Colombia in the News
Archive: 2009-2014

"Colombia has 40 million people – 26 percent of them of African descent, mostly in the Pacific region. Since the period of slavery, we have shared that area with indigenous Native Americans."

For a basic understanding of Plan Columbia intiated with "Dollar Bill" Clinton and Uribe, see U.S. INTELLIGENCE LISTED COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT URIBE AMONG "IMPORTANT COLOMBIAN NARCO-TRAFFICKERS" IN 1991, National Security Archives, George Washington University

¿Por qué la molestia con que Piedad Córdoba haya viajado a Cuba?  12/15/2014 El Tiempo: "El senador uribista Fernando Nicolás Araujo, por ejemplo, dijo este fin de semana que no había por qué escuchar a personas que no han sido afectadas por la violencia de la guerrilla, sino que por el contrario parecieran defender las tesis de las Farc."

Piedad Córdoba, entre víctimas que viajarán a Cuba  12/15/2014 Noticias RCN: "La exsenadora hace parte del último grupo de víctimas que será escuchado por los negociadores del Gobierno y las Farc."

Seamos serios, santos  11/22/2014 Poder Ciudadano: por TIMOLEÓN JIMENEZ, COMANDANTE DEL ESTADO MAYOR CENTRAL DE LAS FARC-EP

Andreiza y Afrocolombia reciben reconocimiento de USAID  11/12/2014 Señal Radio Colombia: "Nuestra compañera Andreiza Anaya y el equipo de Afrocolombia, recibieron el galardón "Medios para la Inclusión" al Mejor programa radial, un reconocimiento del Programa para Afrodescendientes e Indígenas de la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID)."

Peace Talks in Havana and Murder in Colombia  11/5/2014 Dissident Voice: "There are many fabrications and false assumptions underlying the Colombia peace negotiations between the Santos regime and FARC – EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – Peoples Army). The first and most egregious is that Colombia is a democracy. The second is that the Santos regime pursues policies which enhance non-violent social and political activity conducive to integrating the armed insurgency into the political system."

El palo en la rueda de los proyectos del Pacífico  10/25/2014 Semana: "De Rosira Solís se ha dicho de todo. Que es una mujer valiente que logró reivindicar los derechos de las comunidades negras, que gracias a ella el movimiento social afrocolombiano logró visibilizarse, que es una defensora del medioambiente. Pero también que detrás de su activismo se esconden intereses personales o que es un brazo político del polémico exsenador Juan Carlos Martínez. Sin embargo, en lo que todos coinciden, es que ella se ha convertido en el ‘palo en la rueda’ de las grandes obras de infraestructura del Pacífico."

Integrating Afrodescendants in Colombia’s Post-Conflict Democracy  9/23/2014 Democracy Digest: "The International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy cordially invites you to a presentation entitled “From Internal Displacement to Inclusive Democracy: The Afro-Colombian Experience” featuring Marino Córdoba Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy"

El negro que quiere ser general y no lo dejan  8/18/2014 Las dos orillas: "Son solo doce los negros que han logrado ostentar el grado de mayores entre los mil oficiales con este escalafón dentro de la Policía Nacional. Uno de ellos es Fabian Mosquera* quien aspira a convertirse en el tercer Teniente Coronel afro de los 600 (el 1% ) que forma el cuerpo de oficiales uniformados. Es el rostro del uno por ciento de los hombres que conforman el cuerpo de Policía, que como él, tienen la mala suerte de ser negro en las Fuerzas Militares."

"Falsos positivos" en Colombia y el papel de asistencia militar de Estados Unidos, 2000-2010  7/1/2014 Cryptome

Plan Colombia’s Genocidal Legacy  5/27/2014 Cuba Si: "Extinction may well be the shared fate awaiting some 40 Colombian indigenous groups, UN official Todd Howland announced last month. Howland’s assessment underlined the risks mining operations pose to these communities, and echoes the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia’s finding, presented last year, that 66 of the country’s 102 indigenous communities could soon vanish—“victims of a genocide that is forcing cultural and physical extermination.”

The U.S., Colombia & the Spread of the Death Squad State  5/23/2014 CounterPunch: "Thus, this past weekend, the VI Division of the Colombian Army entered the peasant town of Alto Amarradero, Ipiales in the middle of the night, and, without warrant and in cold blood, gunned down four civilians, including a 15-year old boy. Those killed were Deivi López Ortega, José Antonio Acanamejoy, Brayan Yatacue Secue and José Yiner Esterilla — all members of the FENSUAGRO agricultural union. [2] The Army then displayed the bodies of those murdered for all to see, and falsely claimed that they were the bodies of guerillas killed in combat."

The Vanishing: Christian Cult’s Airport Disappears  3/21/2014 Daniel Hopsicker: "“We don’t have any membership. Every group is autonomous,” he continued. “They’re only affiliated through like beliefs, and through their understanding of the Word. They are all independent ministries.” juliet-papa-and-john-gottiRight, I thought. And John Gotti and his buddies at the Ravenite Social Club in New York just got together to play cards. I didn’t say anything. But I felt slightly embarrassed, as if I had. So I asked a dumb and very obvious question. “So, um, in the early ‘80’s, how did your group end up with colonies in Colombia, Peru, and Guatemala?”"

How political exclusion affects Colombia’s afro-descendant minority  3/6/2014 Colombia Reports: "But in 1993, the perhaps most critical piece of legislation for the community, Law 70, gave Afro-Colombians two reserved seats in the House along with the right to claim ancestral lands along the Pacific coast. These lands were to be governed by semi-autonomous political entities, and the law also established government programs to improve education access and protect cultural identity."

Destituyen en Colombia a jefe de inteligencia por escuchas ilegales a negociadores de paz  2/5/2014 Cubadebate: "El ministro de Defensa de Colombia, Juan Carlos Pinzón, anunció este martes la destitución del jefe de inteligencia del Ejército, general Mauricio Zúñiga, y la del director de la Central de Inteligencia de la institución, general Jorge Zuluaga, por el nuevo escándalo de escuchas ilegales que sacude al país."

FARC-EP denuncia a expresidente Uribe por presunto espionaje  2/5/2014 Cubadebate

Urabeños Potential Actor in Colombia Armed Conflict: ICC  1/23/2014 Insight Crime: "The International Criminal Court has called the Urabeños Colombia’s most dangerous and well-organized criminal organization, stating that the group is powerful enough that they could become a player in the country’s conflict. In a report accessed by El Tiempo, the International Criminal Court (ICC) states that of the narco-paramilitary groups categorized by the authorities as BACRIM (an abbreviation from the Spanish for “criminal bands,”) such as the Rastrojos and the Aguilas Negras, the Urabeños has the by far the highest levels of “organization and capacity to do harm” ."

Piedad Córdoba dice que cree que va a ser presidenta de Colombia  10/21/2013 El Universal: ""Política no se hace solamente en los escenarios para la elección, he venido haciendo muchísima política desde que desaparecí del Congreso de la República y ocupé una curul en la calle", expresa la exsenadora Piedad Córdoba, quien estuvo el pasado sábado en Manizales presentando la candidatura al Senado de su hijo Juan Luis Castro Córdoba, e impulsando en Caldas la candidatura a la Cámara de Representantes de Nestor Toro Villa. Ella es integrante de Poder Ciudadano, disidencia progresista del Partido Liberal, pero también es vocera de Marcha Patriótica y de la Mesa nacional agraria."

Conclusiones del Foro: "Solución al problema de las drogas ilícitas"  9/27/2013 Poder Ciudadano, YouTube: "Estas son algunas de las conclusiones del Foro: "Solución al problema de drogas ilícitas", que se llevó a cabo los días 24,25 y 26 de septiembre en Bogotá y que busca recaudar insumos para el cuarto punto de la agenda de diálogos de paz en la Habana."

