WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #572, JANUARY 14, 2001
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012
(212) 674-9499 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*1. COLOMBIAN TROOPS SENT TO OIL PORT CITY
The Colombian government says it has launched a campaign to curb
violence that has left at least 23 people dead since Jan. 1 in
Barrancabermeja, an oil port city of 350,000 residents on the
Magdalena river [see Update #571]. The office of President Andres
Pastrana Arango announced the deployment of an elite unit of
1,000 troops from the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police, the
Administrative Security Department (DAS) and the Attorney
General's Office. The first 70 troops arrived in Barrancabermeja
on Jan. 11.
Interior Minister Humberto de la Calle explained that a curfew
may also be imposed, and that closed-circuit television security
cameras will be installed to keep watch over the city. Other
measures include routine checkpoints and searches, and
restrictions on weapons possession. De la Calle said the special
government unit seeks to stop "the massacres, identify the
sources of the terrorism and step up the fight against illegal
self-defense [paramilitary] groups."
Mayor Julio Cesar Ardila, who took office on Jan. 1, protested
the government's actions, saying his office wasn't consulted on
the measures, and that "they won't be of any use." He pointed out
that money is needed not only to control the violence, but also
for social projects. [El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 1/14/01 from EFE;
CNN en Espanol 1/11/01 with info from AP]
*2. COLOMBIA: PEACE INITIATIVES IN TROUBLE
The paramilitaries have stepped up their campaign of terror in
Barrancabermeja and the entire Magdalena Medio region in an
effort to block the national government from authorizing a
demilitarized zone in the area for a peace dialogue with the
leftist rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) would be carried
out. Presidential peace commissioner Camilo Gomez announced on
Jan. 12 in Barrancabermeja that the ELN and the government had
reached agreement to begin the dialogue; details over the
demilitarized zone have yet to be worked out, but it would
reportedly include the municipalities of Cantagallo and San
Pablo, and would operate for nine months under the supervision of
national and international commissions. [El Diario-La Prensa (NY)
1/13/01 from AP]
Meanwhile, the government's talks with Colombia's largest leftist
rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
remain suspended since November, when the FARC broke off talks to
protest government collusion with paramilitary groups. Government
authorization for the FARC-controlled demilitarized zone in
southern Colombia where dialogue sessions have been carried out
for the past two years is set to expire on Jan. 31; a special
United Nations (UN) mission headed by special UN adviser on
Colombia Jan Egeland is set to arrive before that date to press
for continuation of the peace process. [El Tiempo (Bogota)
1/8/01]
*3. COLOMBIA: ABDUCTED CAMPESINOS FREED, TERROR CONTINUES
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, following an international outcry
about their abduction, a group of 17 campesinos from the
Cimitarra Valley region in central northern Colombia were
released by the rightwing paramilitaries who had abducted them on
Jan. 3. The Campesino Association of the Cimitarra River Valley
(ACVC) reported the news in a Jan. 9 statement, clarifying that
one campesino remains unaccounted for; it was originally reported
that 24 had been abducted [see Update #571]. The ACVC noted that
the paramilitary assault on the region is continuing. [ACVC
Statement 1/9/01 via Equipo Nizkor]
Members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)
murdered five campesinos on Jan. 9 in the municipality of El
Carmen de Viboral, in Antioquia department. The same day, the AUC
massacred four people in a discoteque in Cucuta, departmental
capital of Norte de Santander department, in northeastern
Colombia on the Venezuelan border. [Hoy (NY) 1/10/01 from EFE]
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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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