The State of Columbia

international | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis

Thursday July 03, 2003 15:02

by Yossarian

Increasing militarisation, repression and murder of union activists, privatisation. These appear to be the policies of the Colombian 'democratically elected' government according the the article below.

There have been many recent posts by somebody claiming to have on the ground experience of Colombia and who continually praises the Colombian government, including its leader, Uribe, for their actions.
The article at the link describes some recent iniatives from Uribe such as forcing union activists to be protected [from the state supported paramilitaries] by bodyguards appointed by the state. In the week following that decision, three union activists were murdered. Another initiative from the Colombian 'democratically elected' government is a tutoring programme for union activists, where they are removed from their place of work and refused permission to return. There is also the small matter of privatising the state telephone and oil companies and the repression of indigenous, afro-Colombians and peasants who are living on land earmarked for the development of natural resources [mining, oil drilling, etc] and "megaprojects" [dams, superhighways, I guess].
None of these repressive policies have anything to do with the FARC but the result is the same as their approach to the FARC rebels, terror and death.

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Comments (4 of 4)

Please, don't cite graduate student papers as evidence...

by joe ranii

Thu Jul 03, 2003 21:40

Just in case anyone thinks that some authority should be attached to the article recommended by the previous poster, it should be pointed out that it was written by a Canadian graduate student, who has never been in Colombia and doesn't even speak Spanish.

The experience of a couple of months ago, when a graduate student paper was used by war-mongers as "evidence", should tell us how much credence to give to such wafflings. In my case, I stopped reading the article cited when the graduate student threw the empty and ignorant epithet "fascist" at the Colombian government. For perhaps the 100th time i will once more point out that the government of Colombia, like it or not--and I don't--was democratically elected. In fact in just a couple of years President Uribe will democratically relinquish office, as the Colombian Constituion demands.
Idiots who throw the term "fascist" around as did the graduate student who wrote this article know nothing about fascism and even less about Colombia.

Hitler was elected too, Joe...

by ...

Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:54

Evidence

Fri Jul 04, 2003 12:24

Well, Joe, which parts in the article are untrue?
Is there a scheme whereby a unionists bodyguard must be chosen by the state? Did three unionists get murdered the week after such a scheme was introduced?
Is there a "Program of Improvement and Competencies"?
Is the government privatising the telephone and oil companies?
Which parts of the story are fabricated?

Where is your evidence that this was written by a graduate student? Sounds like you're winging it, buddy. Nice try.

Courageous action by Colombian Indians stops attempted FARC atrocity

Fri Jul 04, 2003 13:58

It's a guy called Podur, he's a student at the University of Toronto. I've forgotten what he studies, but it isn't Spanish.
As to the Colombia govt economic policies, they are not too far off what Thatcher did in England. Would that have justified necklace bombing, mass kidnapping, no-warning bombs etc. in Thatcher's England ?
But for a better insight into the real relationship between Colombian Indians and FARC, try this nesws report, hot off the press:

Reuters:
Colombian Indians Mob Rebels, Free Swiss Hostage
Thu July 3, 2003 08:36 PM ET
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Unarmed Colombian Indians mobbed Marxist rebels stuck in a damaged vehicle and forced them to release a Swiss aid worker kidnapped 30 hours earlier, officials said on Thursday.
Florian Arnold, 51, was freed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, late on Wednesday in Cauca province, where he has spent the past quarter century helping indigenous communities build schools and improve agriculture.

The guerrillas' vehicle broke down as they tried to escape along a rural road. Dozens of native Indians surrounded them and refused to let them continue until they let Arnold go, said a top Colombian human rights official, acting Ombudsman Dario Mejia.

"Basically, the kidnappers were kidnapped," Mejia told Reuters, saying the local ombudsman's office transmitted the Indians' demands to local guerrilla commanders who then ordered their subordinates to free their captive.

Arnold looked worn but in good health after the ordeal. He said the surprise rescue gave new meaning to the years he had dedicated to the community.

"I became aware that what I'm doing is really worth it, by the reaction of the people. I realized that what I'm doing here makes sense," Arnold said.

Tribal leader Ramiro Pito said the FARC guerrillas told him: "'We made a mistake. We cannot have the entire community coming out against us."'

In 2001, the rebels kidnapped three German aid workers in Cauca province, prompting threats from the European Union to cancel aid to Colombia and protest marches by local Indians. One of the Germans escaped his captors and the other two were only released months later.

Rebels kidnap thousands of people a year for ransom money to fund their 39-year-old war. Cauca's fiercely independent Indians have pioneered unarmed resistance against the guerrillas, saying they are sick of what they see as rebel bullying and forced recruitment. The FARC has sometimes hit back by killing indigenous leaders.

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Comments (4 of 4)