Colombian Drug Lord Vanishes After Conviction… in the US!  8/30/2013 Daniel Hopsicker: "Court documents indicate Abadia was sentenced to 25 years in Federal prison. But a search of the prisoner locater at the Federal Bureau of Prisons website does not list his name as among those currently incarcerated. The Assistant US Attorney in charge of the Abadia case, Carolyn Pokorny, declined to comment on his whereabouts. And that’s where the trail ends, at least for the moment. Another anomaly: There is no record of his sentencing. Among the official court documents available through PACER is a transcript of a hearing held before the court accepted Abadia’s guilty plea, to ensure he understood his rights, and was pleading guilty voluntarily. There is a binding 9-page forfeiture agreement. Abadia agreed to forfeit $10 billion (that’s billion with a ‘b’) in currency and property to the US Government. There is also an order by District Judge Sandra Townes accepting his guilty plea. But—more than two years later—there is no record of his being sentenced. Whether the discrepancy concerns missing documents, years-long deferred sentencing, or some other cause is unknown at this time."

Uribe was ‘the head of Colombia’s paramilitaries’: former AUC ringleader  8/29/2013 Colombia Reports: "“He was our commander,” claimed Sierra. “He never fired a gun; but he led, he contributed, he was our man at the top.” “The massacres, the disappearances, the creation of an [AUC] group: he is responsible,” said Sierra."

Las mujeres afro y su papel en la sociedad  7/27/2013 El Mundo, Colombia

Relatos de violencia de un país amnésico  7/25/2013 El Espectador: "Santos señaló que la responsabilidad de construir memoria a partir de la verdad es una obligación."

Construir sobre la sangre derramada  7/24/2013 El Espectador: "Ayer al mediodía, el grupo de Memoria Histórica entregó al presidente Juan Manuel Santos, en ceremonia oficial, el informe ¡Basta ya! Colombia: memorias de guerra y de dignidad, un compilado de 431 páginas que contiene en cifras y en imágenes el terror por el que han pasado las víctimas del conflicto colombiano. Las víctimas de su propio país."

Informe del Grupo de Memoria Histórica 220.000 colombianos han muerto en 55 años de violencia  7/24/2013 El Espectador: "Es como si hoy una bomba borrara Popayán: 220.000 colombianos han perdido la vida entre 1958 y 2013 por cuenta del conflicto. Más aberrante resulta saber que 176.000 de ellos eran civiles. O que 27.023 secuestros estuvieron íntimamente ligados a la barbarie de esta guerra prolongada. O que hay 10.189 colombianos amputados o muertos por minas antipersonas. O que el número de desplazados por los fusiles y las balas en estos 55 años representa la población de países como Irlanda, Costa Rica o Congo: 4,7 millones. Una radiografía de salvajismo dosificado —qué paradoja— en tiempos de democracia."

Un marco jurídico para la paz con justicia  7/24/2013 El Espectador: "La demanda promovida por La Comisión Colombiana de Juristas contra la reforma constitucional conocida como el “Marco Jurídico para la Paz”, que se debatirá hoy jueves en audiencia ante la Corte Constitucional, se orienta a respaldar el proceso de paz."

Colombia: Santos compraría sistema israelí de espionaje de redes sociales  7/4/2013 Contrainjerencia: "Medios locales colombianos han filtrado que la compañía israelí Comverse Technology será la probable contratista para el desarrollo de la nueva Plataforma Única de Monitoreo y Análisis –PUMA-, con la cual el Gobierno de Bogotá podrá interceptar en tiempo real todas las comunicaciones que impliquen la transferencia de datos por Internet. PUMA está diseñada para tener acceso a datos, mensajes y comunicaciones en las redes sociales (facebook, Instagram, Viber, Twitter, Skype, Linkedin), así como por redes telefónicas. Según infodefensa, el nuevo sistema será “la herramienta técnica clave, para la implementación de la también nueva Ley de Inteligencia y Contrainteligencia”, sancionada hace tres meses."

Colombian President Recognizes Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Program - Afro-Colombian Day Event Highlights USAID Support for Afro-Colombian and Indigenous  6/5/2013 ACDI Voca: "USAID and ACDI/VOCA have worked with ethnic minorities in Colombia for over a decade. The current Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Program (ACIP) is the first stand-alone program developed for the sole purpose of improving the socioeconomic and political inclusion of Afro-Colombians and indigenous people. The project works to strengthen state institutions’ ability to support minorities, enhance advocacy capacities of ethnic organizations, increase minority populations’ access to economic opportunities and publicize positive messages around ethnic minority issues. ACIP is a cooperative agreement awarded to ACDI/VOCA by USAID/Colombia."

Amenazan a líder de Bojayá.  6/5/2013 Centro de Memoria Historica: "A continuación adjuntamos el comunicado transmitido por Delis Palacio Herrón, líder comunitaria de la región. Su situación de seguridad ha sido vulnerada por las acciones de amenaza y persecución que le han sido proferidas por su trabajo político y comunitario articulado a la Asociación de Desplazados del 2 de Mayo. Delis participó activamente en el trabajo del Grupo de Memoria Histórica -GMH- durante la elaboración y el lanzamiento público del informe "Bojayá la guerra sin límites", en el que se recogen las memorias alrededor de los hechos y los contextos en los cuales se cometió la masacre del 2 mayo de 2002."

NED Annual Report 2012 Colombia  6/1/2013 NED: "Asociacion de Afrocolombianos Desplazados, $42,000. To defend the rights and promote greater attention to the needs of displaced Afro-Colombians. AFRODES will monitor the implementation of Colombia's "Victims' Law" and provide recommendations based on the concerns of displaced Afro-Colombian communities throughout the country. AFRODES will also brief members of its national network about new procedures to seek reparations and the restitution of lands under the Victims' Law."

Afrocolombianos conmemoran hoy su día nacional con foro de paz  5/21/2013 Sierra Maestra: "Los afrocolombianos conmemorarán aquí hoy el Día Nacional de esa población con un foro sobre su papel en la construcción de la paz, en el que participarán el presidente Juan Manuel Santos y el vicepresidente Angelino Garzón. La cita, con sede en la Biblioteca Nacional, unirá a diversas voces de afrodescendientes para hablar sobre el actual proceso entre el Gobierno y las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, que sesiona en Cuba desde noviembre de 2012."

Afro-Colombia: A Case for Pan-African Analysis  5/15/2013 AfroCubaWeb: by Jospeh F. Jordan - "Some who are quoted in this article have gone on to became allies of a Colombian government that was eventually recognized as one of the most corrupt in the Americas and that built an effective governmental and extra- governmental apparatus to frustrate Afro-Colombian attempts to exercise their constitutional rights. In a cynical turn, some of the same Afro-Colombians I had encountered and who had lived and worked in the U.S., ostensibly as politically progressive exiles, returned to become spokespersons for the very government that facilitated the dispossession of Afro-Colombian land in favor of development schemes by mega-corporations. Others allied and aligned themselves with programs generously funded, designed and specifically intended to neutralize or split the growing U.S. support movement for the Afro-Colombia cause. Initially, they were devastatingly effective."

Ministro colombiano confirma incorporación de otros guerrilleros de las FARC-EP al diálogo  4/8/2013 CubaDebate: "El fin de semana último se desplazaron cuatro guerrilleros, entre ellos el jefe del Bloque Occidental Pablo Catatumbo. Según entiendo, estaba pendiente la salida de dos más en el área oriental del país, eso debe ocurrir hoy. Pinzón subrayó que desde que el presidente Juan Manuel Santos tomó la decisión de iniciar conversaciones con las FARC-EP se han trasladado a La Habana varios de ellos, en coordinación estricta con la Fiscalía General."

