>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "Power to the People" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >----------------------- >Yours in solidarity >Per Rasmussen >Denmark > >Familien Rasmussen >http://home0.inet.tele.dk/pera/ <http://home0.inet.tele.dk/pera/> >Cuba SI! >http://w1.1559.telia.com/~u155900388/ >Viden er Magt! - Magten til folket! >http://w1.1559.telia.com/~u155900373/ > > >1. Colombia's central power still weak >2. Coca Conflict in Colombia Snares the Innocent >3. Colombia defense minister plays down army discontent >4. Taking a dark look at Colombia > _____ > > >FINANCIAL TIMES [London], Friday, 10 November 2000 >Colombia's central power still weak >By James Wilson >As guerrilla blockades continue to paralyse Colombia's southern province of >Putumayo for a second month, the central government's lack of control over >its regions is more apparent than ever. >In recent years, rebel domination of huge areas has been cemented by the >profits from the cocaine trade. But the weakness of central power has been a >recurring feature of Colombia's history. >Regional identity was always fierce and nation-building slow for a land >split by three high mountain chains and with a remote capital on a high >Andean plain. >Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, exhorted Colombians to seek unity - "Let us >form a country at any cost, and the rest will be tolerable" - but professed >himself tortured by the resulting discord. >Many Colombians believe problems of national unity are increasingly >intolerable. They say more recognition of the country's clear regional >diversity, including more autonomy from the central government, would help >to fill a power vacuum and solve the long armed conflict, and should be part >of a peace agreement. >"Greater regional power can correct the absence of the state in many areas >of the country. It can minimise lots of the reasons for the conflict," says >Orlando Fals Borda, a National University professor who served on a >constitutional commission to examine territorial boundaries. >Rodrigo Rivera, a senator who this year unsuccessfully presented a bill to >create a federal structure of government, says: "A centralist model is >insufficient to administer this country. There is more territory than nation >and more nation than state." >Soon the government is expected to make a fresh attempt - the fifth since >1991 - to introduce a law on territorial structure that could prompt a >radical reshaping of local government, possibly creating stronger regional >authorities. >Oswaldo Porras, of the government's national planning department, says: >"This is going to be an important instrument in the development of this >country." >Previous efforts to pass such a law have met political resistance, but, >having been more widely consulted on, the bill could now prosper, sparking a >fresh shift of control away from central government in what has been a >see-saw battle for power over almost 200 years. >It was Cartagena, not the capital Bogota, that first declared independence >from Spain. In the latter half of the 1800s Colombia had nine virtually >independent regional states, before centralist ideas once more won the day. >In 1991, decentralisation was a key aim of a rewritten constitution. >Regional government was given more revenues to spend on some services. But >in many eyes those moves have increased spending without producing more >efficiency. >Proponents of regional autonomy say some decentralisation has been badly >managed, without the right structures in place. Mr Fals Borda says >Colombia's 32 departments - the current upper layer of regional government - >"don't work, have enormous debts, and lend themselves to all sorts of >corruption". >Alfonso Leon Cancino, of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota, says: >"Half measures were worse than none at all. It is like giving your kids more >money but not teaching them more maturity. They go out and do all sorts of >daft things because they have not been given responsibility." >Yet the departments do make a big contribution to national output. Medellin >and Cali are important industrial cities. Bogota and its surrounding >province produce only around one quarter of national GDP, whereas Mexico >City and surrounding state account for around one-third of Mexican output, >and 35 per cent of Argentina's GDP is from Buenos Aires city and province. >Colombia's 40m population is also widely distributed: 14 of the 32 >departments have more than 1m people. >Luis Sandoval of Redepaz, a network of peace groups, says regional >structures are "one of the burning issues" in peace talks. "Finding a >balance in the region's relationship with the centre will help to cement >peace. There are all kinds of inequalities in this society, and one of them >is the inequality between the centre and the regions," he says. >Supporters of more regional autonomy believe rebels could accept a peace >settlement, if offered the chance to win legitimate political control of a >region with a true measure of independent power. "It could be an attractive >solution for (the guerrillas) or the self-defence groups," says Mr Rivera. >The National Liberation Army, one of the leftwing rebel groups, is open to >regional restructuring. Simon Trinidad, a leading figure in the larger >Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, says his group favours regional >autonomies, according to development plans drawn up and implemented locally. >"Colombia has to be understood as a country of regions: multicultural, >multiracial and multi-ethnic - realities that the centralised oligarchy in >power has never understood, or has ignored to maintain its privileges for >more than 170 years," he says. >Copyright 2000 