Colombia This Week -- January 24, 2005

Fri 14- Constitutional Court rebukes Uribe; Venezuela suspends relations with Colombia.

° The Colombian Constitutional Court rules on the tutela appeal made by the Colombian human rights NGOs concerning the outburst by President Uribe Velez back in September 2003, in which he accused these organisations of being "terrorists trafficking in human rights issues". The Court urged President Uribe and all Colombian functionaries to refrain from making such comments, to recognise the value of human rights work and to reinforce the security of these organisations in the name of pluralism and tolerance.

° Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspends diplomatic relations with Bogota, demanding a public apology from Colombian President Uribe Velez for what he called a violation of Venezuela's sovereignty. The Venezuelan sanctions signalled the worst crisis in recent years between the two Andean neighbours, which are major trade partners but have often squabbled over the spill-over of violence from Colombia's conflict. Chavez announced the measure after recalling his ambassador from Bogota this week, saying: "I have ordered all agreements and business with Colombia to be stopped," El Tiempo reports.

° Former Member of the European Parliament from Germany and expert on Colombia Rolf Linkohr reports on the current demobilisation of the Colombian paramilitaries, highlighting that the imposition of social control by the paramilitaries upon ordinary Colombians would aggravate the conflict, adding that the key to this process is the truth: "The truth does not exclude an amnesty, but an amnesty without the truth is a self-deception. In Colombia the work for a Truth Commission is inevitable", El Tiempo reports.

Sat 15 - U.S. backs Colombia in dispute with Venezuela; soldier kills five sleeping comrades.

° The United States sided with Colombia over Bogota's hiring of bounty hunters to capture a FARC commander in the Venezuelan capital. "We support 100 percent the declarations from (Colombia's) presidential palace," U.S. Ambassador William Wood told reporters, referring to a statement from Uribe in which he defended the capture. Wood said the FARC was correct when it sent out a statement after Granda's capture, asking Chavez to clarify Venezuela's position on whether FARC guerrillas are permitted in the country. "For the first and probably last time we are in agreement with the FARC, which in its 30 December communiqué asks the Venezuelan government to define its position," Wood said.

° A Colombian soldier bursts into a barracks full of sleeping troops and opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing five soldiers and injuring five others in the city of Pasto. The suspect, who was on guard duty at the time, was arrested. "Apparently in an act of madness, he began shooting," Defence Minister J. Alberto Uribe told Reuters.

° The assassination of Colombian broadcast journalist Julio Palacios represents "the most brutal means of restricting freedom of expression," says a human rights officer of the Organisation of American States (OAS). In a 14 January statement, Eduardo Bertoni, the OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, said he deplored the assassination of Palacios, who was known for being outspoken in condemning local corruption in Colombia. Palacios, 55, was gunned down on 11 January, 2005, as he was heading to work at the "Lemas" radio station in Cucuta, where he hosted a news programme, Chicago Tribune reports.

Sun 16- Chavez blames U.S. for interfering in Colombia - Venez dispute; Paras want referendum.

° Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticised the United States for backing Colombia in a dispute over the abduction of a FARC commander. "I don't have the slightest doubt that this act is part of a conspiracy strategy to block the integration process," said Chavez, who has denied U.S. and Colombian charges that he shelters the Colombian rebels. "The strategy is an old one, we try to unite and others try to divide us ... to block the real union of South America," Chavez said in a television broadcast, AP reports.

° Paramilitary commander from the Central Bolivar Bloc Ernesto Baez reports in a demobilisation ceremony that the paramilitaries want a binding national referendum to decide 'what punishment, if any', former AUC fighters would face. AUC leaders have previously said they would not be disbanding if they thought it meant jail time, Reuters reports.

° Far from apologising for what Venezuela calls the illegal abduction of Rodrigo Granda last month, the Colombian government releases a statement saying that "Colombia will provide to the Venezuelan government proof that officials of that country were protecting Granda&ldots; The harbouring of terrorists violates the sovereignty of Colombia because it increases the risk of the use of terror against its citizens", Reuters reports.

° More than 900 paramilitary fighters will give in their weapons on Monday. The 925 fighters from the Sinu-San Jorge faction of the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC, will turn in their rifles, backpacks and boots to the government in the town of Santa Fe De Ralito, the government's Peace Commission said in a statement. Since November 2003 more than 3,800 AUC fighters have demobilised, and the entire force of 15,000 is expected to disarm by the end of this year, SNE reports.

Mon 17 - Interpol boss in Colombia confirms Granda was not on "red list"; bus crash kills 27.

° Director of the Interpol office in Colombia, Victor Cruz confirms to the Colombian media that the FARC member illegally detained in Caracas (Venezuela), Rodrigo Granda, was not on their "red list" of the most wanted men, that there was no capture order from this agency and that he has not been classified as a 'terrorist' in any previous judicial procedure relating to Interpol, Colprensa reports.

° A passenger bus collided with a trailer-truck, killing 27 people including 10 children, and wounding another 17 in Santander department. The bus driver said he was trying to pass another vehicle when he collided with the trailer coming from the opposite direction, Associated Press reports.