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Statement of Concern: Recent Increase in Violence Against Afro-Colombian Communities on the Pacific Coast  2/25/2013 TransAfrica: "In anticipation of the upcoming visit of Minister Fernando Carrillo to Washington, DC, the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN) would like to express serious concerns with the current situation facing specific Afro-Colombian communities and leaders. We are especially concerned with recent increase in violence against Afro-Colombian communities on the Pacific coast."

Grupo Niche nuevamente de gira por Estados Unidos  2/15/2013 Sonfonia: "El Grupo Niche de Colombia, inicia formalmente su nueva gira en los Estados Unidos de América, país al cual asiste de forma ininterrumpida desde 1982, cuando su creador Jairo Varela trascendió fronteras."

Colombia: Condena al Estado colombiano por masacre de Santo Domingo  12/20/2012 Prensa Indigena: "Justicia y Paz, Arauca, 19 de diciembre.- El 13 de diciembre de 1998 en Santo Domingo, una bomba tipo cluster, lanzada por la fuerza aérea causo la muerte de 17 personas y causo heridas a 27 más, hoy 14 años después la Corte Interamericana condenó al estado por esta masacre."

Leaked Memo: Corrupt DEA Agents in Colombia Help Narcos and Paramilitaries  11/10/2012 NarcoNews: published 1/9/06 - "As discussed in my (prior) memorandum dated December 13, 2004, several unrelated investigations, including Operation Snowplow, identified corrupt agents within DEA. As further discussed in my memorandum, OPR’s handling of the investigations into those allegations has come into question and the OIG investigator who was actively looking into the allegations has been removed from the investigation."

José E. Mosquera Rentería: Colombia, Las nuevas formas de discriminación contra los afrocolombianos  10/21/2012 Legado Afro: "Algunas personas se han extrañado por la afirmación del presidente Juan Manuel Santos de que en su gabinete no ha incluido ningún afro porque a estos puestos se llega es por méritos."

Murder of Miami’s ‘Cocaine Queen’ Offers Teaching Moment  10/6/2012 NarcoNews: "Griselda Blanco, 69, was cut down in front of a butcher shop in Medellin, Colombia, in early September by a middle-aged man who was delivered to the murder scene on the back of a motorcycle — and who calmly, methodically, jumped off the back of that bike, held a gun to Blanco’s head, and pumped two bullets into her brain."

Cuba Revealing No Names in Colombian Peace Talks  9/7/2012 Havana Times: "On Tuesday, Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez made public the initiation of the peace-seeking dialogue, a negotiating process that will begin in the first half of October in Oslo, Norway, and will continue in the Cuban capital."

Conferencia de prensa de las FARC en La Habana: Denle una oportunidad a la paz en Colombia  9/6/2012 CubaDebate: "En síntesis, el documento expresa que “la anhelada solución política por la que claman millones de colombianos en las cuatro esquinas del país, regresa al primer orden de la vida nacional”, define “la salida política de la confrontación” como la bandera del pueblo colombiano e invoca la activa participación de la nación en este nuevo proceso “que debe culminar con una nueva Colombia, justa y democrática”."

News Corp. nominates Chao, Uribe to board  9/4/2012 Marketwatch: Uribe was named in an early 80's DIA memo as a "narcosenator" and "close personal friend of Pablo Escobar"

Beso de Negra  7/23/2012 Machetes y Miel: "I was in the check-out line of a Target-equivalent last year in Bogotá, Colombia when I came across this candy. I couldn’t help but to start looking around like “No one else thinks this is nuts!? Am I taking crazy pills??” Blank stares as far as the eye could see. These kinds of things still leave me nonplussed even though at this point I should’ve grown somewhat accustomed to the many overt displays of racism that people seem to find acceptable throughout Latin America. This little delight is produced by Nestle and as much as I complain about the treatment of race in the US, I’m fairly certain a chocolate covered candy called “Kiss of a Black Woman” could not, in this day and age, fly at home."

ACSN Concerned about the criminal allegations against AfroColombian human rights defender Felix Banguero  6/18/2012 WOLA: "The Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network is very concerned about the detention of Felix Manuel Banguero, a long-time community leader and human rights defender; member of the Community Council El Pílamo; in the municipality of Guachené, Northern Cauca region; and a founder member of the Black Communities’ Process (PCN). Given the troubling climate of judicial persecution and stigmatization against human rights activists in Colombia, ACSN urges the Colombian authorities to ensure full protection of Mr. Banguero’s human rights."

NED Annual Report 2011 Colombia  6/1/2012 NED: "Corporación Manos Visibles, $40,000. To strengthen the leadership capacity of Afro-Colombian women in the City of Cartagena and the Department of Bolivar. Manos Visibles will engage Afro-Colombian women currently holding leadership positions in civil society organizations, local or regional government, or community groups, and provide them with advanced leadership training to increase their potential to promote greater social, political and economic development in their communities."

The Drug Trade as an Instrument of Imperial Domination  5/31/2012 ALAI: "The recent declaration of the Central Command Secretariat of the FARC-EP (9), for the occasion of the forty-eighth anniversary of the beginning of the rebels’ armed struggle, denounces the link between drugs and capital: "the monies from drug-trafficking are converted into land, flood the banks, and the finance sector, productive and speculative investment, the hotel industry, construction and public contracts, becoming functional and even necessary in the game of raising and circulating big capital which characterizes neo-liberal capitalism today. This also happens in Central America and Mexico.”"

Santos criticizes embargo against Cuba  4/22/2012 Colombia Reports: "Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos criticized the U.S. and Organization of American States' embargo against Cuba Saturday during his opening speech at the sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena. According to Santos, whose government is hosting the summit, "The isolation, the embargo, the indifference and the looking the other way have shown their ineffectiveness. In today's world there is no justification for this. It is an anachronism that keeps us chained to a cold war era that was overcome decades ago already."

The Secret Service and the girls from Cartagena  4/19/2012 Milfuegos: "One major question remains, however. Why did the Colombian police, who have a history of covering up such incidents in order to protect VIP visitors and their staffs, decide to make the incident public? The answer to that question lies in the frosty pre-Summit interchanges between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. ambassador to Colombia Michael McKinley over Santos's pre-summit trip to Havana to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro to apologize for Washington's and Ottawa's insistence that Cuba be barred from attending the Cartagena summit. Santos was also furious with pre-summit statements by U.S. officials flatly rejecting his and other Latin American leaders' proposals to legalize drugs and supporting Argentina's claims over the Malvinas or Falkland Islands, which are controlled by Britain."

President Obama’s Green Light to FTA is a Red Flag for Afro-Colombians  4/13/2012 Afro-Colombian News: "As President Obama seems to be ready to give a green light to Colombia for the implementation of the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement this weekend, under the guise of improvements in labor conditions and human rights, the Black Communities Process in Colombia (PCN) raises the question: what it will take for the Obama administration to understand the severity of Afro-Colombians’ human rights?"

Uribe formally accused of forming paramilitary group  4/12/2012 Colombia Reports: "The charges were based on testimonies of two ex-paramilitaries who claimed Uribe helped found the Bloque Metro of the AUC paramilitary organization, which he then allegedly ordered to carry out massacres and assassinations during his 2002-2010 tenure. During a debate on paramilitary activity in Uribe’s home department Antioquia, socialist Representative to the House Ivan Cepeda said the testimonies were supported by evidence. The congressman presented photographs allegedly showing prolonged paramilitary presence at the Uribe brothers’ ranch in northern Colombia, during Uribe’s 1995-1997 term as Governor of Antioquia."

Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Program  3/31/2012 USAID: "Through Cooperative Agreement No. AID-514-A-11-00004, dated August 30, 2011, ACDI/VOCA was awarded the Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Program (the Program) with a five-year life of project (LOP) from August 30, 2011 through August 29, 2016. While the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Colombia has been working with ethnic minorities for over a decade through its various sectoral programs, this is the first time that a stand-alone program has been developed for the sole purpose of improving the lives of Afro-Colombian and indigenous persons. The purpose of this $61.4 million program is to improve the socioeconomic status of Afro-Colombian and indigenous persons in target areas of Colombia."

