> Colombia Action Network http://www.freespeech.org/actioncolombia > Contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >1. U.S. spy plane damaged by bomb in Colombia >2. Girls swap diapers for rebel life >3. Drug war enlists coca growers >4. URGENT ACTION: SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS IN BARRANCABERMEJA >5. Protesters seize Gore's office >6. U.S. Companies Tangled in Web Of Drug Dollars >7. Colombian Death Squad Kills Nine Peasants > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >ASSOCIATED PRESS, Monday, 9 October 2000 >U.S. spy plane damaged by bomb in Colombia > >BOGOTA-A bomb packed into a truck exploded Monday outside a military >base, slightly damaging an American spy plane that was parked inside the >base, a Colombian air force officer said. > >The U.S. plane, a Skymaster, was hit by shrapnel in the fuselage and a >turbine, the officer said on condition of anonymity. > >The attack occurred outside the base near Colombia's main oil field, >Cano Limon, 225 miles (365 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Bogota. > >No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both of >Colombia's rebel groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and >the National Liberation Army, operate in the region. > >The U.S. plane conducted intelligence missions and was on loan under an >agreement between Washington and the Colombian air force, authorities >said. > >The U.S. Embassy was closed Monday, and no officials were available for >comment. > >On July 23, 1999, another U.S. spy plane crashed into a mountain while >on a counternarcotics mission, killing five U.S. soldiers and two >Colombian air force officers. > > Copyright 2000 Associated Press > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, Friday, 6 October 2000 > >Girls swap diapers for rebel life >By Martin Hodgson > >SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia -- Eliana Gonzalez was married at 14 >and gave birth to her daughter a year later. Her husband, a landless >peasant, would disappear on drunken binges for days at time, she says, >"But he was the kind of man who believed a woman should always stay at >home. I had to get his permission just to visit my parents. > >"I wanted to do something with my life. I wanted things to change," says >Ms. Gonzalez, explaining why 26 years ago she left her family, chose a >new name, and became a guerrilla fighter in what is now Colombia's >largest - and most feared - rebel army. > >The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are best known in >the wider world for their reliance on kidnapping and extortion, close >ties with the illegal narcotics trade, and casual use of extreme >violence. > >So why are increasing numbers of Colombian women choosing to join them? > >When Gonzalez became a guerrilla in 1974, the FARC had fewer than 900 >members, of whom only a handful were women. Now the group fields some >15,000 fighters, including more than 5,000 women. > >The figures alone illustrate the escalation of Colombia's bloody 34-year >conflict, which pits leftist rebels against state security forces and >their de facto allies, illegal right-wing paramilitaries. > >And as the US prepares to send nearly $ 1 billion worth of aid to >Colombia's military, the fighting is likely to get worse, observers say. >According to military analyst Alfredo Rangel, the FARC are stepping up >their recruiting drives throughout the country. "A growing army needs >whoever it can get, and women are an important source of new recruits," >he says. > >But while the numbers indicate the scale of the violence, they also >reflect the social conditions that helped trigger Colombia's war. > >"Young people in rural areas have no alternatives. Their families don't >have money for education and there are no jobs," says Mariluz Rubio, >human rights ombudsman in San Vicente del Caguan, the largest town in a >southern region ceded to the rebels to enable peace talks that began in >January, 1999. > >In much of rural Colombia, there has never been a consistent state >presence, or investment in any kind of infrastructure or legal economy. >A nationwide recession has pushed urban unemployment above 20 percent, >so rural youngsters have little hope of escape to the cities. "And this >is still a very macho country. For women, the possibilities are even >fewer," says Ms. Rubio, adding that many families still see educating >daughters as a waste of time. In rural communities, girls are married >and start childbearing when they are as young as 12 years old. For many, >the only job opportunities are in the drug trade, or with the armed >factions. > >East of San Vicente, a two-hour drive down a rutted track leads to a >rebel camp deep in the jungle. At the sound of a whistle blast, 24 >guerrillas in drab green uniforms line up on a makeshift parade ground. >Each one bears an assault rifle, a harness with spare ammunition, and a >stubby machete. None is older than 25, and almost half are women. > >The