WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #537, MAY 14, 2000
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012
(212) 674-9499 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*5. COLOMBIA AID BILL PASSES US SENATE COMMITTEE
On May 9, the Appropriations Committee of the US Senate approved
a bill to increase US military aid to Colombia, after cutting the
total package from the $1.6 billion originally proposed down to
$1.142 billion, $394 million of which is designated for other
countries or US agencies. The Senate version also reduces the
amount spent on military assistance, strengthens human rights
conditions, increases congressional oversight, and includes
additional funds for human rights protection and civilian
initiatives for peace. However, according to a message from the
US/Colombia Coordinating Office, "the thrust of the package
remains the same, it will send large amounts of military
assistance to an abusive army, it will support ineffective drug
policies, and it will draw the United States further into an
unwinnable counterinsurgency war."
In the Appropriations Committee, many Senators raised strong
concerns about the intent of the package. In a 15-11 vote,
Committee members narrowly defeated an amendment proposed by
Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) that would have eliminated almost
$800 million from the package. The aid package will now be voted
on, perhaps as early as May 16, in the full Senate, where Sen.
Paul Wellstone (D-MN) will offer an amendment to shift some of
the funds from Colombian military aid to drug treatment at home.
People concerned about this issue should contact their senators
immediately, urging them to oppose all military aid to Colombia,
and to support introduction of any amendments that would shift
aid away from military assistance, increase funds for the
internally displaced, or retain (or improve) conditions on human
rights. For up-to-date details on the aid package, visit the
Center for International Policy (CIP) website at
http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/aid/. [Colombia InfoInBrief
Alert 5/11/00]
Meanwhile, the light prison sentence--five years--given by a US
federal court on May 5 to Laurie Hiett, who trafficked narcotics
through US diplomatic mail from the US embassy in Bogota while
her husband was serving as the head of the US military's anti-
drug operations in Colombia, has irritated even Gen. Rosso Jose
Serrano, director of Colombia's National Police. "I expected her
to get at least as harsh a sentence as if she were Colombian and
not American," Serrano, a close friend to many conservative US
legislators, told the Bogota daily El Tiempo. "The most serious
thing of all is that [Hiett] is the wife of an official so close
to our institution, who participated in our meetings and had
close knowledge of our anti-drug strategies," he added. US Col.
James Hiett pled guilty to laundering his wife's drug money after
learning of her crime; he is due to be sentenced in June [see
Update #536]. [El Diario-La Prensa 5/8/00 from combined services]
Col. Hiett's former chauffeur in Colombia, Jorge Alfonso Ayala,
is facing extradition to the US on charges related to the Hiett
drug trafficking case. In an interview with the NTC news program,
Ayala accused an employee of the US Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) of involvement in the trafficking network.
Ayala identified the DEA employee as Bielca Murray, and charged
that there have been efforts to cover up her responsibility by
bribing a Colombian employee of the US embassy. [Hoy (NY) 5/9/00
from EFE]
*6. COLOMBIA: NEW PROTESTS OVER REBEL ZONE
On May 10, some 5,000 campesinos in Colombia's Magdalena Medio
region--apparently led by local ranchers and landowners--began
blocking highways as part of an open-ended civic strike to
protest plans to allow a neutral demilitarized zone in the area.
The creation of the zone is the first step in establishing a
peace process with Colombia's second-largest leftist rebel group,
the National Liberation Army (ELN) [see Update #535]. The zone is
to cover three municipalities: Cantagallo and San Pablo, in
Bolivar department, and Yondo, in Antioquia department. The first
stage of the peace process is to be a "national convention,"
followed by a constituent assembly and finally by peace
negotiations.
The strike includes not only the three municipalities which would
be directly affected by the zone, but another 10-14 surrounding
municipalities as well, in the departments of Bolivar, Antioquia,
Santander and Boyaca. The protesters have blocked the highway
that links Bogota and Medellin, as well as two sections of the
Panamerican highway near Barrancabermeja, the regional hub and
Colombia's main oil port, located on the Magdalena river. [El
Tiempo (Bogota) 5/11/00; El Colombiano (Medellin) 5/10/00; Hoy
(NY) 5/11/00 from EFE]
The coordinators of the civic movement insist that they support
peace, but that it isn't necessary to hand over more
municipalities to leftist rebels. "There are landowners here who
have offered their properties to facilitate these meetings," said
Carlos Clavijo, president of the Federation of Ranchers of the
Magdalena Medio. "What is needed is for the government to visit
this region and understand that there are other alternatives
without hurting the interests of an entire region." Clavijo added
that the announcement that Yondo would be included in the zone
was surprising, since he said the ELN has no presence there and
the area is dominated by the country's largest leftist rebel
group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Although the protest leaders argue that the Magdalena Medio is a
region of peace, human rights organizations have continuously
reported attacks against community leaders and organizations by
rightwing paramilitary groups, which routinely set up checkpoints
along the Magdalena river and have killed and disappeared dozens
of people in the area. [EC 5/10/00]
Indeed, the Campesino Association of the Cimitarra River Valley
(ACVC) reported on May 7 that a group of 300 troops from the
Colombian Navy, together with a group of paramilitaries from the
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), had attacked the
community of Cuatrobocas in Cantagallo municipality, forcing all
the residents of Cuatrobocas and nearby Puerto Machete to flee.
The military and paramilitary forces arrived on May 5 and
remained in the community for two days; during their stay they
took food from the ACVC cooperative and abducted four people, who
remain "disappeared." The troops also interrogated community
residents about the ACVC's "guerrilla cooperative" and its
"guerrilla member" administrator. (The ACVC cooperatives are
financed by the World Bank via a Colombian government grant,
administered by the Magdalena Medio Peace and Development
Program, led by Jesuit peacemaker Francisco de Roux.) The ACVC
and its cooperatives have been under constant attack by military
and paramilitary forces since the 1980s. For more information
contact the ACVC at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. [ACVC Communique
5/7/00]
On May 7 the Municipal Peace Council of Barrancabermeja announced
its proposal to make the city into a ceasefire zone. So far the
ELN and the AUC have reportedly pledged to halt armed actions in
the city if the other armed groups agree; the FARC has yet to
make an announcement. The project would involve both national and
international oversight: assistance has already been offered by
organizations from Germany, Canada and Spain which came to
Barrancabermeja last year to take part in an International
Opinion Court (TIO) investigating a 1998 massacre [see Update
#489]. [ET 5/8/00]
Meanwhile, a separate civic movement is blocking traffic and
commerce in Guajira, Colombia's northernmost department, on the
border with Venezuela, to protest a new customs measure due to
take effect on June 1. The measure would restrict the entry into
the region of liquor, electric appliances and cigarettes destined
for sale or consumption in Colombia. On May 11, three members of
the indigenous Wayuu tribe, who together with local merchants
were protesting the customs measure, were injured in a clash with
army troops in the south of Guajira department. [EC 5/12/00]
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Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139
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