Q On Colombia. Richard, do you have any -- I have two questions. First, a
reaction to the assassination of the former Cultural minister of Colombia.
And in that matter, the FARC as a terrorist group, what kind of cooperation
are you giving to the government of Pastrana right now in this situation,
taking the fact that in the past you mentioned that the FARC have some
connections or links to another terrorist groups outside Latin America?
And my second question is, since the invocation of the Rio Treaty, what
specific cooperation are you receiving from the Latin American countries? Or
it was just a political statement?
MR. BOUCHER: First of all, on the murder of the former Colombian culture
minister, I would say we're deeply saddened. We're outraged to learn of this
cold-blooded murder by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC.
Ms. Araujo was -- had been kidnapped on September 24th.
Her body was discovered by Colombian authorities late September 30th. We
extend our condolences to her family and to her husband, the attorney
general, and to the -- as I said, to their family.
On September 30th the FARC forcibly denied entry to the demilitarized zone
to several thousand peaceful marchers that were led by a presidential
candidate, Horacio Serpa. This action and the murder of Ms. Araujo highlight
the FARC's brutality and the indifference to those courageous Colombians who
seek a negotiated resolution to Colombia's long-standing internal conflict.
We'll have a statement to that effect to put out for you shortly after the
briefing.
Q But you didn't answer my question.
MR. BOUCHER: I know; I'm bad at three-part questions. I generally choose the
one I feel like answering and dispense with the others. Did you have some
more?
Q Well, you don't have anything to say about the cooperation or the links
between -- that you mentioned before, months ago, about FARC and a terrorist
group outside Latin America?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any new information on the reports that there were
links between the IRA and the FARC. Clearly, there are investigations going
on in Colombia and elsewhere, and if we have any information to share, I'm
sure we'd be glad to share.
As far as our cooperation with the government, we cooperate with the
government of President Pastrana in many ways. And I think I'd just have to
leave it at that. We've supported his efforts to try to bring peace to his
country, and we'll continue to support his efforts.
Q And on Latin America --
MR. BOUCHER: On Latin America -- there's quite a few things that have been
done around the world, and including in Latin America. On the financial
side, for example, in Argentina, in Bahamas, in Brazil, Canada, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Uruguay, Venezuela, you've all
seen -- in each of those places you've seen financial steps being taken,
circulars being issued, investigations being carried out of financial
matters. We've also had a great deal of information sharing with countries
in Latin America.
So I think the cooperation in that part of the world has been excellent.
Q Richard, your answer on Plan Colombia was kind of intriguing, especially
if you compare it to the fact that you're so -- you're tiptoeing completely
around the same kind of peace initiative in Afghanistan. Do you -- is there
a -- do you foresee a time when the United States is going to come down
and --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think anybody's proposed a Loi Jirga for Colombia. We
support the president of Colombia, who was elected by the people of
Colombia, democratically. And we support him in his efforts to bring peace
to his country.
Q Do you foresee a time when the United States will decide that one way or
another to get a broad representative government in Afghanistan would be
appropriate, or more appropriate than another?
MR. BOUCHER: It may be that this is the appropriate way. I think our point
is that we're not trying to choose the government, we're not trying to
specify how it has to be done. If the different people involved in the
situation decide to do something, I'm sure that would be something we would
support.
Okay, let's go back here.
Q President Pastrana has to decide this week if he renews the "zona de
despeje" or not. Do you have something to say about that? Would you support
it?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, we've said before, we're leaving the decision up to him.
Q Okay. And the other one is, how do you consider the guerrillas and the
paramilitaries in Colombia in your global fight against terrorism?
MR. BOUCHER: We've listed both the -- well, three, the FARC, the ELN and the
AUC, all as foreign terrorist organizations.
Q You say you support the peace efforts of Pastrana in Colombia, but at the
same time, there's the message that no sanctuaries will be permitted for
terrorism in the world, or, I mean, that's the concept. Isn't the
demilitarized zone being used as a sanctuary for terrorism to establish
links with other terrorist groups in the world and being handled by a
terrorist group according to the United States?
MR. BOUCHER: I think those are all questions that President Pastrana will
consider as he makes this decision.