drill commander is Sandra. The guerrilla in her 20s, who didn't want >to give a last name, takes roll call in a school composition book, then >assigns cookhouse and sentry details. "We all have the same duties and >responsibilities, man or woman," she says later, sitting on her rough >wooden cot while she and two friends paint their fingernails with red >and pink nail polish. > >Like Gonzalez, Sandra grew up in a remote farming town, where she >scraped through one year of primary school before the money ran out. She >started working when she was 10, keeping house and looking after her >five younger brothers and sisters. > >"Lots of women are here because their parents beat them, or just to get >away from the poverty. I got on well with my parents, but I had to work >harder at home than I do here." > >"It's tough, but at least you don't have to worry about where you'll get >food and clothes from," agrees Ana Maria, also in her early 20s. Now >Sandra has three sets of clothes - identical camouflage uniforms - and a >pair of rubber boots, as well as an AK-47 that rests against her bed >while her fingernails dry. > >"In Colombia, money and weapons are the only things that confer power. >In a country where women are usually ignored, [women guerrillas] are >surrounded by symbols that give them an identity," says anthropologist >Maria Eugenia Vasquez, who is writing a book on female rebels. > >"The first time you pick up a weapon you feel proud, you feel more >important. When you're a civilian, you don't belong anywhere, but when >you're a guerrilla, people treat you better," says 16-year-old Lusia, >who also declined to give her last name. She worked as a maid in the >capital, Bogota, before joining the rebels. > >THE guerrilla bands offer women equality and freedom from the >expectations of a macho culture, they say, but charge a high price in >return. "Once you're a soldier, you're always a soldier," says Gonzalez. >In her mid-40s, she is one of the oldest and longest-serving women in >the FARC. "But if you're a mother, you're always a mother," she adds in >a soft tone. After she joined the rebels, she didn't see her daughter >for nine years. "I got used to this life very quickly, but you can never >adapt to leaving your child," she remembers. > >Guerrillas are not allowed to keep their children with them, explains >Commandante Mariana Paez, a member of the FARC's negotiation team. "You >can't be a guerrilla and a mother. You either neglect one or the other - >and usually it's the children," she says. > >Female fighters are given obligatory birth-control advice. If they >become pregnant, they are told to leave the babies with their families. > >In the camp, Sandra admits that she sometimes finds the rule a little >harsh. "Most of us would like to have children, but you can't. Well ... >you shouldn't," she says. > >Lusia disagrees. "If you have a husband, it's worse. They just cheat and >fill you up with children. It's much better here," she says, remembering >her best friend, who became a mother at 14. "We used to play hide and >seek together, but I haven't seen her for years now," Lusia says. "I >chose a different path. I think it was the right one." > > Copyright 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Sunday, 8 October 2000 > >Drug war enlists coca growers >By John Otis > >LA ESPERANZA, Colombia - Marco Julio Herrera, a 75-year-old grandfather, >clasped the stem of a 3-foot-tall coca plant and tugged with all his >might. > >The bush, thick with shiny green leaves that contain the raw material >for cocaine, resisted for a moment, then popped out of the soil. > >"You have to pull it out, roots and all," Herrera explained. >"Otherwise, it will just grow back." > >Despite a litany of crackdowns over the years, Colombia has never >managed to keep its coca crop from growing back. > >Now, however, coca farmers like Herrera are offering to do the job >themselves. > >Over the past two months, hundreds of coca growers in southern Putumayo >state - home to about 40 percent of Colombia's estimated 300,000-acre >coca crop - have agreed, in principle, to destroy their plants in >exchange for government aid to help them join the legal economy. > >The initiative is being touted as a kinder, gentler alternative to raids >by Colombian crop-dusters, which spray with herbicides. Aerial >fumigation has long been a cornerstone of the war on drugs in Colombia, >which produces up to 90 percent of the cocaine sold on U.S. streets. > >But the spraying program has sparked violent demonstrations by coca >farmers, who contend that the crop-dusters have mistakenly destroyed >food crops and have left their families destitute. > >What's more, they say, the eradication effort has lacked an effective >follow-up program to help farmers switch to alternative crops. > >Some analysts, however, view voluntary eradication as a well-meaning but >ill-fated sideshow in a state now on a front line of Colombia's 36-year >civil war. > >The state is the main target of a U.S.