° Colombia is aiming for a fiscal deficit of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2005, Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla reports. The government says it will try again in 2005 to convince Congress to approve tax increases. But, with a general election looming in 2006, investors fear Congress will be even less disposed to approve unpopular measures, La Republica reports.

Tues 18 - HRW: demobilisation scheme ensures injustice; killers of Cali Archbishop sentenced.

° Launching the latest report on Colombian demobilisation of paramilitaries, José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch reports that 'there is a real risk that this demobilisation process will leave the underlying structures of these violent groups intact, their illegally acquired assets untouched, and their abuses unpunished', adding that 'as it is currently being conducted, this process does not justify the support of the international community', calling upon international donor countries to refrain from supporting it.

° A judge finds two men guilty of murdering Monsignor Isaias Duarte, Catholic archbishop for Cali, although the magistrate says the motive for the assassination and the identity of whoever ordered the killing remain a mystery. Alexander de Jesus Zapata and John Fredy Jimenez were convicted for the 2002 shooting of the archbishop of Cali, the highest-ranking clergyman ever assassinated in Colombia. Duarte was shot dead after officiating over a mass wedding in a poor neighbourhood of Cali, El Pais reports.

° Colombian Ambassador in Mexico, Luis Guillermo Giraldo reports his government is waiting for an ELN announcement to declare a unilateral ceasefire and the end of kidnappings and extortions in order to start a fresh round of peace negotiations, El Espectador reports.

Weds 19 -7 soldiers killed in minefield; UN office condemns killing of indigenous leaders.

° Seven soldiers from the 6th Brigade based in Ibague are killed and two more injured after being ambushed by a FARC unit and entering a minefield near the municipality of Ortega (Tolima). The area is believed to be a corridor between the departments of southern Colombia. Authorities report an average of two landmine incidents each day in Colombia, Efe reports.

° The UN human rights office in Colombia deplores the killing of brothers Melciades Loperena Montero and Rafael Loperena, two Wiwa leaders, in the municipality of San Jose del Cesar (La Guajira) this week. The Office says that they were killed by paramilitary gunmen under the orders of Jorge 40, a paramilitary leader supposedly in peace negotiations with the Colombian government. The statement calls upon this group to respect the cease fire and upon the Colombian authorities to protect the indigenous authorities.

° In an interview on FM Radio, after the release of a key Human Rights Watch (HRW) document reviewing the present paramilitary peace process in Colombia, Justice and Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt compares the work of Mr. Vivanco and HRW with the work of Danish NGO Rebelion, blaming this organisation for being biassed against the government's plans for demobilising Colombian paramilitaries.

° Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva travels to the city of Leticia, on the border with Colombia to meet President Uribe Velez in an effort to broker a resolution to a tense diplomatic stand off between Colombia and Venezuela, Financial Times reports.

° Colombian crude oil production will fall to 510,000 barrels per day in 2005 from 528,830 bpd last year due to the natural decline of existing fields, the Colombian Finance Ministry reports. Falling output will force Ecopetrol to stop exporting its share of light crude oil from the BP-operated Cusiana-Cupiagua field, Reuters reports.

° The latest report by the Colombian Auditor's office says that the country's internal debt has reached 60 billion pesos. The figures support a recent announcement made by the Ministry of Finance, in which it predicts that in 2005 the central government will have a deficit of 16,4 billion pesos, (6.1 % of the GDP) and plans to compensate with money from public institutions and the regions, El Tiempo reports.

Thurs 20 - Indigenous march in Bogota; 5 soldiers injured in FARC ambush in Barrancabermeja.

° Hundreds of indigenous people came to Bogota for a public march in defence of the Embera people. This week seven indigenous leaders have been killed by armed groups in different parts of Colombia. The march also represents public support for the Colombian Constitutional Court, as indigenous groups believe it is one of the few institutions that defend indigenous rights in Colombia, the Colombian Organisation for Indigenous People (ONIC) reports.

° The Colombian Army reports that 10 members of the paramilitary faction Cacique Pipinta have been killed and one other captured in combats with armed groups in the area of Pereira, El Tiempo reports.

° President Uribe meets with five of his predecessors and the former leaders offer their support in a growing political row with neighbouring Venezuela. "We, the former presidents, reiterate our support for Uribe's handling of the crisis," they said in a statement after their three-hour meeting in the presidential palace. The former presidents included Alfonso Lopez, Julio Cesar Turbay, Belisario Betancur, Ernesto Samper and Andres Pastrana. The statement also concurred with the need to normalise relations with Venezuela because the two nations share important "social, historic and economic" links, Associated Press reports.

° El Tiempo reports that 11 paramilitary members of the Bloque Bananero that supposedly demobilised two weeks ago have escaped from the Santa Fe de Ralito haven. A journalist from El Tiempo newspaper found them in the streets of Turbo (Antioquia) after they escaped police controls in the negotiating area. They were in custody in Ralito due to charges of war crimes and gross human rights violations. Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo made no comment on the issue.

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