TOP STORY: Paramilitary group turns in weapons

Colombia Week (www.colombiaweek.org)
Number 28: December 1, 2003
(1) BRIEFS
      Women's peace caravan enters war zone 
      Uribe denounces police-paramilitary link
      Pilot shortage challenges national police
(2) NEWS
      2 tourists freed; Japanese man killed
(3) TOP STORY
      Paramilitary group turns in weapons
(4) MEDIA (by Phillip Cryan in Miami)
      Trade talks look different from south
(5) FROM THE EDITORS
      Help write Colombia Week
(6) THE LAST WORD (Felix Posada)
      'A warm-up for amnesty'

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(1) BRIEFS
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WOMEN'S PEACE CARAVAN ENTERS WAR ZONE: A caravan of more than 3,000 women
from throughout Colombia reached embattled Putumayo Province on November 24
in a demonstration organized by Women's Peaceful Route Against the War.
Traveling over barely passable roads, the caravan's 96 buses were met in
each town by locals waving white handkerchiefs and shouting, "Thanks for
coming!" The women rejected President Alvaro Uribe Vilez's offer of an armed
escort, instead calling for leftist guerrillas and rightwing paramilitaries
to respect the caravan route as a "humanitarian corridor" and requesting
accompaniment by journalists and international observers. Women representing
315 organizations from eight regions of the country converged November 23 to
join the caravan, which traveled between Mocoa, the Putumayo provincial
capital, and Puerto Caycedo, a town of 25,000 controlled by the paramilitary
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The busses carried
traditionally dressed indigenous women, professionals from the major cities,
Afro-Colombian women from the Pacific Coast, and peasant leaders. The women
joined forces under the organization's motto: "Not one woman, not one man,
not one dollar more for the war." Mocoa Mayor Miguel Ruano welcomed the
women as guests of honor and declared November 25 a holiday in commemoration
of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The
caravan aimed to draw attention to the effects of anti-coca spraying, drug
trafficking, and warfare on women and their families and on the local
economy. Putumayo is a focal point of U.S.-backed aerial spraying against
coca crops. Seventy-nine percent of Putumayo residents have incomes below
the poverty line, compared to about 38 percent nationally. SOURCES:
Actualidad Colombiana, 11/19/03; Inter Press Service, 11/24/03, 11/25/03.

URIBE DENOUNCES POLICE-PARAMILITARY LINK: President Alvaro Uribe Vilez
condemned a police unit's close ties to paramilitary squads the United
States labels terrorist. "The mayor tells me, the townspeople tell me,
'Look, the police don't leave town. And (outside) there are the guerrillas,
and the police stay in town drinking whiskey with the paramilitaries,'"
Uribe said at a November 20 community meeting in Rionegro, a city in the
northwestern province of Antioquia. "The public forces cannot enter into
collusion with either the paramilitaries or the guerrillas," he emphasized.
Paramilitary forces, which work alongside the Colombian military to combat
guerrilla groups, are considered responsible for most killing in the
decades-old civil war. Colombia has received nearly $2 billion from the
United States over the last two years, mostly in military aid. Colombian
courts have documented widespread cooperation between the military and
paramilitary groups. SOURCES: El Nuevo Herald, 11/24/03; Presidencia de
Colombia, 11/22/03; Reuters, 11/23/03.

PILOT SHORTAGE CHALLENGES NATIONAL POLICE: Early retirement of pilots from
the National Police is limiting the force's ability to carry out its duties,
the weekly newsmagazine Cambio reported. A loss of 32 officers in recent
months leaves five bases insufficiently staffed to carry out their duties.
Administrative or training functions occupy 54 of the force's 133 pilots.
Many of the retiring pilots work for U.S. companies such as DynCorp, which
performs drug control flights under contract with the U.S. State Department
and pays better than the Colombian military. The retirement wave began after
then police director Teodoro Campo assigned pilots to remote regions in
January 2002, telling them they were not from "better families" so could not
be among the "pampered ones." The police force is considering mandatory
length-of-duty policies to combat the problem. SOURCES: Cambio, 11/24/03. 

) 2003 Colombia Week. Additional research and analysis by Colombia Week.

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(2) NEWS: 2 tourists freed; Japanese man killed
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Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group freed two of seven foreign
backpackers it had been holding for 72 days November 24. The release came
the day a Japanese businessman turned up killed after being held more than
two years by the other main guerrilla group.

The National Liberation Army (ELN) freed Reinhilt Weigel, who is German, and
Spaniard Asier Huegun and said it would soon release Briton Mark Henderson
and Israelis Beni Daniel, Ido Guy, Erez Altawil and Ortaz Ohayon.