CALABAR, NIGERIA DESCENDANTS- CARABALI surname in Colombia/Ecuador,  3/19/2012 Biodiversity Forum: "ON the Southern Pacific coast of 'Colombia' and Northern Pacific coast of Ecuador there's a surname of African origin, it is CARABALI. It is said to be a corruption/or re-saying of the city CALABAR in Nigeria. It is said that these Africans were brought from the port of Calabar and thus given the surname CARABALI. Even till this day when we see the surname CARABALI, a very SSA person is expected behind that surname. I will post pictures of different Carabalis."

Afro-Colombian Women and Public Policy  3/8/2012 Afro-Colombian News: "Nosotras, mujeres afros, negras, raizal y palenqueras, heredera de la herencia ancestral de ORIKA, DE WINNI… hacedoras de vida, como seres sensibles y partícipes de la sociedad, tenemos una gran responsabilidad en el presente y futuro de las sociedades, en la medida en que el reconocimiento de nuestro ser, nuestra identidad, nuestra cosmovisión diversa, nuestro papel en la sociedad generará una dinámica en la cual seamos reconocidas, respetadas y valoradas en todos los niveles."

Wikileaks Cables Reveal Killing Hits Record Levels - Slaughter in Colombia  2/23/2012 CounterPunch: "Thus, in a November 19, 2009 U.S. Embassy Cable, entitled, “2009-2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report,” the U.S. Embassy in Bogota acknowledges, as a mere aside, the horrific truth: 257,089 registered victims of the right-wing paramilitaries. And, as Human Rights Watch just reported in its 2012 annual report on Colombia, these paramilitaries continue to work hand-in-glove with the U.S.-supported Colombian military."

Colombia, Coal & Murder  2/8/2012 CounterPunch: "On the evening of March 12, our delegation met in Bogota with representatives from a number of Colombian mining unions, and listened to their stories of losing union brothers and sisters to murder by right-wing paramilitary groups. As we discovered the next morning, at around the same time we were at this meeting, the two top union leaders at the coal mine of Alabama-based Drummond Company were murdered by paramilitaries in the department of Cesar. Upon learning of these murders, and after hearing of the suspicions of some Colombia unionists that Drummond may have had something to do with them, we went to the U.S. Embassy asking for an investigation into this crime. However, we were quickly shut down by the human rights attaché at the Embassy, Mari Tolliver, who would not even deign to meet us in her office, but instead met us in the cafeteria near the vending machines. Mari, whose ostensible job involved human rights, told us point blank that the Embassy’s job is not to investigate U.S. companies for alleged human rights abuses, but, instead, to facilitate business for them."

Colombian Paramilitary received support of President Uribe's intelligence agency DAS  2/6/2012 Global Research: "The now-demobilized paramilitary organization AUC received the support of Colombia's intelligence agency DAS, and helped the government of former President Alvaro Uribe in a conspiracy to discredit the country's Supreme Court, ex-commander "Don Berna" testifies. In his first testimony before Colombian prosecutors since late 2010, Diego Murillo, alias Don Berna, said that the AUC received protection from the DAS and that Don Berna's subordinates helped coordinate the wiretapping of Uribe's politcal opponents, Supreme Court magistrates, journalists and human rights groups. "Don Berna" news archive According to the senior paramilitary chief, the AUC had been collaborating with the DAS "for a long time." "

Victims Law Decree Fails Afro-Colombian Communities  2/3/2012 NACLA: "President Juan Manuel Santos may have spoiled an historic opportunity to bring some justice in the form of reparations and land restitution to the Afro-descendant victims of Colombia’s internal armed conflict. On December 9, Santos decreed Law 4635, ostensibly creating the means for the Colombian government to compensate and assist Afro-Colombian victims that have been kicked off their land or have suffered during Colombia’s internal conflict. Such a law is essential, as Afro-Colombians have been disproportionably victimized and dispossessed by the violence. Their communities have repeatedly endured forced internal displacement, dozens of massacres, targeted assassination of their leaders, rape of their women and children, and the stigmatization that comes with all these atrocities. However, the Colombian government failed to implement a legitimate process of participation and free, prior, and informed consultation with these groups over the law—a right granted to Afro-descendents both in the Colombian Constitution and in international treaties. Without such consultation with the victims, Law 4635 is just another piece of legislation that has made a mockery of the rights of Afro-descendants."

Cocaine, Death Squads, and the War on Terror  1/15/2012 Monthly Review

“Mona, mona, mona!” Whiteness, tropicality, and international accompaniment in Colombia  1/15/2012 University of British Columbia: "I started thinking about whiteness in Colombia to make sense of how international accompaniment works. Accompaniment is a grassroots security tactic being increasingly used around the world. In a conflict zone some people, particularly certain outsiders, are less likely to be attacked than others. When more privileged bodies walk alongside those under threat they can serve as “unarmed bodyguards”."

Private security and 'the Israelites of Latin America'  1/6/2012 Al-Jazeera: "All of a sudden, the methods that proved efficient in Nablus and Hebron begin speaking Spanish."

Asesinan a alcalde electo en el departamento de Nariño a un día de investidura  1/1/2012 Rebelion: "Padre de cinco hijos, Chatazar fue elegido por el Movimiento de Autoridades Indígenas de Colombia (AIC). El gobernador indígena de Santa Cruz, Servio Bernal, exigió a las autoridades esclarecer el crimen, tras llamar a la comunidad a mantener la calma."

Los Santos de los narco-paramilitares  12/28/2011 Rebelion: "Fachito, llamado así por su alineamiento con la extrema derecha, fue vicepresidente en el gobierno del narcopara Álvaro Uribe Vélez y en el cual se ocupo de disculpar los crímenes de los militares y escuadrones de la muerte, de atacar a las ONGs de derechos humanos y de condenar el narcotráfico, siendo a la vez un adherente del narcoparamilitarismo colombiano. Su hipocresía no le impidió atacar a ciertos actores y modelos por su adicción a la cocaína (omitió a políticos del planeta), olvidando que él mismo fumaba largos porros de marihuana, como el que se fumo junto a su esposa María Victoria en Ámsterdam, cuando en 1997 le concedió una entrevista a la periodista Petra Koning de la revista holandesa VRIJ, para chillar por su suerte de ex secuestrado de los paras, como es su cínica costumbre."

Paramilitares asesinan a Alexa Gómez Polania, líder de los desplazados en Mocoa (Putumayo)  12/27/2011 Rebelion: "La herramienta paramilitar del gran latifundio sigue asesinado a reclamantes de tierras con plena complicidad del Estado colombiano."

Paramilitares causan desplazamiento de 81 familias afrodescendientes por no colaborar  12/26/2011 Rebelion: "Rebelión ha transcrito la entrevista que Contagio Radio realizó al lider comunitario Orlando Pantoja, coordinador de Cococauca. En Colombia no cesa el desplazamiento ni la guerra. Las comunidades de Timbiquí, Cauca, han tenido que desplazarse. Desde el 14 de diciembre se encuentran en el casco urbano de Guapí."

Despojos de tierras: siguen matando a mujeres líderes.-Asesinada líder de los desplazados en Mocoa  12/23/2011 Partido Comminista de Colombia: "Estando en su casa de habitación ubicada en la vereda, las planadas del municipio de Mocoa, fue vilmente asesinada la señora, ALEXA GOMEZ POLANIA, de aproximadamente 35 años madre cabeza de hogar y miembro de la Asociación de desplazados “el Progreso” de la mencionada vereda."

