in Colombia. According to El Tiempo this armed group carried out a massacre last week, pushing the distressed communities towards the neighbouring border.

The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office (Procuraduria) is re-elected by the Colombian Senate with 90 votes in favour, reiterating his commitment to combat corruption, ‘maintain independence and work for human rights issues’. This is the first time in which a Prosecutor is re-elected in Colombia despite the opposition of some legislators, El Espectador reports.

Thurs 11 – NGO office assaulted for third time; 14 killed as Colombia battered by heavy floods.

In a short statement sent to the Colombian President Uribe Velez, several high-profile Colombian NGOs angrily call for guarantees to continue their work after the offices of the Permanent Assembly of the Colombian Civil Society for Peace were raided in Bogotá by armed men in hoods who broke into the premises and confiscated computer hard drives and information, EFE reports.

A state of emergency has been declared in the north of Colombia where floods caused by torrential rains have killed at least 14 people in the last few days, officials say. They say thousands of people in several departments have been forced to flee their homes after weeks of heavy rains. The flooding, which has worsened in recent days, has mainly affected the country's Caribbean coast in the north. The Colombian Red Cross has urged people to donate money as well as first aid and other supplies to the victims, BBC reports.

The Colombian President Uribe Velez has re-structured the leadership of the Colombian armed forces. Reports say that Colombian Military Chief Gen. Carlos Alberto Ospina sacked army leader Gen. Carreño and other eight top officers after several months of differences, AP 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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