In early November I received a copy of a death threat made against student activists at the University of the Atlantic in Barranquilla, Colombia. The threat was sent out in the name of the "United Self-Defense Forces (AUC)-Rearmed". The AUC is the largest paramilitary organization in Colombia, though it supposedly demobilized due to government efforts. However, a number of organizations, from Arco Iris Corporation to Human Rights Watch, have reported that para-militarism is actually on the increase, often in the form of new or reconstituted organizations.
Electric shock "trial," sickening violation of Ricardo Palmera’s human rights
By Fight Back! Staff
March 5, 2010
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Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, urgently requests, “Help and aid from Americans, Colombians, and the international community to stop a crime.” Professor Palmera is being put on trial in Colombia while held in solitary confinement in the U.S. He is being forced to wear prison clothes, shackled at the hands and feet and then chained together around the waist, with the ever-present threat of electrical shock if he moves too quickly. This ‘trial’ is a violation of Professor Palmera’s dignity and his rights as a prisoner of war. Tom Burke says, “There is nothing fair or just about the trials and imprisonment of this brave Colombian freedom fighter Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera should be set free.”
Colombian activist Liliany Obando's trial postponed again
Commentary by Angela Denio |March 13, 2010
The jailing and repeated postponement of trials of Liliany "Lily" Obando tells the story of a powerful woman. She is dealing firsthand with the extreme repression facing many Colombians who oppose the government. In Colombia there are over 7000 political prisoners. Colombian trade unionist Liliany Obando was arrested in the summer of 2008. Her arrest came during a string of attacks by the Uribe government targeting leaders of Colombia's growing struggles for social change.
Obando is a typical Colombian. She has taken up the challenge to fight for the rights of the people - the ones who don't matter to the rich in charge in Colombia and their puppeteers here in the U.S. government. Through her work with FENSUAGRO, a Colombian union, Obando championed the rights and welfare of Colombian farmers and rural wage laborers. Her work was transparent and legal under Colombian law, but Liliany Obando now sits in prison.
Paramilitary U: New Death Threats on Colombia's Campuses
Commentary by James Jordan |
February 24, 2010
Military Buildup in Colombia : A Rumor of War
A rumor of war:
Shadows of Vietnam in Colombia
By Marion Delgado / The Rag Blog / January 22, 2010
CARTAGENA DE INDIES, Colombia -- I borrowed the title of this post from Lt. Philip Caputo’s excellent book covering the U.S. Marines' first six months in Vietnam, not only because I like the title, but I also see some correlation between his story and the story of our troops now being written in the jungles of Colombia.
As in Caputo’s war, death, destruction, and mayhem were preceded by, first, a troop build-up, and then, small skirmishes which were the precursors to all-out war.
A build-up on all sides has been going on here since the military pact of October 30 was signed in Bogota between the U.S. government and the Colombians. In early November, the first shots were fired along the border. Within days of the signing and the beginning of the U.S. troop invasion of Colombia, tensions between Colombia and Venezuela flared, when the bodies of nine Colombians believed to have been executed by an illegal armed group were found on the Venezuelan border state of Tachira.