With FTA Secured, Colombia Takes Steps Backwards on Human Rights  12/21/2011 Anarkismo: "On October 12, the same day that the U.S. Congress passed the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a group of over sixty Afro-Colombian victims protested in Bogotá. The marchers, internally displaced leaders from the conflict areas of Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Bolivar, had a clear message, “We are marching for our right to life. The government does not protect us. We are killed, threatened and displaced so that Colombia and outside investors can make a profit off of the natural resources found in our lands. We say no to the U.S.-Colombia FTA.” While it was not uncommon to hear such statements under President Uribe’s reign, it was sobering to hear it under the Santos Administration."

El “padrino” de la Inteligencia Militar colombiana, absuelto en el caso del Palacio de Justicia  12/16/2011 Rebelion: "Un general colombiano absuelto hoy en uno de los casos más infames de derechos humanos del país colaboró “activamente” con escuadrones de la muerte paramilitares responsables de docenas de masacres, según registros estadounidenses hasta ahora secretos obtenidos según la Ley de Libertad de la Información por National Security Archive. Otrora el tercer oficial más importante de las fuerzas armadas colombianas, y posteriormente máximo consejero del Departamento de Seguridad Administrativa (DAS) del presidente Álvaro Uribe, Iván Ramírez Quintero, fue absuelto hoy de la tortura y desaparición de Irma Franco, una de varias personas detenidas por el ejército durante el desastre en el Palacio de Justicia de noviembre de 1985."

Breaking the taboo of sexual violence in Colombia  12/15/2011 Trust Law

Investigación Exhaustiva a los Procesos de Consulta Previa del Gobierno Pide El Proceso de Comunidad  12/9/2011 Renacientes PCN: "El Proceso de Comunidades Negras en Colombia (PCN) pidió al Procurador General de la Nación que investigue todos los llamados procesos de consulta previa conducidos por el gobierno para la aprobación de la Ley de Victimas y el Decreto Ley par alas victimas Afro-descendientes, así como el del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2010-2014. La demanda de la organización llega después que un sinnúmero de Consejos Comunitarios y organizaciones congregadas en La Mesa Afrocolombiana, criticaran severamente estos procesos por ser excluyentes, discriminatorios y llenos de irregularidades. El PCN insiste en su comunicación, también dirigida a la Oficina de Asuntos Afrodecendientes y de Minorías, que lo que el gobierno ha presentado como consulta previa, viola el derecho de los Afrodescendientes a la consulta y consentimiento previo, libre e informado y los principios y protocolos de participación regulados por la Convenio 169 de la OIT y las sentencias de la Corte Constitucional C-891/2002 y C-080/2008."

USAID and Colombia Launch Historic Program to Support Afro-descendant and Indigenous Communities  12/7/2011 USAID: "The program seeks to guarantee human rights, improve governance, provide job skills training and increase awareness and respect of cultural diversity. USAID is investing $61 million dollars into the program that will be implemented in coordination with the Colombian government at the national, departmental and local levels. Traditional authorities of indigenous groups and Afro-descendant organizations will also participate in leadership roles."

Afro-Colombian Victims Ignored in Development of Victims’ Law  11/22/2011 Afro-Colombian News: "Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed Law 1448, better known as the Victims and Land Restitution Law, on June 10, 2011. The law offers a historic opportunity to provide reparations to more than four million victims of the internal armed conflict in Colombia, and the United States has expressed its support by pledging considerable financial and technical support for its implementation. However, if the law fails to include the perspectives of the victims themselves, Law 1448 will deepen the structural disadvantages and obstacles confronting the very people that it intends to help."

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Calls for Inclusion of Afro-Colombian Issues in Victims' Law  11/22/2011 TransAfrica

ACSN Urges the Santos Administration to investigate paramilitary activity and protect the Afro-Colombian communities in Cacarica Chocó  11/20/2011 CRLN: "The Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN)* is concerned for the safety of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities in the Cacarica river basin. The Community for Self-Determination, Life and Dignity of Cacarica (CAVIDA) warns that paramilitaries are mobilizing in nearby towns including Carmen del Darién, Turbo, Apartadó and Chigorodó in order to secure territorial, economic and social control over the civilian population. The presence of illegal armed groups, including the guerrillas and paramilitary groups that did not disarm or give up territorial control of the strategic Darien/Lower Atrato area put the lives of communities at risk. Information provided to CAVIDA indicates that the villages of Vijao and El Limón, and the Humanitarian Zone of Nueva Vida may be targeted."

José Prudencio Padilla: El gigante sacrificado  11/20/2011 El Universal, Colombia: "Hemos escuchado hipnotizados por tanta maravilla informativa y reveladora a la historiadora Aline Helg, de la Universidad de Ginebra (sin duda la que más conoce de manera abrumadora sobre la vida de Padilla), las hazañas y las pequeñeces humanas que perturbaron a este gigante y lo llevaron de manera atroz al sacrificio. Cartagena que puso el mayor número de muertos en la Independencia (los mártires fueron cerca o más de 6 mil cartageneros), no se pronunció sobre la ejecución de Padilla… ¿Por qué los cartageneros no levantaron su voz para defender a Padilla? ¿Por qué el Caribe colombiano se quedó enmudecido ante semejante injusticia que se estaba cometiendo con él? Allí está la gran pregunta que se formula y responde la historiadora Aline Helg, quien afirma que desde los inicios de la guerra contra España, Bolívar estaba obsesionado y prevenido de la repercusión que tendría el poder de los pardos y su impacto en las sociedades de Venezuela y en la Costa, hasta el punto de una repetición de Haití."

Entrevista con Aline Helg: "Hay una nueva conciencia de lo afro entre la gente del Caribe y del Pacífico"  9/25/2011 Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango: "La historiadora suiza Aline Helg está de visita en el país. Antes de emprender un viaje por el Caribe Colombiano con la Expedición Padilla, la autora pasó por la Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango para el lanzamiento de su libro "Libertad e igualdad en el Caribe colombiano 1770-1835", editado en español por el Banco de la República y la Universidad Eafit. En su libro, Helg examina cómo durante los primeros años de la República, cuando se configuró la identidad nacional, se ‘invisibilizó’ a las comunidades afrocaribeñas."

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Calls for Protection of Afro-Colombian Communities in Cacarica, Choco  9/23/2011 TransAfrica: "The Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN)* is concerned for the safety of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities in the Cacarica river basin. The Community for Self-Determination, Life and Dignity of Cacarica (CAVIDA) warns that paramilitaries are mobilizing in nearby towns including Carmen del Darién, Turbo, Apartadó and Chigorodó in order to secure territorial, economic and social control over the civilian population."

Fuelling Fear: displacement in Colombia  9/18/2011 War on Want: "The land seizures taking place in Colombia for biofuel cultivation are not happening in a vacuum. They are directly linked to the increasing global demand for 'green' alternatives to petroleum and a reduction in carbon emissions that harm the environment. In addition to its use as an alternative energy source, palm oil and related products are also used in margarine, crisps, pastries, detergents, soap and toothpaste."

Murders spark palm oil alert  9/18/2011 War on Want: "According to the report, Colombia's armed forces are colluding with right-wing paramilitaries killing hundreds of Afro-Colombians and displacing thousands more to facilitate plantations of palm oil, which originated in Africa. It is claimed that as much as 70 per cent of the population of Nariño's western mountain range in south-west Colombia has been forced off its land as paramilitaries capitalise on biofuels as the alternative to petroleum-based energy. The National Federation of Oil Palm Producers cites Britain as the largest importer of Colombian palm oil, with the UK buying 48.5 per cent of the country's exports."