The seven were kidnapped September 12 near indigenous ruins in northern
Colombia's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Another backpacker, Matthew Scott,
managed to escape that day. The ELN demanded a humanitarian commission to
investigate what it described as a paramilitary blockade that was cutting
off area residents from food and medical care.

The weekend before the release, a commission consisting of clergy, human
rights officials and the United Nations visited the area after talks
mediated by the Roman Catholic Church. "This has been one of the best
political operations we have carried out for years," local ELN commander
Dairo Martmnez told Reuters. He said the guerrillas were happy with the
commission's work so far but wanted to see practical steps before releasing
the others.

Flown home to the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian, Huegun told
reporters the ELN treated him well and his only fear in captivity was an
army confrontation with the guerrillas.

The day after the release, government Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos
Restrepo Rammrez told CMI Televisisn that President Alvaro Uribe Vilez's
administration was considering renewing negotiations with the ELN. The
administration of President Andris Pastrana, Uribe's predecessor, broke off
talks with the group last year.

The release seemed to stem at least partially from Uribe's appointment of a
new interior minister, Sabas Pretel de la Vega, who replaced hard-liner
Fernando Londoqo Hoyos on November 9. Pretel has participated in government
negotiations with both the ELN and the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC). "The solution to the conflict should be political," he told
the Bogota daily El Tiempo upon taking office. "My objective is to seek
negotiations and I hope that the guerrillas agree."

The Japanese businessman, Chikao Muramatsu, 55, was found shot to death near
San Juan de Rioseco, a town 45 miles west of Bogota. Muramatsu, vice
president of the Colombian subsidiary of the Japanese industrial group
Yazaki, was kidnapped February 22, 2001. The FARC had been demanding $11
million for his release.

Armed Forces Commander Gen. Carlos Alberto Ospina said the guerrillas
apparently murdered Muramatsu when troops in the area approached. But
authorities quickly rejected speculation that there was a botched rescue
attempt.

The Colombia office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned
the murder and demanded a FARC explanation.

) 2003 Colombia Week. SOURCES: Agence France Presse, 11/28/03; Associated
Press, 11/24/03, 11/25/03; BBC, 11/24/03; El Colombiano, 11/25/03; El
Espectador, 11/25/03; El Nuevo Herald, 11/27/03; El Tiempo, 11/25/03,
11/26/03, 11/27/03; Guardian, 11/25/03; Herald Tribune, 11/28/03; Los
Angeles Times, 11/25/03; Reuters, 11/24/03, 11/28/03; United Press
International, 11/26/03. Additional research and analysis by Colombia Week.

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(3) TOP STORY: Paramilitary group turns in weapons
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More than 850 members of the Cacique Nutibara Bloc (BCN), a paramilitary
unit based in the northwestern city of Medellmn, laid down their weapons
November 25 and became the first armed group to disarm during President
Alvaro Uribe Vilez's administration. Members of the BCN, a unit of the
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), the country's main
paramilitary federation, turned in AK-47s, sawed-off shotguns and rusted
rifles under the watch of government peace negotiator Luis Carlos Restrepo
Rammrez and a live national television audience.

Diego Murillo Bejarno, BCN commander, was not among those handing in
weapons. A prerecorded tape of his commentary and that of AUC leaders Carlos
Castaqo and Salvatore Mancuso was broadcast at the ceremony and on national
television. Castaqo and Mancuso are wanted in the United States on charges
they exported 17 tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe. They and
other AUC leaders are negotiating a deal with Uribe that would protect them
from going to prison if they turn themselves in, stating on their Web site
they "don't believe it would be fair" to be sentenced to jail.

After the ceremony, the ex-paramilitaries were flown to a resort in La Ceja,
a village outside Medellmn, to receive three weeks of readjustment training
after which they will return to their home communities to finish high school
or pursue technical training. The government will provide each of them an
annual stipend of about $6,000.  

Restrepo called the day a "demonstration of peace" that "will help rebuild
hope." He said the next demobilization will be December 7 in the
southwestern town of Cajibio, Cauca Province. But human rights groups
criticized this first step in Uribe's plan to demobilize 13,000 AUC members
as an attempt to legalize paramilitary atrocities. Josi Miguel Vivanco,
executive director of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, called the ceremony and
videotape a "parody." In a written statement he said, "Instead of giving
these people microphones the Colombian government should concentrate on
arresting them and bringing them to justice." Human rights groups including
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the BCN is responsible for
at least eight massacres and hundreds of forced displacements. The
government said no criminals were among those demobilized. 

