US Financing Its Own Liability: Alvaro Uribe

[Judi Lynn]

US Financing Its Own Liability: Alvaro Uribe
Thursday, 5 February 2009, 10:00 am
Opinion: Jose Maria Rodriguez Gonzalez


Jose Maria Rodriguez Gonzalez
U.S. Foreign Policy Analyst
Part 1: Alvaro Uribe’s paramilitary politics

The paramilitary politics, para-politics, or “parapolítica” - as it is known in Colombia, represents the interests of terrorist paramilitary forces, narco trafficking mafia, and political followers of the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, also branded as Uribeists. While Bush, U.S. fundamentalist conservatives (commonly identified as neocons) and Republicans in general developed a passion for this dangerous blend, Barack Obama – a believer in the rule of law, a human rights advocate, and a pragmatic social activist - seems unlikely to become a member of Uribe’s fan club.

Things to Remember about Alvaro Uribe

Even if Alvaro Uribe states that he has nothing to do with terrorism and narco-trafficking in Colombia, there are many facts that point in a different direction. For instance, Alvaro Uribe’s mother is a cousin of Fabio Ochoa, who is directly associated with the drug mafia known as the “Ochoa Clan.” Pablo Escobar, the renowned mafia chief, was Uribe’s father's best friend. Uribe’s key advisor and his long term confidant, Obdulio Gaviria, was Pablo Escobar’s defense lawyer and Pablo Escobar’s cousin.

The list can go on. President Uribe’s brother, Santiago, and their cousin Mario, were accused of criminal activities, including land stealing. They worked in association with terrorist paramilitaries. Mario Uribe tried to escape from his charges to Costa Rica. After that he was captured and jailed for a short period of time, but then of course, he was released because of the ‘technical’ reasons.

Alvaro Uribe’s family ties to narco-mafia not being enough, many of his current government officials and Uribe’s collaborators have links to crime and drug-traffickers. For example, Jorge Noguera, Uribe’s close friend and his 2002’ presidential campaign manager in Colombia’s north coast, was accused of criminal activities that he committed in association with terrorist narco-paramilitaries.

His crimes were directed at weakening Uribe’s opponents. Instead of investigating these serious accusations against Noguera, the newly elected President Uribe promoted Noguera to a position of the Chief of the Colombia’s Central Intelligence Agency, called “Administrative Department of Security” or DAS (in Spanish). Already as the chief of the national intelligence service, Jorge Noguera was accused in court of providing the lists of union, community and political leaders to the paramilitaries for the purpose of having the former assassinated. To protect his partner again, Uribe named Jorge Noguera as a Consul to the Colombian Consulate in Milan, Italy, this time around. Thanks to president Uribe’s constant advocacy, the law has hard time keeping Noguera in jail.

Maria Consuelo Araújo, a former Uribe Secretary of State, diplomacy chief – is another example. Her father and brother, an uribeist senator, were charged with crimes they committed in association with narco paramilitaries. President Uribe fought to the last resort against Maria Consuelo Araújo’s resignation, despite all the negative consequences to Colombia prestige in this case.

Unbelievable truth, Uribe’s top National Police Chief, General Oscar Naranjo’s brother Juan David Naranjo is in jail in Germany for narco trafficking.

Also, Uribe’s Minister of the Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio’s brother - Guillermo Valencia Cossio - was jailed for associating with paramilitaries while being a Medellín Prosecutor. Medellín is a large city, the capital of Antioquia Province. It is a region of Alvaro Uribe’s and paramilitary’s great influence. It is important to note that the Interior and Justice Ministry is the second position of power in the government after the president.

Moreover, Fernando Londono - Uribe’s first Minister of Interior and Justice conspired together with an Italian company “Recchi” against Colombia’s interests. He unlawfully bought shares in Invercolsa, a petroleum assets holding company, making believe he was its employee. Fernando Londoño, was ordered by the Court to return around three million dollars to the company and its workers. Fernando Londoño is however still creating excuses to never return those moneys. Fernando Londoño is like the missing link of Rod Blagojevich.

Another incredible reality, on May 22, 2006, an anti-insurgency Army platoon slaughtered the whole Police anti-drug elite team. This anti-drug squad was most successful in the war against narcotics. They were shot at a close range from behind, when attempting to capture Diego Montoya - an important narco-traffickers’ chief with ties to the Army. This case also demonstrates the frustration of the fight against drugs in Uribe’s government. The hidden problem in these cases is the Colombian Army collaboration with the narco-traffickers. Let’s keep it in mind that Alvaro Uribe is Colombian Army’s Commander in Chief.

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0902/S00114.htm

[Peace Patriot]

1. You've got to wonder about an event like the La Macarena massacres, what else is going on

that we can't see.

I've posted about the massacres here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7623513

They are recent (the graves have 2005 to 2010 date markers, but no names). They are in an area of Colombia where the U.S. military and the Colombian military were concentrating their "war on drugs" and their war against both the FARC guerrillas and against civilians--human rights workers, union organizers, peasant farmers. Local people have reported numerous 'disappeared' over the last five years. TWO THOUSAND bodies have been found in a mass graveyard. One observer described it as "an infinity of bodies." Local people say that the bodies are not FARC guerrillas; they are their missing family members and friends who were community activists.

It's clear that Colombia has been using its $6 BILLION in U.S. "war on drugs" funding to 'cleanse' targeted areas like La Macarena of political and social activists who oppose the rightwing government, or might oppose it. It is not clear yet but possible that the U.S. military participated in massacring civilians. And a third possibility-or perhaps an additional motive--could be drug trafficking corruption, by the Colombian military, by its closely tied rightwing death squads, by people in the Colombia government who devised this 'cleansing' plan and by the Bushwhacks in the White House, at the USAID, at the CIA and in the Pentagon, who helped them devise it, and funded it.

What I was thinking, as I read your post, is that we had terrorists George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld running "the war on terror," and we have the narco-thug leaders of Colombia running "the war on drugs." What's wrong with this picture?

[Judi Lynn]

2. Report: Gangs tied to paramilitaries spur Colombia violence

Report: Gangs tied to paramilitaries spur Colombia violence
By Arthur Brice, CNN
February 3, 2010 -- Updated 1658 GMT (0058 HKT)

(CNN) -- Criminal gangs that emerged from Colombia's former paramilitary organizations are carrying out massacres, rapes and extortion, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Nowhere is that violence more pronounced than in Medellin, which recorded more than 200 slayings in January alone. The city's homicide rate also more than doubled in 2009 from the previous year.

Bogota, the nation's capital, also is seeing a surge in violence, with more than 100 killings reported last month.

A report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch details widespread abuses by successor groups to the paramilitary coalition of 37 armed groups called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, better known by its Spanish acronym AUC.

The Colombian government has said it decommissioned more than 30,000 AUC members from 2003 to 2006, but Human Rights Watch said many of those demobilizations were fraudulent. Large numbers of heavily armed paramilitaries never left the organizations, or new recruits took the place of those who stepped down, the rights group said.

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/03/colombia.violence/index.html