-backed counteroffensive that will >include massive aerial spraying and army attacks on Marxist guerrillas >who are deeply involved in the drug trade. > >Because large areas of Putumayo are controlled by guerrillas or the >right-wing paramilitaries who battle them, the Colombian government has >been virtually unable to spray the state's drug crops in the past. > >Still, a handful of community activists has convinced the Colombian >government that, at least in some areas of Putumayo, voluntary >eradication may be a more effective way to wipe out coca and win over >hardscrabble peasants. > >"Aerial spraying has been a huge failure. Colombia is the most fumigated >country in the world, but the coca crop keeps getting bigger," said >Manuel Alzate, mayor of the Putumayo town of Puerto Asis who is >organizing the voluntary effort. "We want to prove that if the farmers >eradicate coca by themselves, we can get rid of it forever." > >The voluntary program would provide assistance to peasants who grow less >than 7.4 acres of coca, an amount that provides them with little more >than a subsistence income. > >Families would have a one-year grace period to uproot their coca plants >and receive government help in switching to legal jobs, such as cattle >ranching, chicken raising, fish farming or growing food crops. > >Farmers would also receive temporary food aid, since it may take months >or years to earn profits from their new ventures. In addition, the >Colombian government has pledged to invest in roads as well as health >and education programs in Putumayo. > >"People like the idea of leading a more dignified life," said Jorge >Chamorro, a community leader and teacher in La Esperanza, a tiny hamlet >where dozens of farmers have agreed to rip up their coca fields. > >For the next three months, the Colombian government has earmarked about >$ 5 million for the eradication program, according to Gonzalo de >Francisco, a special adviser to President Andres Pastrana for the >Putumayo region. > >More funding could come from an $ 862 million U.S. aid package for >Colombia that was approved last summer, de Francisco said. > >Most of the U.S. money is for training and hardware for the Colombian >army and police, but about $ 81 million has been set aside for programs >to wean farmers off coca crops. > >"The pace of implementation for these projects will depend heavily on >the local farmers and their willingness to participate and comply with >verifiable benchmarks," Rand Beers, the U.S. assistant secretary of >state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said in >congressional testimony last month. > >At the same time, Colombian and U.S. authorities plan to step up police >and army anti-drug operations in Putumayo. > >Aerial fumigation of industrial-sized coca plantations run by seasoned >drug traffickers will start in December, Beers said. > >So far, coca growers in 45 communities near Puerto Asis have agreed to >take part in the voluntary eradication program. But experts say they >will face enormous difficulties. > >For one thing, many of the farms are located in war zones. > >This month, heavy fighting involving army troops, rebels and >paramilitaries forced the government to postpone a ceremony in which it >was to sign a letter of intent to formalize the manual eradication >program. > >What's more, there appears to be deep distrust between many peasants in >Putumayo and government officials. > >Col. Gabriel Diaz, commander of the army's 24th brigade in Putumayo, >calls the manual eradication program a stalling tactic by coca farmers >and guerrillas to keep out the crop-dusters. > >The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, the nation's >largest guerrilla group,earns millions of dollars annually from the drug >trade. > >"The FARC is just buying time," Diaz said in an interview. > >Others believe that if the program starts to work, the FARC will try to >sabotage it. > >Some farmers accuse the government of ignoring past pacts with coca >growers. They fear that once they rip out their plants, the government >will cancel the aid programs, leaving them without a livelihood. > >"The day that they give me some money, I will gladly start pulling out >my plants," said Alina Lopez, who has grown coca for the past 10 years >and uses the money to buy school uniforms and textbooks for her >children. "But I doubt that there is going to be any aid. Politicians >always trick you." > >De Francisco claims that won't happen. "We are in this to make good on >our promises," he said. > > Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >4 October 2000, CSN Philadelphia & ASFADDES > >URGENT ACTION: SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS IN BARRANCABERMEJA > >Situation --------- >Violence and threats arrived again in Barrancabermeja this weekend, >during and following an event called "For Life and Human Rights," a >celebration of the dangerous work with human rights workers do every >day. The Colombian national