The day after the disarmament ceremony, residents told the Medellmn daily El
Colombiano several BCN members remained armed and mobile within the city.
"We don't know if they're now working on their own or if they've joined up
with another group," one community leader told the paper. City police have
not denied the reports. Many wonder if a lack of jobs will lead some
disarmed combatants to other AUC groups, several of which have refused to
disband.

The government began secret talks with the AUC in 2002. The AUC agreed July
15 to demobilize its fighters by December 31, 2005. But an October 8 letter
signed by 12 AUC leaders said the move hinges on a government promise to
grant leaders an amnesty for past crimes or allow them to pay fines rather
than serve jail time (see THE LAST WORD below).

SOURCES: Boston Globe, 11/26/03; Chicago Tribune, 11/26/03; Economist,
11/27/03; El Colombiano, 11/25/03, 11/26/03; El Espectador, 11/26/03; El
Tiempo, 11/26/03, 11/27/03, 11/28/03; Miami Herald, 11/26/03; New York
Times, 11/26/03; Reuters, 11/26/03; Semana, 11/24/03; Washington Post,
11/26/03.   Additional research and analysis by Colombia Week.

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(4) MEDIA: Trade talks look different from south
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BY PHILLIP CRYAN
Colombia Week

MIAMI -- Though not exactly famous for pushing progressive views, the Miami
Herald provided extensive coverage of police violence against protesters
during Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations in this city.
Why? Things look different from ground zero.

For the same reason, the Bogota-based El Tiempo covered the talks far more
thoroughly than its U.S. counterpart, the New York Times. Both organs
regularly publish news reports biased in favor of "free markets" and both
regularly publish house editorials promoting the FTAA explicitly, but the
negotiations still looked different from a Latin American vantage point.

>From November 18 to 24, the week surrounding the talks, El Tiempo ran nearly
twice as many articles as the Times on the subject. Day after day, El Tiempo
covered the Miami happenings on its cover, while the Times usually forced
readers to wade through a dozen pages to find any mention of them.

And, though the coverage of both newspapers leaned toward FTAA backers, El
Tiempo provided far more background. On November 22, for example, El Tiempo
published a chart comparing aspects of the "ideal" FTAA, as announced when
the negotiations began in 1994, with the "real" accords reached in Miami.
The chart showed, on each point, the talks had failed.

The Times left out such historical perspective. Instead, the U.S. newspaper
of record tried to spin the Miami talks as partially successful by comparing
them to World Trade Organization negotiations in Canczn this September. The
Canczn talks collapsed, providing the Times a measuring stick adequately low
for sizing up Miami.

An exception was Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's November 22 offering,
headlined "Death by Dividend" and written from Oatepeque, Guatemala. The
piece lambasted Washington for supporting the intellectual property rights
of pharmaceutical corporations over the survival of Latin Americans with
HIV.

But while hitting hard on that issue, Kristof stipulated his complaint was
narrow. "I'm a firm believer in trade agreements," he declared before
lauding U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

As did most U.S. coverage of the FTAA talks, Kristof's column implied trade
agreements are good for everyone and that the rest of the world shares
Washington's view that such accords must preserve and expand advantages for
U.S. corporations.

El Tiempo regularly provided other views. The newspaper, for example, quoted
Colombian Trade Minister Jorge Humberto Botero urging Colombians to keep one
thing in mind about the United States: "We're not negotiating with the
sisters of charity. We're in the cold world of foreign trade and, in it,
there's no charity or piety whatsoever."

) 2003 Colombia Week. Phillip Cryan ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is a policy
analyst and educator who returned to the United States in November after 18
months in Colombia.

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(5) FROM THE EDITORS
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(6) THE LAST WORD: 'A warm-up for amnesty'
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Hundreds of rightist fighters turned in their weapons November 25, becoming
the first paramilitary unit to disarm in Colombia's decades-old war (see TOP
STORY above). President Alvaro Uribe Vilez's administration, meanwhile, is
pushing a legislative proposal for "alternative sentences" for combatants
who demobilize voluntarily. The bill would let paramilitaries avoid jail by
paying compensation to their victims. Human rights advocates say the measure
would grant impunity for persons responsible for massacres, kidnapping and
torture. Colombia Week contributor Allison Buri interviewed Felix Posada,
director of the Center for Latin American Popular Communication (CEPALC), a
Bogota-based group that promotes community organizing and popular education
across the country. Here are excerpts:

"If the demobilized paramilitaries behave themselves and don't turn to
common crime, it will give the Colombian Congress reason to approve the
'alternative sentences' law. . . . Granting amnesty to the paramilitaries
would be like the United States catching Osama bin Laden and his army and
bringing them to the United States to be judged, then letting them go
because they had repented for what they had done and allowing them to live
among U.S. citizens. . . . Soon the people will see that there is no
justice, and they will take it into their own hands."

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