The Financial Times Limited >________________________________________________________________ > >NEW YORK TIMES, Thursday, 9 November 2000 >Coca Conflict in Colombia Snares the Innocent >By Juan Forero >SAN MIGUEL, Colombia -- The 16 cars were lined up in a row, their drivers >pushed to the side of the road at gunpoint. Then the rebel leader waved his >weapon and gave an order, "Get the gasoline, and start lighting." >Moments later, one vehicle after another was ablaze, with black plumes of >smoke filling the blue sky. The Colombian guerrillas, AK-47's hanging from >their shoulders, ran from exploding Toyota jeeps and old Ford trucks as the >stunned owners watched silently. >The drivers had merely wanted to pick up some food and fuel in neighboring >Ecuador and return to their homes. But in doing so they had flouted the most >basic of laws here in Putumayo, a Vermont-sized province of coca-growing >jungle and a crucial battleground in the country's civil conflict. The >Marxist rebels have banned everyone from traveling Putumayo's rocky roads, >strangling the local economy. >The upheaval underscores the challenge that President Andres Pastrana faces >as he works with the American government in imposing a $7.5 billion plan to >curtail the lucrative coca trade and weaken the rebels. >For all the financial and military aid that Washington is providing, much of >the countryside in Putumayo is controlled by the rebels. Guerrillas patrol >the smaller communities, and their roadblocks have resulted in dwindling >food supplies in many communities. >Guerrilla checkpoints-typically a handful of men standing by the side of the >road with AK-47's and jugs of gasoline-seem to pop up anywhere. Behind every >turn a driver risks losing his car or worse. >"They just took it, and this is all I have, these keys," said Javier >Pimiento, 22, who was only a few hundred yards inside Colombia from the >bridge to Ecuador when he was ordered from his car. "I feel terrible. I >can't even bring food home. They have a conflict going, but why get us >involved?" >The rebels are unfazed by the fact that the villagers they profess to >support have suffered in this latest of several vehicle burnings. They >justified their actions by saying the drivers had been ferrying military >provisions. >This sparsely populated corner of the country has become hotly contested >because about half of Colombia's coca crop is grown here. With the province >a major focus of the government's anti-drug plan, American-trained >counterinsurgency battalions, working with the national police, will by next >year take aim at the drug traffickers and laboratories that process coca >leaves into the paste used to make cocaine. >But it won't be easy, the government concedes. >Col. Gabriel Diaz, commander of the Colombian military's 24th Brigade in >Putumayo, said the burning of cars and trucks by the guerrillas was intended >to make it more difficult for the government to attack the cocaine industry. >"They want the people to feel hunger," the colonel said, "and possibly >provoke a protest and a confrontation with the government forces." >For their part, the rebels say the destruction is meant to send a message to >the government in Bogota: rein in the paramilitary gunmen. Paramilitary >forces have been battling the rebels in Putumayo in a series of ferocious >skirmishes since September. >"We have to show them that we're a force," said a rebel leader who goes by >the nom de guerre Olbani. "That we're capable of paralyzing the whole >country." >He accused the Colombian forces of working with the notorious paramilitary >gunmen of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, who are the main >challengers to the rebels' control of the coca fields here. Human rights >groups say the Self-Defense Forces are responsible for widespread massacres >of villagers and have ties to rogue elements in the military, a charge the >government has long denied. >The stranglehold has been especially hard on towns like Puerto Asis, La >Dorada and La Hormiga, which the rebels say are hotbeds of paramilitary >activity. Asserting that the government has not done enough, despite >airlifts to ease the food shortages, officials from across Putumayo are >planning to travel to Bogota in a convoy of cars, possibily on Sunday, as a >sign of protest. >But many people have given up on living here. At least 1,100 refugees now >live in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, all but 38 of them in the homes of relatives or >friends, according to the relief organization that has coordinated shelter >for them. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 more have avoided the roadblocks by >traversing Ecuador and re-entering Colombia through the western province of >Narino, where many have roots. >Jose Pablo Pascal, who fled La Dorada on Saturday to join his wife and five >children in Ecuador, is now sleeping on the concrete floor of a friend's >kitchen, next to a sack of potatoes and the refrigerator. >"What terrorized us was the fear," Mr. Pascal, 42, said. "You didn't know if >when you went to sleep that something wouldn't happen. You couldn't even >sleep." >At a small house in Lago Agrio that is sheltering eight families, refugees >said that they were afraid of being attacked by guerrillas or paramilitaries >operating in their communities. >"We were in the middle of the conflict, and so we had to get out," said >Roberto Rosero. "Where we were, we had guerrillas and then just over the >bend were the paramilitaries, and they were fighting all the time." >Relief workers in Ecuador have been working to complete four other shelters, >which together will be able to house 230 people. >"We think that the problem is just starting, and it's going to get worse," >said