[NYTr] Colombia: Uribe nose-deep in political scandal

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

Workers World - Jul 26, 2007 issue
http://www.workers.org/2007/world/colombia-0726

COLOMBIA

Parapolitical scandal is Uribe's quagmire

By Berta Joubert-Ceci

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez is nose-deep in a parapolitical
scandal. Like Merlin, the wizard at King Arthur’s court, he is trying
to come up with the magical spell that will turn around his cruel
reality show. His delusion is shared by U.S. President George W. Bush,
who, along with Bush’s close associates, consistently defends Uribe.

But reality only pulls Uribe deeper and deeper into the horrible
quagmire caused by the tight relationship of his closest political
associates with the criminal paramilitaries who have inflicted so much
suffering on Colombia’s people. So far, more than a dozen politicians,
including senators and other government officials, all from parties or
groups allied with Uribe, are in prison because of these links. And
that’s not all.

According not only to human rights advocates but also to other
paramilitaries, the investigations and subsequent arrests are mounting
and getting closer and closer to Uribe himself. And the testimonies of
“reinserted” or “demobilized” paramilitaries have only begun to reveal
the intricate network of crimes, assassinations and utter corruption
that involve the Colombian military, police, government officials, the
president and several U.S. corporations.

A compromising video

Dan Kovalik, a United Steel Workers union attorney, represents the
relatives of three murdered employees of the U.S. mining company
Drummond. This corporation is currently on trial in federal court in
Alabama for its hiring of paramilitaries to use against its workforce
in Colombia.

During his investigative work for the USW suit against Drummond,
Kovalik found a video recorded on Oct. 31, 2001, in Colombia’s northern
department of Antioquia. In it, presidential candidate Uribe is seen
shaking hands with a well-known paramilitary chief in that area, Frenio
Sánchez Carreño, also called commander Esteban. Uribe’s spokesperson
denied the relationship, saying that Uribe “was not aware that the
person had connection with or was a paramilitary.”

Kovalik countered in a June 15, Miami-based Nuevo Herald article that,
“It is reasonable to think that Uribe should have known that he was
meeting with members of the AUC [United Self Defense Forces of Colombia
or paramilitaries], including commander Esteban, given his [Esteban’s]
notoriety.”

An article in the Colombian Semana.com supports Kovalik’s assertion in
the Nuevo Herald article, saying, “The newspaper also affirms that
during that time, the name of commander Esteban was well-known among
the labor leaders in Barrancabermeja. Twelve days before the meeting,
Esteban signed a message from the AUC targeting the union leaders of
the region, something that prompted a 24-hour strike by the workers of
ECOPETROL. This news had national repercussion.”

Uribe’s associates under investigation

Though Uribe denies association with paramilitaries, there is a report
from the Secret Department linking current Army Commander General Mario
Montoya with the paramilitaries of Medellín. In July, the Supreme Court
initiated an investigation of three more Congresspeople for the same
reason. Among them were Uribe’s first cousin, Senator Mario Uribe.
Uribe’s vice-president, Francisco Santos, is also under suspicion of
association with paramilitaries, particularly with Carlos Castaño.

Jorge Noguera, the former director of the Administrative Department of
Security/Intelligence (DAS), was rearrested on July 6. Noguera is an
Uribe appointee who was imprisoned last February and accused of
allowing the “infiltration of paramilitaries” in the DAS. He was also
accused of giving to paramilitaries a list with names of labor leaders,
many of whom were assassinated afterwards.

Noguera had been in jail one month when a judge ruled in March that his
detention was illegal due to the technicality that the prosecutor in
his case was only a “deputy” instead of the general prosecutor. After
this ridiculous decision, the prosecutor issued a new order stating
that there is evidence linking Noguera to paramilitaries.

These “parapoliticians” as they are called in Colombia, are now in the
justice system. Their testimonies could offer more information about
the paramilitary association of others, including Uribe. For that
reason, and to “protect” his parapolitician friends, Uribe will have to
devise a way to help them out of this swamp.

As May ended, Uribe proposed a law that would help politicians who
associate with “paras” but have committed no “atrocious” crimes and who
confess the “truth.” Neither their opponents nor the parapoliticians,
who objected to the part that stopped them from holding public office,
accepted this law.

Uribe’s unilateral releases: setup, cover up, or both?

At the end of May, Uribe unilaterally released more than 100 prisoners,
whom he identified as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), Uribe’s main enemy with whom he has refused to
negotiate. The FARC denied the 100 were members.

Uribe also released Rodrigo Granda, FARC’s international relations
person, to act as “peace negotiator.” Granda stated that he took orders
only from the FARC secretariat. If prisoner-exchange peace negotiations
are to succeed, they have to be planned by both sides. But Uribe was
making a theatrical gesture, not really opening talks. Granda
eventually went to Cuba, which had offered asylum.

Days later, on June 18, the Colombian government launched a military
operation to “rescue” politicians whom the FARC had detained. Eleven
deputies from Cali died in the crossfire. Uribe accused the FARC of
killing them.

Humanitarian exchange

With U.S. approval, Uribe had consistently called for a military
retaking of the hostages. This attitude completely ignores the demand
of the majority of the Colombian people, including most of the
hostages’ relatives, who want to see a negotiated humanitarian
exchange. Completely misjudging the situation, Uribe called for
demonstrations on July 5 to “condemn terrorism,” which to him means
condemning the FARC. But thousands of people turned out with slogans of
“humanitarian exchange now,” and many blamed the government for the
death of the 11, calling Uribe’s administration irresponsible.

In a shameless show of cruelty against victims’ relatives, local
government officials in Cali criticized Carolina Charry, daughter of
one of the victims, when she thanked those present at a demonstration
for their solidarity and “for mobilizing to reject the government
policies that are stained with my dear father’s blood ... as an
indolent president refused to listen to their plea to declare [the
zones] Pradera and Florida a Zone for Humanitarian Exchange.”

The real terrorism

The real terrorists, known to millions of Colombians, are the criminal
paramilitaries in alliance with the government forces and U.S.
imperialism. Through Plan Colombia, U.S. military and corporations plot
to steal the natural wealth and resources of the Colombian people.

Let us not forget the victims of paramilitaries’ crimes: close to 5,000
members of the Patriotic Union killed; 4 million people displaced; the
hundreds of assassinations already confessed to by just one
paramilitary; the hundreds of bodies being unearthed from common
graves; the more than 3,000 kidnapped; the 10,000 bodies expected to be
found in several common graves according to the general prosecutor.

“Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres”—this Spanish adage
corresponds to: “You are known by the company you keep.” Uribe’s close
company with criminal paramilitaries has become his big problem.

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