Colombia this Week, November 22

 Fri 15 - Uribe calls for Spanish assistance; Serpa resigns from the leadership of Liberal Party

·Uribe Velez seeks assistance from Spanish President José María Aznar for his Democratic Security proposal at the Ibero-American Summit in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic).

·Horacio Serpa, Liberals Presidential candidate resigns from the leadership of the Colombian Liberal Party.

·Noemí Sanín, last year's candidate for the Presidency takes over as Ambassador in Spain.

Sat 16 - NGOs launch campaign for protection; Three civilians killed in Cimitarra

·Human Rights Colombian NGOs launch campaign "Vivimos para defender la vida" (We live to defend life), calling on Government to stop accusations against them.

·Vanguardia Liberal reports three civilians killed by AUC members in Cimitarra (Santander).

·Colombian NGO Asamblea Permanente por la Paz Antioquia asks the authorities to explain the detention of Maria Socorro Mosquera, Mary del Socorro Naranjo and Teresa Yarce, members of a local Women's Association during Operación Orión last week in Comuna 13, Medellín.

·El Tiempo reports that Colombian Congress debates reform to Law 418 to permit negotiations with all illegal armed groups by removing requirement on "political status".

·Colombian authorities confiscate property reportedly held by FARC commander and Peace negotiator Fabian Ramirez in rural areas of Caquetá.

·El Tiempo reports the authorities' growing concerns about the increasing presence of guerrillas and paramilitaries around the capital, after a truck-bomb explodes in the outskirts of Bogotá.

·Fabio Velasco, commander of the Colombian Air Force dismisses the allegations of any irregularity on the process of buying Brazilian planes.

Sun 17 - US to suspend funding of air force unit; NGO criticises release of Marulanda

·Anne Patterson, U.S. ambassador in Colombia has recommended suspending funding to the country's elite air force unit saying it has been stonewalling an investigation of a bombing four years ago killing 18 civilians in Santo Domingo (Arauca).

·Colombian NGO Asociación Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos Unidad y Reconstrucción (ANUC UR) and 170 displaced families from Hacienda Bellacruz criticise the decision of the Colombian Attorney General to free Ex-ambassador Carlos Arturo Marulanda accused of organising paramilitary groups.

·Relatives of people held captive by FARC urge the Colombian government to avoid military rescue operations and continue seeking a humanitarian agreement on a swap of hostages for imprisoned rebels.

·Speaking at the Ibero-American Summit, Uribe Velez urges the leaders of neighbouring countries to help tighten security and deny access to drug traffickers and guerrillas groups.

·Jorge Rojas, Director of the Colombian NGO Codhes announces that 353.387 more people have been displaced this year, increasing the total number to more than 2 million during last decade, equivalent to 5% of the Colombian population.

Mon 18 - Army officials dismissed; Colombia suspends deal of Brazilian fighter planes

·Procudaruría General dismisses Army officials Everardo Bolaños Galindo and Germán Alzate Cardona accused of permitting an AUC incursion in Ituango (Antioquia) where 17 peasants were killed and 1200 displaced in 1997.

·Defence Minister Martha Lucía Ramirez suspends the deal to buy 24 Brazilian fighters arguing financial problems and prioritising other expenses.

·Governor of Cauca Floro Tunubalá, heading a Commission of Mayors and Indigenous to Belgium, Germany and Netherlands, obtains financial and political support for his Alternative Plan.

·Martha Lucía Ramirez, Defence Minister announces after Security Council in Cúcuta that the Government will prioritise aerial spraying of the Catatumbo region (Norte de Santander).

·Washington Post reports an act of collective rage in Concordia (Antioquia). Following the assassination of a mayoral candidate by paramilitaries, 500 men and women ransacked government offices, headquarters of rival politicians and the state-run phone company.

·A delegation of European Representatives and Mayors will visit Colombia next year as part of a solidarity campaign supported by the World Federation of Municipalities (IULA).

Tues 19 - Air Force accused of stalling investigations; 7 killed in clashes between paramilitaries

·US official says that Colombian Air Force stalled investigations of a 1998 bombing that killed 17 civilians in Santo Domingo (Arauca) near the border with Venezuela.

·Police say 7 people have been killed in clashes between the different factions of the AUC in Barrancabermeja.

·Fifteen paramilitaries are killed in a battle with FARC in Cupica near the border to Panamá.

·Israeli Foreign Ministry says that allegations made by Human Rights Watch (HRW) against Colombian General Rodrigo Quiñones for the killings of villagers in Chengue will not bar him as Defence Attaché in Israel.

·Foreign Minister Carolina Barco says in Paris that Government is waiting for a positive answer from FARC on a prisoners-hostage swap despite an official statement made by FARC refusing the mediation of the UN.