Q Just a follow-up question. On the DMZ zone, is the United States -- isn't
the United States underestimating the potential of the terror groups in
Colombia, like the FARC, ELN, the AUC, with the connections that we just
knew, we just learned about with the IRA and probably other groups that we
still don't know? Isn't the U.S. underestimating the potential damage that
they could have in the United States, realizing that a group from the other
side of the world came to our country here and attacked us in our own land,
being this in our own hemisphere?
MR. BOUCHER: I think the simple answer is no. We're quite aware of the
capability of these groups. We're quite aware of the danger in these groups.
And that is why we have moved against them in any number of ways, including
by designating them as foreign terrorist organizations.
Q Since the operative phrase in President Bush's speech was "terrorist
organizations of global reach," is the State Department considering
redefining how it creates its lists, and the next time it puts out a list,
identifying those groups that do in fact have global reach; not just foreign
terrorist organizations, but those that fit the definition that the
president himself made?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I'll take that suggestion on board.
Monday October 1 6:02 PM ET
U.S. 'Outraged' by Murder of Colombian Ex-Minister
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it was ``outraged''
at the murder of former Colombian Culture Minister Consuelo Araujo by the
leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
In conjunction with a rebel decision not to let peaceful demonstrators into
their enclave on Sunday, the killing highlights ``the FARC's brutality and
indifference to those courageous Colombians who seek a negotiated
resolution,'' said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Araujo, 57, the wife of Attorney General Edgardo Maya, was abducted by the
FARC early last week. Her body, with two bullet wounds to the head, was
found late on Saturday.
Colombian President Andres Pastrana, responding to the murder on Monday,
said he was re-evaluating whether to extend the life of the demilitarized
zone he ceded to the FARC in 1998 to promote peace talks.
Boucher said: ``We're deeply saddened. ... We're outraged to learn of this
cold-blooded murder.''
Like other U.S. officials in recent weeks, he said it was purely up to
Pastrana to judge whether he should extend the demilitarized zone agreement,
which expires on Saturday. ``We're leaving the decision up to him,'' he
said.
The United States has granted Colombia about $1 billion over the past two
years to help the government crack down on the drugs trade and make peace
with the FARC, which Washington calls a ``foreign terrorist organization.''
But the United States has indicated increasing impatience with the rebels,
whom it accuses of using the enclave to traffic in drugs and commit human
rights abuses.
Tuesday October 2, 3:50 AM
US condemns murder of former Colombian culture minister, FARC moves
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (AFP) -
The United States said Monday it was "outraged" by the weekend murder of a
former Colombian culture minister and slammed the presumed killers, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), for its brutality.
"We're deeply saddened," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"We're outraged to learn of this cold-blooded murder by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia," the country's oldest and largest rebel force with
16,500 members.
The bullet-scarred body of former minister Consuelo Araujonoguera, who was
also the wife of Colombian Attorney General Edgardo Maya, was found Sunday
in the mountainous north of the Andean nation.
She had been kidnapped with a number of others September 24 by FARC
guerrillas, according to Colombian army officials.
President Andres Pastrana cast severe doubts Sunday over the future of
already shaky peace talks with the FARC, whom he said had demonstrated with
the murder "its persistence in discrediting a peaceful solution to this
conflict."
In addition to the murder, Boucher also noted the FARC had prevented a group
of peace marchers led by presidential candidate Horacio Serpa from entering
a demilitarized zone Sunday.
"This action and the murder of Ms Araujo highlight the FARC's brutality and
the indifference to those courageous Colombians who seek a negotiated
resolution to Colombia's longstanding internal conflict," he said.
Pastrana must decided by October 7 whether to renew the zone, a
42,000-square kilometer (16,000 square mile) swath of jungle and savannah
and is under strong pressure not to so.
Civil war has ravaged Colombia for 37 years, leaving an estimated 200,000
people dead in clashes involving the FARC, the smaller ELN, right-wing
paramilitaries and the Colombian army.
--------------------------------
Adam Isacson
Senior Associate, Demilitarization Program
Center for International Policy
1755 Massachusetts Ave NW, Suite 312
Washington DC 20036
+202-232-3317 fax 232-3440
isacson@ciponline.org
http://www.ciponline.org/demilita.htm