Colombian Music Festival Keeps Afro-Colombian Culture Alive  9/8/2011 Upside Down World: "Afro-Colombian communities are some of the most susceptible to displacement. Their traditional homelands are often located in remote mountainous regions, which act as ideal hiding places for armed groups fighting over natural resources and drug-trafficking routes. The massive displacement numbers have worried Afro-Colombian leaders who fear they are losing their traditional culture. Together with her band, 'Bongo De Bojaya', Noency traveled to the fifteenth Petronio Alverez music festival in Cali, Southern Colombia. The festival brings together Afro-Colombian communities from across the country, who come to dance, sing and celebrate their unique culture."

The Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN) strongly denounces the following security incidents that have taken place in Afro-Colombian communities since July  8/10/2011 TransAfrica

Connecting Global Communities through Meaningful Cultural Interactions: Reflections on the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival from a Presenter’s Perspective  8/6/2011 Smisthonian Institution: "I also found it remarkable how Xiomara's traditional hair-braiding demonstration drew interest and admiration from an incredibly diverse public, many of them familiar with similar hairstyling and cornrowing techniques despite geographic, cultural and linguistic disparities. For nearly three hours, I watched festival goers watch Xiomara as she methodically reproduced her award-winning design La chirimía chocoana; a hairstyle inspired by the traditional chirimía band of El Choco that featured braided sculptures of the five major musical wind and percussion instruments. In particular, African-American women in the audience nodded their heads in agreement and understanding as Xiomara answered a constant flow of questions about her hair-braiding process and the materials she uses. The familiarity of her craft fostered a sense of camaraderie that traversed linguistic borders, and by the end of the demonstration several observers had personally invited Xiomara to visit renowned local hair-braiding salons in the D.C. area to exchange styling techniques and ideas."

"Yo lo que se de Catalina Loango..."; Orality & Gender in the Caribbean  8/3/2011 Yamila Bauzá

Play Democracy, Hide the Corpses - Business as Usual in Colombia  7/27/2011 CounterPunch: "Not a week goes in Colombia without reports of assassinations and persecution of labor and political activists. Ana Fabricia Cordoba, gender activist and leader of displaced peasants, was shot dead on June 7th inside a street bus, after she foretold her own death due to constant threats and abuses against her family[1]; Manuel Antonio Garces, community leader, afro-descendent activist and candidate for local office in southwestern Colombia received on July 18th a disturbing warning that read "we told you to drop the campaign, next time we'll blow it in your house" next to an inactive hand grenade[2]; Keyla Berrios, leader of Displaced Women's League was murdered last July 22nd , after continuous intimidation of her organization and threats on behalf of death squads linked to Colombian authorities[3], a fact so publicly known after hundreds of former congressman, police and military personnel are either jailed or investigated for colluding with Paramilitaries to steal elections, murder and disappear dissidents, forcefully displace peasants and defraud public treasury, in a criminal network that extends all the way up to former president Alvaro Uribe and his closest aides[4]. The official explanation to these crimes is also well known; Bacrim, an acronym which stands for "Criminal Gangs", a term created from the Colombia establishment including its omnipresent corporate media apparatus to depoliticize the constant violence unleashed against union leaders, peasants and community activists, Human Rights defenders or anyone humane enough to point at the extremely unequal and unjust structures of power and wealth which rely heavily on repression. However, no matter how much effort is put into misleading public opinion about the nature of this violence, the crimes are so systematic and their effects always turning out for the benefit of the elite that a simple class analysis debunks the façade of these "gangs" supposedly acting on their own, and expose the mutual benefit relation between armed thugs and political power in Colombia, an acute representation of present-day fascism in Latinamerica."

New Abuses of Afro-Colombians’ Legal Rights under Santos Administration  7/20/2011 ACSN: "Violence and intimidation tactics continue to undermine the legal framework that defends the rights of Afro-Colombians. Despite possessing collective land rights to more than 5.2 million hectares of land, Afro- Colombians are disproportionately affected by forced displacement. Democratically elected Afro- Colombian Community Councils were created with the purpose of governing the collective territories and playing an important role in defending the right to previous, free, and informed consultation and consent. However, paramilitary groups that collude with large-scale economic projects violently expel Afro- Colombian communities from their collective lands. ACSN has repeatedly denounced various expressions of violence against Afro-Colombian communities and leaders."

New Abuses of Afro-Colombians’ Legal Rights under Santos Administration  7/20/2011 WOLA: "Violence and intimidation tactics continue to undermine the legal framework that defends the rights of Afro-Colombians. Despite possessing collective land rights to more than 5.2 million hectares of land, Afro-Colombians are disproportionately affected by forced displacement. Democratically elected Afro-Colombian Community Councils were created with the purpose of governing the collective territories and playing an important role in defending the right to previous, free, and informed consultation and consent. However, paramilitary groups that collude with large-scale economic projects violently expel Afro-Colombian communities from their collective lands. ACSN has repeatedly denounced various expressions of violence against Afro-Colombian communities and leaders. Despite domestic and international awareness of the systematic destruction of Afro-Colombian communities’ rights, the threats and violence continue."

Nuevas Amenazas para Líderes del PCN y al Representante Legal del Consejo Comunitario de La Toma.  7/18/2011 Renacientes PCN: "El Equipo de Derechos Humanos del Proceso de Comunidades Negras en Colombia PCN y las demás organizaciones sociales y de derechos humanos firmantes denuncian ante la comunidad nacional e internacional los siguientes hechos que ponen en grave riesgo la vida e integridad física de los miembros del PCN y los derechos las comunidades."

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Condemns Ongoing Human Rights Abuses in Colombia  5/26/2011 WOLA: "This level of ongoing violence and abuse in Colombia is unacceptable especially at a time when the Obama Administration has announced that it plans to move forward with the FTA ."

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Condemns Ongoing Human Rights Abuses in Colombia  5/26/2011 WOLA: "On May 22, clashes between FARC and military forces broke out in Bete, Palo Blanco and Mercedes in the Middle Atrato, Choco, Colombia. The violence led to the killing of three civilians and wounding of three civilians as well as the retention and isolation of over two hundred members of the community. This most recent attack comes on the heels of a larger humanitarian crisis impacting more than thirty thousand Afro-Colombian and Indigenous civilians confined throughout the Middle Atrato."

Re-demobilized Colombian paramilitaries to sign Free Trade Agreement with U.S.  5/5/2011 Pulse: "When we reached the center of Barichara, the campesinos veered toward the church and my mom and I bought a copy of the day’s El Espectador, which contained a report on the WikiLeaks release of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá confirming awareness of complaints that palm oil producers had contracted paramilitaries to illegally displace Afro-Colombian communities from their land in the department of Chocó. Of course, the palm oil-paramilitary team-up was already publicized in the mainstream media years ago, as was Uribe’s role in promoting the crop as a biofuel."

Afro-Colombians Under Attack  5/1/2011 Solidarity: "Like 90% of the population of the Chocó region, the people of Bojayá are descendents of Africans who were brought as slaves to Colombia and who worked on extractive industries of mining, forest resources and fishing. Since manumission in 1851 Afro-Colombians have been incorporated into the Colombian nation through systems of racial hierarchies and structural racism that have materially marginalized and legally silenced them. Today, the Afro-Colombian population has some of the worst social indicators in Colombia, demonstrating extreme disparities between Afro-Colombians and the rest of the population. For instance, the annual per capita income of Afro-Colombians is between U.S. $500-$600, while the national average is $1500. Additionally 74% of the Afro-Colombian population makes less than minimum wage. These disparities are reflected in both health and education indicators as well. For Afro-Colombians infant mortality is 10-50% higher than the national average and life expectancy is 10-30% lower. Illiteracy is 43% for Afro-Colombians in rural areas while it is 23% for other rural populations."

