New Blood ?

After some time away on leave, I am back with some "fresh" news on Colombia..

Italy and Colombia, two worlds apart, so far, so close

It's good to be back

Article by Alessandro Di Battista (from beppegrillo.it)

“Contrary to what people might think, Colombia is a country very similar to Italy. They’ve got sea and mountains. They do marvellous things to preserve the meat of the pig. The women are splendid and part of the institutions come to agreements with organised crime.

Let’s be sure we understand each other, the “agreements“ are still products that are “made in Italy”. We have the trade mark, but by now, with globalisation, they’re found all over the world.
In 2001, senators, mayors, and governors of Colombia signed the Ralito Pact which was an attempt to bring forth a project to relaunch the country, a sort of Caribbean version of Gelli’s Plan of Democratic Renewal.

It was signed not only by politicians but also by some of the bosses of narco-paramilitarism who were the most powerful at that time. It was signed by Diego Fernando Murillo, also known as Don Berna, who was for years the boss of Medellin and it was signed by Salvatore Mancuso a narco friend of the Calabrian mafia.

Don Berna and Mancuso were leaders of the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), a paramilitary organisation that terrorised the people of Columbia for years. The founder of the AUC, Carlos Castaño, was perhaps the most influential criminal in Colombia. The AUC, in agreement with the corrupt secret services, and with parts of the police and of the army was responsible for the annihilation of the “Unione Patriottica” (UP), the left wing party in Colombia. Between 1985 and 2002, thousands of UP supporters were murdered, cut into pieces while still alive, and the pieces thrown into the Magdalena River. The AUC that was financed using dollars from drug trafficking, but also with donations from private companies as well as from national and multinational companies, was able to act with total impunity.

In spite of the fact that the powerful people are truly powerful, there are lots of people in Sicily as there are in Antioquia who, every day, are fighting against the arrogance of crime, against the law of the jungle, and against the killers of the powerful and those of poverty. I interviewed courageous journalists, young prosecutors and students who are tired of the fatalism all around. It’s really true what De André, said: that from diamonds nothing is created, from manure, flowers spring to life";.

Alessandro Di Battista (follow him on Twitter)
Alessandro Di Battista is the author of the book "Sicari a 5 euro" {assassins at 5 euros} to be published shortly.

Displacement continues, response still ineffective

The protracted internal armed conflict in Colombia had to May 2009 displaced almost 3.1 million people according to the government, and over 4.6 million people according to a re-liable non-governmental source. Nevertheless, under-registration in the government’s system remains pervasive. In 2008, Colombia’s highest administrative court derogated a decree that determined that internally displaced people (IDPs) could only be included in the national registry up to one year after being displaced, and in January, 2009, the Constitutional Court directed the government to decisively tackle this problem by improving regis-tration systems.

All parties to the conflict, including guerrilla groups, the new armed groups which have emerged since the demobilisation of paramilitaries, and state forces, are responsible for forced displacement and human rights abuses and violations. According to a recent survey, threats directed at civilians by the illegal armed groups have become the single greatest cause of internal displacement. Human rights violations by government forces have contin-ued, including systematic extra-judicial executions. Additionally, aerial fumigations of ille-gal crops, which also destroy other crops, have caused displacement by causing food insecurity. Finally, human rights defenders, including IDP leaders, have continued to be threatened, attacked, and killed, and discredited by government.

The government’s response to the plight of IDPs has continued to improve, but not enough to meet the benchmarks set by the Constitutional Court. The Court has ordered significant amendments to government policy and programmes for IDPs and has continued to measure the enjoyment of rights of the displaced population, declaring in January 2009 that the "unconstitutional state of affairs" in the government’s response for IDPs, originally declared in 2004, continued. In June 2009, a proposed law to protect and provide reparations to victims of conflict, the so-called "victims’ law", was defeated by a government majority in the House of Representatives.

The Court’s data shows that the biggest gaps relate to housing, income generation, and protection of land. Much more needs to be done to prevent new displacement, protect the displaced population, and implement durable solutions through effective reparations and solutions other than return – only three per cent of the displaced population wish to return to their place of origin under the current conditions.

