The massacre of 27 Awa Indians in the department of Nariño could be one of the worst war crimes of the FARC. Coca, drug trafficking and weapons are threatening to destroy this ethnic group.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Colombia / European Union FTA on track
Rupert Schlegelmilch, representing the European Union, Mentor Villagómez from Ecuador, Eduardo Brandes from Perú and Colombian negotiator Santiago Pardo, all said in the press conference that significant progress was made in the 13 tables of negotiations. “We have received and important offer from the European Union regarding bananas”, said Santiago Pardo, chief negotiator for Colombia, who didn't give more details about the topic.The offer of the European Union for non agricultural products was also a significant step forward. Almost 98% of the Andean exports will have immediate tax exemption.
The FTA will not be negotiated taking the three Latin American countries as a block. The new format designed for the negotiations is an unique multi party agreement in which each country’s particular interests will be taken into consideration regarding specific products, but all framed within the same agreement. The next round will take place in Lima, Perú, in April. According to Pardo, the chief negotiators agreed to exchange improved offers on goods and services and written proposals on topics on which the parties have already had substancial progress. After Lima, the third round will be in Brussels and the fourth will be held in an Andean country yet to be defined. Negotiators look forward to resolving thorny issues such as intellectual property. The Colombian chief negotiator admitted that after the consensus in this first round, it is possible to think that the FTA could be ready during the next semester.
The FTA will not be negotiated taking the three Latin American countries as a block. The new format designed for the negotiations is an unique multi party agreement in which each country’s particular interests will be taken into consideration regarding specific products, but all framed within the same agreement. The next round will take place in Lima, Perú, in April. According to Pardo, the chief negotiators agreed to exchange improved offers on goods and services and written proposals on topics on which the parties have already had substancial progress. After Lima, the third round will be in Brussels and the fourth will be held in an Andean country yet to be defined. Negotiators look forward to resolving thorny issues such as intellectual property. The Colombian chief negotiator admitted that after the consensus in this first round, it is possible to think that the FTA could be ready during the next semester.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Freedom At Last
Alan Jara, the former governor of Colombia's Meta state, arrived at the airport in Villavicencio on Tuesday afternoon, hours after a Marxist rebel group freed him.
Jara could be seen waving from a window as the helicopter, bearing Red Cross insignia, taxied and delivered him into the waiting arms of his wife and son. Jara was abducted in 2001.
They walked away from the helicopter, smiling broadly and with their arms around each other.
"There has been a miracle today," Jara said to a throng of reporters.
FARC rebels released four other hostages -- three police officers and a soldier -- over the weekend.
Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba, who brokered the releases with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a group called Colombians for Peace, stood by Jara's side as he got off the aircraft. Brazil also helped, providing the aircraft used in the releases.
Sigifredo Lopez, a former official in the city of Valle del Cauca kidnapped in 2003, also is scheduled to be released this week.
The FARC, the largest and oldest guerrilla group in Colombia, announced the releases December 21 and designated Cordoba as the coordinator.
Colombia has said FARC -- the Spanish acronym for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- is still holding about 700 captives. But many analysts see this week's hostage releases as the first step toward an eventual peace accord with the government.
On Sunday, a Red Cross helicopter carrying the four freed hostages landed at an airport in Villavicencio, southeast of Bogota, shortly before 7 p.m.
The men -- some of whom had been held for several years, the Red Cross said -- waved as they stepped off the aircraft and were met by well-wishers carrying white flowers.
At a ceremony Sunday night with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, the soldiers described their captivity. One of them sang a song he had composed while being held.
Jara's release was delayed for a day after complications arose Monday concerning flights by Colombian military planes over the area where hostages were released Sunday.
On Sunday night, Uribe had withdrawn permission for Cordoba to negotiate with the rebels, but he relented Monday at the urging of the Red Cross, he said in a statement posted on the president's Web page.
Uribe withdrew the authorization after some negotiators complained publicly that Colombian military aircraft flying over the area where the hostages were released jeopardized the process.
Uribe announced Monday that no overflights by military aircraft would be allowed. Flights would be permitted, Uribe said, only at the request of the Red Cross in an emergency situation.
The Colombian government has recently stepped up pressure on the rebels, offering rewards to guerrillas who surrender and free hostages. Earlier this month, two guerrillas fled their camp deep in the jungles of southern Colombia, bringing along two captives -- a 14-year-old boy and a male adult who were kidnapped in December.
And a July rescue operation freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who had been held captive since 2002, along with three American military contractors and 11 Colombian police and military members.
The government has said the FARC's military force has been severely compromised in recent months, but authorities still accuse it of trafficking huge quantities of cocaine to finance its decades-old insurgency.
Security analysts said FARC has about 9,000 to 12,000 armed guerillas and several thousand supporters, mostly in rural areas.
The guerrilla group was established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party.
The guerrillas operate mostly in Colombia but have carried out extortion, kidnappings and other activities in Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador, according to analysts.
Jara could be seen waving from a window as the helicopter, bearing Red Cross insignia, taxied and delivered him into the waiting arms of his wife and son. Jara was abducted in 2001.
They walked away from the helicopter, smiling broadly and with their arms around each other.
"There has been a miracle today," Jara said to a throng of reporters.
FARC rebels released four other hostages -- three police officers and a soldier -- over the weekend.
Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba, who brokered the releases with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a group called Colombians for Peace, stood by Jara's side as he got off the aircraft. Brazil also helped, providing the aircraft used in the releases.
Sigifredo Lopez, a former official in the city of Valle del Cauca kidnapped in 2003, also is scheduled to be released this week.
The FARC, the largest and oldest guerrilla group in Colombia, announced the releases December 21 and designated Cordoba as the coordinator.
Colombia has said FARC -- the Spanish acronym for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- is still holding about 700 captives. But many analysts see this week's hostage releases as the first step toward an eventual peace accord with the government.
On Sunday, a Red Cross helicopter carrying the four freed hostages landed at an airport in Villavicencio, southeast of Bogota, shortly before 7 p.m.
The men -- some of whom had been held for several years, the Red Cross said -- waved as they stepped off the aircraft and were met by well-wishers carrying white flowers.
At a ceremony Sunday night with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, the soldiers described their captivity. One of them sang a song he had composed while being held.
Jara's release was delayed for a day after complications arose Monday concerning flights by Colombian military planes over the area where hostages were released Sunday.
On Sunday night, Uribe had withdrawn permission for Cordoba to negotiate with the rebels, but he relented Monday at the urging of the Red Cross, he said in a statement posted on the president's Web page.
Uribe withdrew the authorization after some negotiators complained publicly that Colombian military aircraft flying over the area where the hostages were released jeopardized the process.
Uribe announced Monday that no overflights by military aircraft would be allowed. Flights would be permitted, Uribe said, only at the request of the Red Cross in an emergency situation.
The Colombian government has recently stepped up pressure on the rebels, offering rewards to guerrillas who surrender and free hostages. Earlier this month, two guerrillas fled their camp deep in the jungles of southern Colombia, bringing along two captives -- a 14-year-old boy and a male adult who were kidnapped in December.
And a July rescue operation freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who had been held captive since 2002, along with three American military contractors and 11 Colombian police and military members.
The government has said the FARC's military force has been severely compromised in recent months, but authorities still accuse it of trafficking huge quantities of cocaine to finance its decades-old insurgency.
Security analysts said FARC has about 9,000 to 12,000 armed guerillas and several thousand supporters, mostly in rural areas.
The guerrilla group was established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party.
The guerrillas operate mostly in Colombia but have carried out extortion, kidnappings and other activities in Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador, according to analysts.
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