Articles on FARC, Colombia and More: Compiled by Peter S. Lopez

Articles on FARC, Colombia and More: Compiled by Peter S. Lopez http://ww4report.com/node/5748 Latin American left reacts to release of FARC captives Submitted by WW4 Report on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 22:10. Latin American leftists expressed satisfaction at the release of 15 people held captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)—including French-Colombian ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three US military contractors—in a Colombian military operation July 2. "Out of a basically humanist sentiment, we rejoiced at the news," former Cuban president Fidel Castro Ruz wrote in an article dated on July 3. "The civilians should have never been kidnapped, neither should the soldiers have been kept prisoner in the conditions of the jungle. These were objectively cruel actions. No revolutionary purpose could justify it." ("Reflections by Comrade Fidel," July 3) On July 3 Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez Frias announced he had called Colombian president Álvaro Uribe the night before to congratulate him on the operation. Chávez said "we are still ready to help until the last hostage of the Colombian guerrillas is released, and to achieve peace, a full peace in Colombia." He noted that on June 8 he had called on the FARC to release all the captives. "I even said [to the FARC leaders] that if I were a guerrilla, I wouldn't kidnap anyone... [I]t's no longer the time for guerrilla fronts, it's the time for surges of the peoples." (La Jornada, July 4 from AFP, DPA, PL, Reuters) The likely Republican candidate for US president in November, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), also cited Chávez's June 8 call to the FARC. He hoped the guerrillas would follow Chávez's advice, he told reporters on July 2 before ending a 24-hour visit to Colombia. (LJ, July 3 from AFP, DPA, Reuters) But mainstream media in Europe raised questions about the operation after a July 4 report on Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) charged that the rebels had been paid a $20 million ransom and that the release was "a masquerade." Attributing the report to "a reliable source, tested many times over the past 20 years," RSR, which is operated by Swiss public radio, said the US was behind the transaction; it also claimed that the three US contractors were agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (RSR, July 4) Betancourt told France-3 television she was sure the guerrillas weren't play-acting, but if there was a ransom: "Good, if it's true; so much the better. I mean, why not?" (RSR, July 5) From Weekly News Update on the Americas, June 29 See our last post on Colombia. Fidel to FARC: release hostages, keep your guns Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 23:50. From Prensa Latina, July 7: Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro stated that he will never support the pax romana that the empire tries to impose on Latin America. In his Cubadebate website article entitled "Pax Romana," Fidel Castro referred to the situation in Colombia. "I have expressed, very clearly," he noted, "our position in favor of peace in Colombia; but, we are neither in favor of foreign military intervention nor of the policy of force that the United States intends to impose at all costs on that long-suffering and industrious people." "I have honestly and strongly criticized the objectively cruel methods of kidnapping and retaining prisoners under the conditions of the jungle. But I am not suggesting that anyone laid down their arms, when everyone who did so in the last 50 years did not survive to see peace," the Cuban leader wrote [a reference to the extermination of the Unión Patriotico in the '90s]. "If I dared suggest anything to the FARC guerrillas that would simply be that they declare, by any means possible to the International Red Cross, their willingness to release the hostages and prisoners they are still holding, without any precondition. I do not intend to be heard; it is simply my duty to say what I think. Anything else would only serve to reward disloyalty and treason." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.usnews.com/blogs/barone/2008/7/7/colombias-president-uribe-and-the-clownish-narco-terrorists.html?msg=1 Colombia's President Uribe and the Clownish Narco-terrorists July 07, 2008 03:44 PM ET | Michael Barone For more heartening coverage of the hostage rescue in Colombia, see this story from Saturday's Wall Street Journal and this opinion article, "Vindication for Colombia's Uribe" from Saturday's Washington Post. Schumacher-Matos usefully takes on Human Rights Watch for overstating Colombia's human rights problems; this organization seems interested only in proving that "right-wing" regimes are terrible and seems entirely willing to overlook the depredations of "left-wing" narco-guerrillas. It seems to be a prisoner of the paradigm of Latin American studies departments—that all conflict in Latin America is between the left-leaning "people" and right-wing oppressive regimes. Believers of this paradigm overlook the fact that President Alvaro Uribe and his government have approval ratings from the people of Colombia far higher than those