government failed to send representatives of >consequence, again showing its lack of support for human rights, and its >disdain for peace in Barrancabermeja and throughout Colombia. > >During the conference, the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) >paramilitary group threatened the lives of all human rights workers in >Barrancabermeja, particularly those of CREDHOS (Regional Corporation for >Human Rights) and ASFADDES (Association of Friends and Family of the >Disappeared and Detained). Then, on October 2 (Monday) a car bomb >exploded in a market district in Barranca, killing one woman and >injuring nine others. No one has yet claimed responsibility for that >act. > >Barrancabermeja, a center of Colombian oil production, is also a >flashpoint for violence in Colombia. It is arguably the most violent >city in the Western Hemisphere; a political killing has occurred every >17 hours this year. According to an article in last month's Harper's, >paramilitaries plan a 100-person massacre there by the end of 2000. > >What you can do --------------- >Contact Colombian and U.S. officials and demand the following: > >1. That the Colombian government recognize and support the work of human >rights organizations throughout Colombia >2. That the Colombian government guarantee to preserve the life and >physical and psychological security of all human rights defenders in >Colombia, especially in Barrancabermeja >3. That the Colombian government denounce all threats to human rights >workers in Colombia, especially these most recent ones in >Barrancabermeja >4. That the Colombian government pursue and prosecute all parties who >threaten human rights workers, to the fullest extent of the law > >Contacts -------- >Read the original ASFADDES description of the threats made against them >and against CREDHOS, and contact the officials below. > >Urgent Action from ASFADDES --------------------------- > >The Association of Friends and Family of Detained and Disappeared of >Colombia (ASFADDES) denounces the following acts before the national and >international community. > >Acts ---- >The most recent threats were received during the celebration of the "For >life and human rights" forum, which was capped off on 29th and 30th of >September in Barrancabermeja. On this occasion, threats from >paramilitary groups were deposited in the form of pamphlets, left in the >bathrooms of the building where the event occurred. In those pamphlets, >they accused human rights defenders of being guerrillas, saying: > >"FOR ONE COLOMBIA FOR ALL, A FREE COUNTRY................. >BARRANCABERMEJA, 28 SEPTEMBER 2000 > >"BE IT KNOWN AND ADVERTISED...... > >"THE AUC HAS DETERMINED THAT HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS, PARTICULARLY THE >MEMBERS OF THE REGIONAL CORPORATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS >(CREDHOS), ARE AUXILIARIES OF THE GUERRILLAS. IN THIS CASE, FROM THIS >MOMENT WE HAVE MADE THEM A MILITARY TARGET OF OUR ORGANIZATION. IT IS >WORTH IT TO SAY THAT ALL OF THAT BULLSHIT THAT THEY ARE DOING IS THE >POLITICS OF FARC AND ELN GUERRILLAS, WHOM WE ALREADY KNOW PAY THEIR >BILLS. > >"WE, THE AUC, AS ANTISUBVERSIVES ARE GOING TO COMPLETE A SOCIAL >CLEANSING IN BARRANCABERMEJA AND THROUGHOUT ALL OF COLOMBIA, FOR A >COUNTRY FREE OF KIDNAPPINGS, EXTORTION AND DECEIT. > >"WE HAVE DETERMINED THAT THE MEMBERS OF CREDHOS AS WORKERS OF THE >POLITICAL PART OF THE FARC AND ELN GUERRILLAS. WE ALREADY KNOW WHO THESE >INDIVIDUALS ARE, AND WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED, AND THAT THEY DO NO MORE >THAN DENOUNCE CRIMES OF THE AUC AND LABEL US CONSTANTLY AS ENEMIES OF >PEACE AND NEVERTHELESS DO NOT PUBLICLY DENOUNCE THE CRIMES OF THE >GUERRILLAS. > >"WE ARE DOING THIS CLEANSING FOR THE FUTURE OF COLOMBIA BECAUSE IF WE >ELIMINATE WE WOULD BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE COUNTRY WE WANT. > >"WE HAVE IN OUR POSSESSION A CLEANSING LIST AND WE ARE GOING TO GIVE >SOME STATISTICS ON THESE S.O.B. GUERRILLAS, WHOM WE WILL KILL SHORTLY. > >"CREDHOS: 20-SOMETHING MEMBERS S.O.B.'s "ASFADDES: 3, AND YOU KNOW WHO >YOU ARE S.O.B.'s " > >We reiterate our worry in the face of the insecurity and repression that >human rights defenders suffer in Colombia, and in particular for life >and security of the members of ASFADDES and the local sections of the >same organization, as well as those of CREDHOS. > >For the past several months, insistent threats and harrassment against >the members of ASFADDES, at the national level, and CREDHOS, in >Barranca, have grown. > >Requested Action ---------------- >As previously expressed, we request correspondence directed to Colombian >authorities to demand: To the government elucidation of the denounced >acts. To the government, guarantees to preserve the life and physical >and psychological security of all human rights defenders and especially >those of ASFADDES and CREDHOS, who at this time run a great deal of > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