President Uribe infected with swine flu

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe has contracted swine flu during the UNASUR summit of Latin American leaders, a Colombian minister, said. He began showing symptoms of the A(H1N1) virus on Friday, upon returning from the meeting in Bariloche, Argentina. Foreign media have not reported the case, so far.

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) summit convened in Argentina on Friday to discuss a deal, which would give US troops access to seven military bases across Colombia.

Colombia has confirmed 621 cases of swine flu, 34 of which have been fatal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 209,438 lab-confirmed swine flu cases have been reported worldwide.

Indigenous flee after massacre

300 family members of the 12 indigenous Awa massacred last week continue to be harassed and threatened despite moving out of the area, according to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC). The Awa of this area are currently existing in "critical humanitarian conditions," according to ONIC. The organisation also demands that the government deal with the state of emergency and exile that these communities are facing, and to provide protection to witnesses of the massacre.

Indigenous Awa massacre

12 members of the Awa indigenous tribe have been massacred by armed men in an indian reservation in Nariño, southwest Colombia. 4 of them were children. This is the third attack against indigenous Awa in Colombia in 2009. About 1,500 members of the Awa live on the reservation. Of the 77 indigenous killed this year, 38 were Awa.

Although the Colombian government were quick in accusing the Farc rebels, these attacks come after death threats were made against the Awa Indigenous Organization by members of the Army and the paramilitaries.

Indigenous people in Colombia often find themselves on the front line, with guerrillas, government forces and paramilitaries contesting control over areas with coca plantations or rich in natural resources.

"Two Colombias"

Some 380,000 Colombians were forced from their homes last year by the continuing armed conflict, a local human rights group has said. The Centre for Human Rights and the Displaced, Codhes, says this is a 25% rise on 2008 and brings the total displaced since 1985 to 4.6 million. Government officials say the number registered as displaced has risen. But they say the Codhes total includes figures from previous years and those falsely claiming compensation. In its annual report, Codhes says 2008 saw the rate of displacement rising to levels last seen in 2002, the worst year on record when 410,000 people were forced to flee.

According to its study, 380,863 people had to leave their homes or places of work as a result of the armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitary groups and the security forces. Codhes says that between 1985 and 2008, 4.6 million Colombians have been uprooted. "The great majority live in severe conditions of poverty," the Codhes report said, while their own land and property had fallen into the hands of others in a "de facto expropriation".

According to government figures, 2.9 million people were displaced between 1997 and 2008. The government department dedicated to helping such people, Accion Social, said the number seeking to be registered as displaced and therefore qualifying for aid had risen, but often these were for events dating back to the 1980s, 1970s and even 1961. Accion Social said around a third of the people included in the Codhes figure had in fact been displaced in 2007.

Fraudsters, officials said, had also mounted schemes to register thousands of people as displaced thereby "robbing those really displaced by violence in Colombia of the chance to get help". Whatever the actual figures, it is clear that two Colombias are developing under President Alvaro Uribe. Towns and cities, where the majority of Colombians live, have become safer under his administration, with murders and kidnappings down. But in rural areas, where most of the displacement takes place, the situation is as bad, or perhaps worse, than ever...

Israel of Latin America ?

President Chavez freezes ties with Colombia, withdrawing its ambassador from Bogotá and halting trade deals. Venezuela, he said, would also substitute imports from Colombia - which currently account for about a third of the country's trade - with goods from other countries, notably Brazil and Ecuador. The announcement came a day after the Colombia government said weapons bought by Venezuela from Sweden in the 1980s had ended up with Colombian guerrillas. The Colombian government said its troops had recovered Swedish anti-tank weapons in a raid on a camp run by the Farc. Mr Chavez, denying that Venezuela armed "any guerrilla group or armed group", accused Mr Uribe of behaving irresponsibly with his "unfounded" accusations.

But there is something else -

The dispute between the two neighbours comes as Colombia prepares to allow the US to use four of its military bases, a move which has angered Venezuela. Colombia says the accord will give the US military access to air bases to gather intelligence and support operations against drugs production and terrorism. But Mr Chavez says it is part of an effort by Washington to turn Colombia into the "Israel of Latin America".

....cirque du soleil?