of almost any other leaders or governments in Latin America (or the United States, now and for most of recent history, for that matter). Schumacher-Matos does criticize Uribe for seeking to change the constitution and seek a third consecutive term. "He should build the legitimacy of the presidency by letting it go to someone else," he concludes, without mentioning the shining example of such renunciation, George Washington. As much as I admire Uribe, I am inclined to think this is good advice. One of the heartening things about the rescue operation is that the Colombian Army's brilliant performance makes the FARC narco-guerrillas look like such idiots. They were completely bamboozled and fooled. Terrorists want us to live in fear of them. Now we are free to laugh at them. The greatest weapon against terrorism is ridicule. Who will want to enlist in the guerrilla army that can't shoot straight? That everyone in the world is laughing at? That was outsmarted and outmaneuvered and humiliated? Tags: Colombia | terrorism | FARC Reader Comments "Schumacher-Matos usefully takes on Human Rights Watch for overstating Colombia's human rights problems; this organization seems interested only in proving that "right-wing" regimes are terrible and seems entirely willing to overlook the depredations of "left-wing" narco-guerrillas." Isn't this how all of these leftist organizations are? They decry democracy and, more importantly, "right-wing regimes", but the record of leftist countries and leaders is far more horrendous. However, you are certainly correct that Uribe should not seek a third term. Slowly, a third term turns into a fourth, then a fifth, and finally it becomes "for life". Suddenly, that shining star soon becaomes a White Dwarf. No further proof of this is necessary than with other "reformist" leaders such as Robert Mugabe and Jean-Baptiste Aristead. Chris of AZ Jul 07, 2008 16:45:38 PM Do your homework, Mr. Barone Mr. Barone, Like your government, you fail to understand why the FARC is still around 44 years after its birth. Right-wing death squads who killed more than 4,000 demobilized guerrillas, people who tried the peaceful political route beginning in the mid-1980s, are part of the reason. So is Colombia's deeply ingrained social inequality. Ingrid Betancourt _ someone held for six years and four months by cruel rebel jailers _ understands this. She knows Colombia's conflict can't be ended by military action alone _ and that it's not just the violent left that has enriched itself with drug money but also the violent right.. Here's what she says in an interview just published by Colombia's Semana magazine (my translation): "The FARC has its human resource, a youthful labor force ... young people with dreams who want to embrace consumerism, who want to be able to smooth on skin lotion, own a wristwatch. If we Colombians could only offer them this rather than coca or crime ... Why not offer these young people an option other than as coca leaf pickers? Ninety percent of the FARC guerrillas are coca leaf pickers who grow tired of this exhausting work an the inadequate money. So they join the FARC to have new clothes, boots and guaranteed meals. They get respect and own a few things, a radio, an oil lamp. In the FARC they find a way, they look for stability and if they don't get killed they seek a type of pension, because the FARC will find them a little farm, with a coca plantation and a few cows for them to manage. Are we going to let things remain this way forever?" South American of XX Jul 07, 2008 22:28:50 PM Columbia's Narco Terrorists We always have a skewed perspective on events in Latin America when our news is controlled by the corporate media. We need to look at the FARC as a failed revolutionary movement that got corrupted by corrupting conditions in its quest for survival under state terrorism by the Columbian government that was co-signed by the U.S.A. Above all, revollutionaries must stand upon their basic humane principles and keep their original vision in mind. What is the role of drug addicts inside the United States in all of this in accordance with economic laws of supply and demand? Peter S. Lopez of CA Jul 08, 2008 10:38:10 AM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/julio/dom6/Reflections-6julio.html Havana. July 6, 2008 Reflections by comrade Fidel Pax romana I basically drew these data from statements made by William Brownfield, US ambassador to Colombia, from that country's press and television, from the international press, and other sources. It's impressive the show of technology and economic resources at play. While in Colombia the senior military officers went to great pains to explain that Ingrid Betancourt's rescue had been an entirely Colombian operation, the US authorities were saying that "it was the result of years of intense military cooperation of the Colombian and United States' armies." "'The truth is that we have been able to get along as we seldom have in the United States, except with our oldest allies, mostly in NATO,' said Brownfield, referring to his country's relationships with the Colombian security forces, which have received over 4 billion USD in military assistance since the year 2000." "…on various occasions it became necessary for the US Administration to