Palmeros y el fantasma paramilita  4/24/2011 El Espectador: "El conflicto por la propiedad de la tierra en las regiones de Curvaradó y Jiguamiandó y la extensión de cultivos de palma africana en estos territorios del Chocó, constituye uno de los dilemas más significativos para la sociedad colombiana en el contexto de la lucha por los derechos humanos. La prueba de ello es que entre 2007 y 2009, al menos en once ocasiones la Embajada de Estados Unidos en Colombia remitió cables diplomáticos a Washington detallando este problema y dejando ver las dificultades para solucionarlo por la polarización de sus protagonistas." [Links to wikileaks cables]

The Invisible War Against Afro-Colombians  3/16/2011 Americas Quarterly: "This comes despite the de-escalation of Colombia’s three decade-long drug war. Still today armed militias are active and using terror tactics to expel Afro-Colombians from their ancestral territory. The reason is that the land is so valuable. It is considered among the richest in the world in terms of natural, exploitable resources, including oil, timber and minerals. Groups like the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), which can no longer generate enough income from drug trafficking and kidnapping, are turning to mining, both legal and illegal, along the Pacific Coast to finance weapons sales, according to President Juan Manuel Santos. With gold at near record levels, neo-paramilitary groups appear to be cashing in on this business as well."

Ex senadora Piedad Córdoba anuncia que trabajará en la producción de 12 programas para Telesur  3/13/2011 Aporrea

Israel Ziv helps Colombia battle FARC  2/23/2011 Youtube: So helpful, they were caught selling info to the FARC in order to play both sides.

Wikileaks Assange doesn't trust Venezuelan media … signs with Colombia  2/22/2011 Headline

RawFeed: WikiLeaks Casts Old Light on New Problem  2/22/2011 Insight Crime: "One cable (reproduced below), sent to Washington from the U.S. Embassy in Bogota in November 2006, discusses a meeting between high-level Colombian government and military officials and the Organization of American States’ Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP). The body presented a report on some 22 “criminal structures associated with former demobilized paramilitaries,” which “have survived military and police operations to dismantle them.” According to the cable the report paid particular attention to gangs formed by former mid-level paramilitaries from the AUC’s so-called Northern Bloc, whose organizations, it says, “remain largely intact.”"

RawFeed: Bishop Talks Truce Between Rival Colombian Gangs  2/8/2011 Insight Crime: "Bishop Julio Cesar Vidal, who was one of the observers of the peace talks between the government and paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC) in the early 2000s, told InSight that he has been in touch with “the top levels” of command of drug-trafficking groups, including the Rastrojos, the Urabeños, the Paisas and the Aguilas Negras, about negotiating a “nationwide” disarmament."

Choquibtown afirma que Colombia es racista  2/8/2011 People: "El grupo afrocolombiano nominado al GRAMMY anglo como Mejor Álbum de Rock Alternativo de Latinoamérica denunció discriminación en su país; piden que no los llamen negros."

Colombia asks Israel to extradite mercenary convicted of training drug assassins  1/27/2011 AP: "Colombia asked Israel on Thursday to extradite former Israeli army Lt. Col. Yair Klein, who was convicted by a Colombian court and sentenced in absentia to nearly 11 years in prison for training drug lords' assassins in the late 1980s. "The evidence (against Klein) is conclusive," Interior Minister German Vargas told a news conference, saying the formal request had been made in Tel Aviv by Colombia's embassy there. "For the Colombian government it is essential that this sentence is completed and that this citizen clarify his participation in the organization and training of these groups."

Venezuela arrests 'Aguilas Negras commander'  1/23/2011 Colombia Reports: "Venezuela on Sunday claimed it arrested the leader of Colombian neo-paramilitary group "Aguilas Negras" in the northwestern city of Maracaibo. According to Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami, the arrested suspect is Victor Gonzalez Sierra, leader of the feared Aguilas Negras and wanted in Colombia for "various homicides." "This is a heavy blow to criminal drug trafficking organizations and this group trying to use our territory to escape justice of other governments," Venezuelan state radio quoted the minister as saying."

Ex subdirector del DAS dió la información que provocó el secuestro de Piedad Córdoba  1/23/2011 Contrainjerencia

Aguilas Negras  1/23/2011 InSight Crime

Gobernador desmiente versiones acerca del retraso voluntario de los proyectos de vivienda raizal  1/21/2011 RCN

La Corte ordena suspender proyecto vial en Barú  1/13/2011 Caracol: "La Corte Constitucional a través de una tutela ordeno suspender la construcción y mejoramiento de la vía transversal de Baru al considerar que no fue consultada la comunidad afro en esa región."

Alias ‘el Iguano’ aceptará su responsabilidad en la comisión de 150 homicidios en el Chocó durante 1998 y 1999  1/11/2011 Agencia Prensa Rural

Afro-Colombian Farmers on Displacement and Resistance  1/5/2011 Upside Down World: "Activists working on behalf of Colombia’s internally displaced population are subjected to extrajudicial killings and death threats by paramilitary groups supported by the Colombian army and palm oil firms active in rural areas, Sanchez and Guzman report. "They say we're guerrillas and that they're going to kill us," says Sanchez."

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Statement  11/3/2010 Pan-African News Wire: "Paramilitaries Threaten Afro-Colombians that Recently Advocated for Human Rights at the OAS and U.S. Congress."

Denuncian el asesinato de 22 defensores de derechos humanos en los primeros 75 días de Santos  10/23/2010 Afrodescendientes

Participe de la quinta versión de la semana raizal en Bogotá  10/20/2010 Samuelalcalde

Congress requests extradition of Israeli mercenary  9/23/2010 Colombia Reports: "Colombia has previously requested that Klein be extradited to the South American country, where he is accused of creating training camps for private armies that worked for drug lords, including the infamous Pablo Escobar. These groups later developed into Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups. Colombia's request was denied in April, with the European Court citing human rights concerns as the reason Klein would not be delivered to Colombian authorities. The former Israeli army lieutenant colonel was convicted in absentia by a Colombian court in 2001 for training illegal armed groups in the 1980s. He was sentenced to ten years and eight months in a Colombian jail. Klein was arrested at Moscow's Domodedovo airport in August 2007 on an arrest warrant issued by Colombia through international police agency Interpol. The Israeli remains in detention in Russia."

Colombia: Paramilitares dominan territorios y expulsan comunidades negras e indígenas  9/16/2010 Aporrea: "La actuación de un grupo paramilitar en los límites y en el territorio de Calima, en Colombia, está perturbando y perjudicando la vida de las poblaciones afro-colombianas e indígenas que residen en el lugar. Desde julio, los paramilitares están realizando operaciones armadas, amedrentando y amenazando a la población, realizando desalojos forzados, aislando a la población y cometiendo asesinatos. Dos meses después, el estado no dio ninguna repuesta ante tan grave situación."

Thirty-four Colombian tribes face extinction, says UN report  9/6/2010 Survival: "Just two weeks before the report was released, leader Luis Socarrás Pimienta of the Wayúu tribe was shot-dead by an alleged paramilitary outside his home in the northern Colombian province of la Guajira. According to the report, murders of indigenous Colombians rose by 63% between 2008 and 2009, and thirty-three members of Colombia’s Awa tribe were killed in 2009 alone."

270 nuevas familias raizales para el proyecto Seaflowers Keepers  9/3/2010 RNC, Colombia: "270 nuevas familias entraron al proyecto. El monitoreo y seguimiento lo realizará bimestralmente la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (UNODC). El proyecto impulsa líneas productivas en pesca artesanal, apicultura, agricultura y artesanías."

504 familias raizales de San Andrés le apuesten a la legalidad con ayuda de Acción Social  8/23/2010 Republica de Colombia: "Acción Social entrega incentivos económicos condicionados por 113 millones de pesos para las 504 familias isleñas que se capacitan en pesca artesanal, apicultura, agricultura y artesanías. La Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (Unodc) certificó su compromiso en la legalidad y productividad."