Gribaldo Cueva, one of the workers. "With the combat between the >guerrillas and the paramilitaries in the countryside, more people will be >coming." >Both the rebels and paramilitaries appear firmly established and prepared to >fight for months on end. In the countryside, guerrillas are such a presence >that they have taken part in the meetings farmers have lately held with >local officials to discuss coca eradication efforts. In towns like Puerto >Asis and La Hormiga, meanwhile, residents quietly point out the paramilitary >gunmen drinking at the local bar or enjoying a snow cone in the town plaza. >The government, though, does have a presence, and engagements between >soldiers and rebels are not unusual. This year, 22 guerrillas have been >killed by the military in combat in Putumayo and 16 others have been >captured, said Colonel Diaz, reading from the latest battlefield reports. >But he acknowledges that his forces cannot be everywhere. >On Sunday, just a day after the burning of the cars, government >counterinsurgency troops could be seen patrolling on foot stretches of road >that rebels had occupied the day before. Near the community of El Tigre, a >patrol leader was asked why the military had not stopped the rebels from >burning the cars. >"We couldn't get there fast enough," he said. "It's too far, and you can't >take the road anyway because of the ambushes." >Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company >________________________________________________________________ > >ASSOCIATED PRESS, Thursday, 9 November 2000 >Colombia defense minister plays down army discontent >By Javier Baena >BOGOTA -- Colombia's defense minister on Thursday downplayed fears that >military discontent would spread after the arrest of a colonel and the >departure of two generals critical of the government. >Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez said recent criticism by high-ranking >officers about the government's handling of a hostage crisis involving >leftist guerrillas was not "saber-rattling" and posed no threat to >Colombia's democracy. >"On the contrary, there is a great respect for institutions in the country," >Ramirez said. >Colombia's military has largely stayed out of the South American country's >politics, and there were no indications that the discontent culminating in >the arrest Wednesday of Lt. Col. Augusto Lora of the Cali-based Third >Brigade went beyond words. >Military police took Lora into custody after he angrily criticized President >Andres Pastrana's government during a tribute to his former commander, a >general who resigned a week earlier. >In speech during the tribute to Gen. Jaime Canal the Third Brigade commander >who stepped down to protest government instructions that forced him to halt >pursuit of a group of guerrilla hostage takers Lora said the military had >been humiliated. >Canal announced his resignation Nov. 3, two days after pressure from his >troops forced the leftist National Liberation Army, or ELN, to free nearly >two dozen Cali residents whom the rebels kidnapped in September. >The government contends a military pullback was necessary to protect the >freed hostages. Canal complained his men were on the verge of capturing or >killing the rebels, who escaped into the mountains near Cali, the country's >third largest city. >Following Canal's public grousing, his commanding officer, Cali-based Third >Division chief Gen. Carlos Mendez, was fired. In an interview Thursday in >Cali's El Pais newspaper, Mendez said he was being treated like "trash." >Pastrana has faced military discontent before over his handling of relations >with leftist guerrillas who are waging a 36-year war. >Ramirez's predecessor, former Defense Minister Rodrigo Lloreda, resigned >last year to protest Pastrana's concessions in peace talks with the >country's largest guerrilla army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of >Colombia, or FARC. Several generals tendered symbolic resignations in >solidarity with Lloreda. >Pastrana is trying to begin parallel peace with the ELN, the smaller of the >two rebel forces. >Copyright 2000 Associated Press > ________________________________________________________________ > >HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Wednesday, 8 November 2000 >Taking a dark look at Colombia >By John Otis >BOGOTA, Colombia - For much of his illustrious career, Colombian sculptor >and painter Fernando Botero maintained that art should serve as a temporary >oasis from life's harsh realities. >Botero's works, which are instantly recognizable for their corpulent shapes, >often depict the society dames, church officials, prostitutes and >bullfighters of Antioquia state in central Colombia where the artist grew >up. >Perhaps that is why Botero's recent donation of 222 of his own paintings, >drawings and sculptures - plus 106 works by masters like Pablo Picasso - to >galleries in Bogota and Medellin has created such a stir. >Besides representing the largest-ever donation of art in Colombian history, >the collection includes Botero's interpretations of this nation's >drug-related violence and 36-year civil war. >In one Botero painting given to the Medellin museum, drug kingpin Pablo >Escobar, who was killed in a 1993 shootout with police, is gunned down as he >tries to escape over a rooftop. In another, based on a 1988 massacre, >couples duck for cover as bandits shoot up a nightclub. Other paintings >portray car bombings and guerrilla leader Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda >clasping an automatic rifle. >"So many things are happening here that one can no longer remain blind," >Botero, 68, said in an interview last week following the inauguration of the >Bogota portion of his collection. "I decided that I had a moral >responsibility to reflect this other face of Colombia - the face of misery >and drama." >Despite Botero's current focus on his nation's mounting problems, analysts >insist that the long-term impact of his donation will be to improve >Colombia's image abroad and to inspire a new generation of artists at home. >Indeed, most of the works in the collection stick to Botero's more >traditional themes of the idealized Colombia of his youth. What's more, the >donation includes a treasure trove from such giants of the art world as >Picasso, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, >Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro, Henry Moore and Salvador Dali. >"This represents a huge step forward in the quality of Colombia's museums," >said Jorge Orlando Melo, director of the National Library in Bogota, which >is displaying 208 of the works. "There is no Colombian museum that has ever >had pieces by any of these artists." >Botero's largesse was sparked by a budget crisis at the Antioquia Museum in >his native city of Medellin three years ago. The building was in danger of >closing, and museum director Pilar Velilla called Botero, who had supported >the institution in the past. >Botero, who moved from Colombia in the 1960s and divides his time between >Italy, Monaco and New York, replied that he would chip in $ 1 million plus >hundreds of works of art if the city agreed to renovate the museum. >Over the years, Botero explained, he has produced and collected so many >pieces of art that he didn't know what to do with them. >"I decided that these works should be the property of Colombia, so that all >Colombians can enjoy them," he said. >At first, officials in Medellin balked at Botero's proposal, and the artist >began talks with the mayor of Bogota about giving part of his collection to >an institution in the Colombian capital. >"It was very difficult," Velilla said of her efforts to promote the project >in Medellin. "Here, government funding of the arts is viewed as an >extravagance. A lot of people said, 'What good is this?' In any other city, >it would have been accepted immediately, and a new museum would have been >put up in eight days." >In the end, the Botero donation became the centerpiece of a $ 17 million >urban renewal project in Medellin, which includes a sculpture garden. The >Antioquia Museum was relocated to a restored colonial building in the >historic city center. >The Botero gallery opened last month and is drawing up to 4,000 people >daily, Velilla said. >"Medellin used to be the city of Pablo Escobar. Today, it is the city of >Botero," said Eduardo Serrano, a former art critic and head of cultural >affairs for the Colombian Foreign Ministry. >The Bogota portion of the collection, in turn, is expected to attract >800,000 to 1 million visitors in the first year, a huge number in Colombia, >where museum attendance is often sparse. >In an effort to promote the arts among students and the poor, Botero >insisted admittance to the Bogota gallery be free. >"I remember when I was an adolescent in Colombia, there were no original >works by any of the important artists" in local museums, Botero said. >"You had to look at black-and-white reproductions, which were generally very >bad. The first time I saw a real painting was in Barcelona. I hope this >doesn't happen to the future painters of Colombia," he said. >A prolific creator who rarely takes a day off, Botero early on developed a >unique style of bloated forms. He often adds touches of burlesque to his >works. >Massive human torsos are offset by tiny feet and facial features. In one >portrait, a woman draped in a fox fur doesn't seem to realize that the >animal is alive, its eyes open and tongue hanging out. >One interpretation of this style is that Botero is poking fun at >self-important Medellin residents and their egos. >"They are the most ambitious, the ones who want the most money. That's why >the drug business was centered in Medellin," said Beatriz Gonzalez, curator >of the National Museum in Bogota. "They want to be kings of the world." >Art critics say it was only a matter of time before Botero used his brush >strokes to portray Colombia's spiraling violence. >In the past decade, Marxist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups >have gained control over much of the countryside. Thousands of people are >kidnapped every year. Production of heroin and cocaine is skyrocketing, and >Colombians are bracing for a U.S.-sponsored military offensive against drug >traffickers and rebels. >Despite living abroad, Botero hasn't been immune to the troubles. >In 1994, the artist escaped a kidnapping attempt in Bogota. In 1995, >terrorists in Medillin detonated a bomb underneath his sculpture "The Bird," >killing 27 people. While many observers applaud Botero's examination of the >dark side of Colombia, others claim that his paintings have the effect of >glorifying drug lords and guerrillas. Some art critics feel Botero's style >is inappropriate for such tragic events. >In the portrait of Escobar, for example, the drug lord seems to be dancing >as bullets pierce his head and chest. In the painting "Car Bomb," a vehicle >explodes and a house collapses, but there is no indication that anyone has >been hurt. >Botero insists he is simply providing testimony of the painful times and >says that he has received overwhelming support from Colombians. >"It's amazing to see the reaction of the people on the street," Botero said. >"When I'm in my car and I stop at an intersection, people say, 'Bravo! Thank >you Botero!' " >Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company > >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> >eLerts >It's Easy. It's Fun. 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