make decisions at the top levels concerning this operation. "The US spy satellites helped in locating the hostages during a month period starting on May 31st until the rescue action on Wednesday." "The Colombians installed video surveillance equipment, supplied by the United States. Operated by remote control, these can take close-ups and pan along the rivers which are the only transportation routes through thick forests, said the Colombian and US authorities." "US surveillance aircraft intercepted the rebels' radio and satellite phone talks and used imaging equipment that can break through the forest foliage." "'The defector will receive a considerable sum of the close to one- hundred-million-dollars reward offered by the government', stated the Commander General of the Colombian Army." On Wednesday, July 1st, the London BBC reported that Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, press secretary at Casa de Nariño (Colombian Government House) had informed that delegates from France and Switzerland had met with Alfonso Cano, chief of the FARC. According to the BBC, that would be the first contact with international delegates accepted by the new chief after the death of Manuel Marulanda. The false information of the meeting of two European envoys with Cano had been released in Bogota. The deceased leader of the FARC had been born on May 12, 1932, according to his father's testimony. Marulanda, a poor peasant with a liberal thinking and a Gaitan follower, had started his armed resistance 60 years back. He was a guerrilla before us; he had reacted to the carnage of peasants carried out by the oligarchy. The Communist Party he later joined, the same as every other in Latin America, was under the influence of the Communist Party of the USSR and not of Cuba. They were in solidarity with our Revolution but they were not subordinated to it. It was the drug-traffickers and not the FARC that unleashed terror in that sister nation as part of their feuds over the United States market. They caused powerful bomb blasts and even blew up trucks loaded with plastic explosives destroying facilities and injuring or killing countless people. The Colombian Communist Party never contemplated the idea of conquering power through the armed struggle. The guerrilla was a resistance front and not the basic instrument to conquer revolutionary power, as it had been the case in Cuba. In 1993, at the 8th FARC Conference, they decided to break ranks with the Communist Party. Its leader, Manuel Marulanda, took over the leadership of that Party's guerrillas which had always excelled in their narrow sectarianism when admitting combatants as well as in their strong and compartmented commanding methods. Marulanda, a man with a remarkable natural talent and a leader's gift, did not have the opportunity to study when he was young. It is said that he had only completed the 5th grade of grammar school. He conceived a long and extended struggle; I disagreed with this point of view. But, I never had the chance to talk with him. The FARC became considerable strong with over 10 thousand combatants. Many had been born during the war and had known nothing else. Other leftist organizations rivaled the FARC in the struggle. By then the Colombian territory had become the largest source of cocaine production in the world. Then, extreme violence, kidnappings, taxes and demands from the drug producers became widespread. The paramilitary forces, armed by the oligarchy, drew basically from the great amount of men enlisted in the country's armed forces who were discharged from duty every year without a secure job. These created in Colombia a very complex situation with only one way out: real peace, albeit remote and difficult as many other goals Humanity have set itself. This is the option that, for three decades, Cuba has advocated for that nation. While our journalists meeting in their 8th Congress debated on the new technologies of information, the principles and ethic of social communicators, I meditated on the abovementioned developments. I have expressed, very clearly, our position in favor of peace in Colombia; but, we are neither in favor of foreign military intervention nor of the policy of force that the United States intends to impose at all costs on that long-suffering and industrious people. I have honestly and strongly criticized the objectively cruel methods of kidnapping and retaining prisoners under the conditions of the jungle. But I am not suggesting that anyone laid down their arms, when everyone who did so in the last 50 years did not survive to see peace. If I dared suggest anything to the FARC guerrillas that would simply be that they declare, by any means possible to the International Red Cross, their willingness to release the hostages and prisoners they are still holding, without any precondition. I do not intend to be heard; it is simply my duty to say what I think. Anything else would only serve to reward disloyalty and treason. I will never support the pax romana that the empire tries to impose on Latin America. Fidel Castro Ruz July 5, 2008 8:12 p.m. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402092.html Vindication for Colombia's Uribe By Edward Schumacher-Matos Saturday, July 5, 2008; Page A15 CARTAGENA, Colombia -- More politically breathtaking than the dramatic rescue of Ingrid Betancourt this week is the unexpected message that the former presidential candidate delivered after six years of captivity in Colombian jungles. Betancourt, slight but still well-spoken, deftly discredited critics of President Álvaro Uribe's two-pronged approach toward the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Her support for Uribe's carrot-and-stick policies -- beefing up the military while offering to negotiate with the guerrillas -- countered many of her self-proclaimed supporters, including human rights groups, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, leftist lobbyists in Washington and her own mother. Betancourt was right to speak out. But Uribe will be wrong if he hears a siren song in her message. Uribe has been toying with the notion of exploiting his incredible popularity -- he is the only sitting Colombian president to be reelected -- and changing the constitution to seek a third term. This would undermine the country's admirably growing institutions and his own considerable legacy. The constitution was already amended in 1995 to permit Uribe to run for a second term. "I think that one of [the] hardest blows given to the FARC, aside from this extraordinary [rescue] operation, is the president's reelection," the center-left Betancourt said Thursday. Colombia has a history of alternating between tough and conciliatory presidents, she noted, which has allowed the more than 40-year-old guerrilla movement to expand during each turnover. She lauded Uribe's ability to see through to fruition his "democratic security" policies. The carrot has been the demobilization of about 35,000 supposedly right-wing paramilitaries and nearly 12,000 left-wing guerrillas, with various levels of amnesty. The stick is the greatly improved Colombian military, aided in part by $5.5 billion in U.S. aid since 2000 under Plan Colombia. That aid and the military have been criticized by human rights groups and some in Washington, but Betancourt left no doubt that she shares a favorable public perception of the military that is matched in polls here only by that of the Catholic Church. "Thank you, my army, of my country, for your impeccable operation," she said. "I ask Colombians to believe in this army, which is going to take us to peace." She called on Chávez and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa to remember that Uribe was democratically elected, while the FARC has almost no public support. As to her mother siding with Chávez earlier in supporting a failed mediation effort to win Betancourt's freedom, she said that it was a maternal instinct to oppose a potentially dangerous rescue and gently chided her mother to thank Uribe. Betancourt's composure and sanguine analysis belie suspicions that she might have been overcome with appreciation for her saviors. Although she was kidnapped on a campaign trip in February 2002, she said this week that she may run again for president. But her statements also belie the scorched-earth policies of otherwise well-meaning groups such as Human Rights Watch, which has persuaded many Democrats in Congress to oppose a pending free-trade agreement with Colombia on human rights grounds. In a news release regarding Sen. John McCain's coincidental trip to Colombia this week, the organization asked him to "ignore the official spin and support threatened democratic institutions in Colombia" and called Colombia only "formally a democracy." Colombia has its issues. Some paramilitary forces have gone back into the drug trade, oddly in alliance with the guerrillas in some areas. Political violence continues, though it is way down as the military has asserted control over most of the country with only minimal rights violations. The much-improved justice system, meanwhile, has under Uribe won some 140 convictions in murder cases of union members alone, an unusual rate of success in human rights prosecutions. What both Betancourt and Uribe understand is that the biggest challenge in Colombia is to build the nation, its unity and its institutions. A third Uribe term would run counter to that. He almost surely would win, but the nation has a wealth of proven political talent, nearly all of which, including politicians from the leftist Polo Party, support the main lines of the president's security policies. Questions about the legitimacy of the last constitutional change already follow Uribe. Many of his supporters in the Senate who voted for it are being prosecuted, accused of alliances with paramilitaries. There is no doubt that the public wanted the measure, and Uribe is considering a referendum to make the point ex post facto. Let him do it and go out in glory. He should build the legitimacy of the presidency by letting it go to someone else. The writer, a former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Americas, is the Robert F. Kennedy visiting professor in Latin American studies at Harvard University. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Come Together and Create! Peter S. Lopez ~ aka:Peta Sacramento, California, Aztlan Email: sacranative@yahoo.com http://humane-rights-agenda.blogspot.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetworkAztlan_News/ http://www.NetworkAztlan.com