·At the Fifth Conference of Defence Ministers in Chile, Defence Minister Martha Lucía Ramírez asks for cooperation on military intelligence from all Latin American countries to combat drug trafficking.

Wed 20 - OFP members declared military target; Government reacts in response to NGOs critics

·Amnesty International issues an Urgent Action fearing for the safety of Jackeline Rojas, member of the Organización Femenina Popular, who has been declared a military target by paramilitary groups operating in Cantagallo, Bolívar.

·Christian Science Monitor reports Colombian Vice-president's Office will launch an e-mail "offensive" to answer the criticism levelled by human rights groups by a list of its human rights accomplishments and violations by the "rebel militias".

·Meeting with Javier Solana, European High Commissioner for Security and External Relation in Brussels. Foreign Affairs Minister Carolina Barco says that Colombian Government recognises the work of NGOs. She also presents in Brussels a Reforestation Plan to replant coca fields in Colombia with trees.

·A bomb explodes in San Vicente del Caguan (Caquetá) destroying the state-run phone company.

·Bombs explode in two hotels in Santa Marta (Magdalena) killing two people and wounding 10.

·US withdraws the visa of Colombia's military attaché in Israel General Rodrigo Quiñones, because of suspected links to drug traffickers. Human Rights Watch has investigated the General for alleged involvement in dead squads.

·Student Jaime Alfonso Acosta Campos is killed during a student demonstration at the Industrial University of Santander, Bucaramanga.

·Parmenio Cuéllar, Governor of Nariño, announces that coca growing has increased in this department as a result of aerial spraying of coca fields in the south, and urges Government to stop aerial sprayings as being inhumane.

·Antonio Galán, President of the National Federation for Councillors (FENALCON) says that two councillors from Pandi and Utica (Cundinamarca) and another from Toro (Valle) are killed by unknown armed groups.

Thur21-European NGOs urge EU to distance itself from Uribe's policies; UP member disappeared

·European NGO's ask the European Union to distance from Uribe Velez's policies as they aggravate human rights situation in Colombia and make long-term peace building difficult.

·Colombian NGO Reiniciar issues an Urgent Action for the safety of Omar de Jesus Correa Isaza, member of the Unión Patriótica, forcibly disappeared in Medellín.

·El Colombiano reports armed groups have killed 54 Councillors and 10 Mayors so far this year in Colombia. Gilberto Toro, President of the Colombian Federation of Municipalities (Fedemunicipios) says that more than 500 associates received death threats.

·Teacher Joselino Beltrán killed by two paramilitaries while teaching in a local school in Miranda (Cauca).

·HRW welcomes US decision to suspend military assistance to a Colombian Air Force Unit implicated in serious violations of the laws of war.

·Prosecutors free brother of FARC leader Javier Enrique Carvajalino, arrested four months ago by DAS on suspicion of plotting an aerial attack against the Presidential Palace.

·El Tiempo reports that US-trained army troops killed two FARC members in Puerto Asís (Putumayo).

·Police in Medellín report the kidnapping of Judge Lucy Cano Pérez by unknown group.

·Miami Herald reports more than 500 people held for hours in sports stadium in Saravena (Arauca), rounded up by security forces. Those released were stamped with black ink. 85 were imprisoned. Public Defender said "This was like a concentration camp".

Fri 22 - EU donates €1.8 million in humanitarian aid; Three bombs explode in Bogotá.

·European Union announces additional € 1.8 m in humanitarian aid for Colombian IDPs.

·Two people injured after three bombs explode near the Attorney-General's office in Bogotá.

·US Ambassador Anne Patterson addresses FEDEGAN (Federación Nacional de Ganaderos) AGM. She announces more than US $20 m in aid for anti-kidnapping programmes and US $5 m for rewards for information that leads to the detention of Colombian leaders of Illegal armed groups. Jorge Visbal, President of FEDEGAN announces their full support for the Network of Informers by donating US 40.000 dollars.

·Melanie Delloye, daughter of Ingrid Betancourt handed over an appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Colombian Embassy in France signed by 53.000 French citizens and 400 parliamentary representatives calling for the liberation of her mother.

·Israeli businessman Simón Yelinek is detained in Panamá suspected of smuggling arms to Colombian paramilitaries.

·International Press Alliance condemns attacks against RCN Radio and La Opinión newspaper in Cúcuta (Norte de Santander) and reminds all armed groups to respect the independence of the media.

·During the General Assembly of the Asociación Iberoamericana de Ministerios Públicos, Uribe Velez calls for support from the international community to fight terrorism.

·An unnamed official reports that George Bush has offered Otto Reich, former US Under Secretary of State for Latin America the position as US Special Envoy for the Region.

Colombia This Week is a news summary produced and distributed by ABColombia Group. Sources include daily Colombian, US, European and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-governmental organisations and the UN System. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the ABColombia Group.

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