Colombian court blocks military agreement with U.S.  8/17/2010 CNN: "The court ruled that the agreement over use of the bases was not an extension of treaties signed between the two nations in the past, but a new treaty that requires the approval of the legislature to be valid. "It's certainly a big bump in the road, but it's not a huge setback," Adam Isacson, senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America organization told CNN. The congressional make-up is about 80 percent backers of current president Juan Manuel Santos and former President Alvaro Uribe, who was in office when the agreement was signed, Isacson said. So congressional approval could come quickly."

“La Tramacúa”: Colombia’s Abu Ghraib  8/17/2010 NarcoNews

Mr. Erdogan: Please Say No to Uribe  8/17/2010 Uruknet: "We are writing to you from under a brutal, hermetic siege now entering its fourth year to express our outrage against the nomination of the notorious former president of Columbia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez to the Panel of Inquiry into the May 31, 2010 Israeli brutal attack on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza. Mr. Prime Minister, it is an insult to the memory of those killed in the Israeli massacre against peace activists aboard the Mavi Marmara to have their blood "redeemed" by a man who has a record of violations against human rights and international law. Uribe Vélez was an accomplice in corruption and crimes against humanity in Columbia. Lately, he supported the displacement of Afro-Colombian families from their ancestral territories in La Toma, Suarez and kept silent against the denial of their economic and territorial rights. Not only so, but is a devoted Zionist, committed to the myth and fabrication of "Israel’s security."

Colombia and Venesuela Rattle Their Sabres - Uribe's Parting Shot  8/4/2010 CounterPunch

Operation False Positive - Behind the Colombia / Venezuela Tensions  8/3/2010 CounterPunch: "“False positive” is the name given to the Colombian armed forces operation that murdered civilians and then dressed them up in insurgent uniforms in order to demonstrate the success of the army’s counterinsurgency strategy, thus winning more aid from the U.S. According to the human rights organizations Comision de Derechos Homanos del Bajo Ariari and Colectivo Orlando Fals Borda, some 2,000 civilians have been murdered under the program. The bodies at La Macarena have not been identified yet, but suspicion is that they represent victims of the “false-positive” program, as well as rural activists and trade unionists. The incoming Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, was defense secretary when the murders were talking place. Santos also oversaw a brief invasion of Ecuador in 2008 that reportedly killed a number of insurgents. The invasion was widely condemned throughout Latin America."

Lideres raizales mañana marcharan por las calle de san andres , para prostestar por las inmovilizaciones de motocicletas  7/29/2010 RNC, Colombia: "El ciudadano Raizal Carlos Piusy en denuncias entregadas a los diferentes medios de comunicación señalo que la policía de carretera ha establecido persecución a los motociclistas de la isla. Según lo expresado por piusy las motocicletas le solicitan documentos que todavía no están socializado por el gobierno y lo agentes de manera drástica inmovilizan el vehículo moto y no los taxis ni vehículos particulares camiones que ya cumplieron su ciclo."

US Denies Visa to Colombian Journalist  7/9/2010 Common Dreams: "The U.S. government has denied a visa to a prominent Colombian journalist who specializes in conflict and human rights reporting to attend a prestigious fellowship at Harvard University. Hollman Morris, who produces an independent TV news program called "Contravia," has been highly critical of ties between illegal far-right militias and allies of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in Latin America. The curator of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard, which has offered the mid-career fellowships since 1938, said Thursday that a consular official at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota told him Morris was ruled permanently ineligible for a visa under the "Terrorist activities" section of the USA Patriot Act... "We were very surprised. This has never happened before," said the Nieman curator, Bob Giles."

How African music made it big in Colombia  7/8/2010 Guardian: "Now Da Silva is making a new record with Carbonó, while two compilations – Palenque Palenque on Soundway and The Afro Sound of Colombia on Vampisoul – are introducing the rest of the world to champeta. But why did Colombians love African music so much in the first place? "This music had a big success in Colombia because of the large black population along the coast, and the African culture that's strong here," Carbóno replies."

El jefe de los escuadrones de la muerte gana las elecciones colombianas  7/1/2010 Afrodescendientes

What are Colombian agents doing in the EU?  6/28/2010 PressEurop

FTR #708 Going Deep with Daniel Hopsicker  6/2/2010 Spitfire List: "We received further confirmation after we tracked down a former drug pilot for The Company who spoke with us on condition of anonymity. He had flown with Guzman, he said, “at least a hundred” flights to Colombia from the Venice Airport. We had no trouble believing him. His name and involvement with the group is well-chronicled in news reports from the time. After a conviction for drug trafficking 30 years ago, his life has returned to normal, he said. Today he is a respected businessman in a city not far from Venice. “Frank came from Cuba when Castro came to power,” he confirmed. “He had ties to a former Cuban President Carlos Prio. Along with other Cuban exiles he participated in the Bay of Pigs, then worked with the CIA during the 1960’s.” “Venice was a kind of quiet Mena (Arkansas),” said our pilot informant."

Todos somos afrodescendientes  5/31/2010 Territorio Chocoano: "Es indispensable conocer nuestros ancestros, es decir, saber de dónde venimos, porque casi nadie reconoce que gracias al trabajo de los africanos y sus descendientes fue posible el desarrollo del país y el crecimiento del capitalismo. Los lucros de la producción formada por el trabajo esclavo llevaron al proceso de industrialización de Europa, continente que se ha beneficiado por el consumismo de todos los suramericanos y mediante el cual se avanzó hacia el modo de producción capitalista que luego se desarrolló en Colombia."

Raizales complacidos por ley que reconoce su tradición lingüística  4/14/2010 RNC, Colombia: "La consultiva de alto nivel Ofelia Livingston se mostró complacida por la divulgación de la 13 81 de 2010 por la cual se desarrollan varios artículos de la constitución política que aprueba el convenio 169 de la OIT sobre pueblos indígenas y tribales y se dictan normas sobre reconocimiento, fomento, protección, uso, preservación y fortalecimiento de las lenguas de los grupos étnicos de Colombia y sobre sus derechos lingüísticos y los de sus habitantes."

Wealthy Colombian businessman is a drug-trafficker, CIA operative alleges  3/21/2010 NarcoNews: “Colombia exports $100 billion or more in drugs each year and everyone that has been arrested accounts for only a very small amount of that retrieved [by the authorities],” Vega claims. “And they [the Colombian narco-traffickers now in control] have been working for 10 to 15 years making $100 billion a year, so where is all that money?”

San Andrés: 16 jóvenes raizales desaparecidos tendrían nexos con narcos  3/9/2010 Agencia Prensa Rural

Uribe pagó deuda perpetua  3/6/2010 Aporrea: "Y la razón de tanta impunidad es que Narco-Uribe 82 no se opuso como Noriega e incluso facilitó todos los medios a su alcance para que USA alcanzara sus fatídicos designios y lograra apoderarse de Colombia para dañar a Venezuela. Fue para saldar su deuda personal de narcotraficante que Uribe Vélez aceptó la jugada maestra del asesino Bush, artimaña maligna que hoy aplauden el conchabado de la Casa Blanca -Obama- y la próxima candidata demócrata a la presidencia de los estados unidos, Hilary Clinton. Porque el poder imperial norteamericano se regocija hoy por la ocupación militar que viola el honor y la soberabía de la hermana república neocolonizada."

Colombia Mimes CIA - Students as Spies  2/16/2010 CounterPunch: "The police and armed forces, of course, are institutions whose crimes have been many and varied on Uribe’s watch, as evidenced by the “false positives” scandal in 2008, in which it came to light that since 2002, the Colombian army has given officers and soldiers incentives and rewards to disappear and murder perhaps 1,700 unemployed young men across the country and dress them up to look like guerrillas. In January, 46 officers and soldiers charged with these crimes were freed on a technicality and confined to a base just south of Bogotá, where they will remain awaiting trial. The army gave them a welcome-home party featuring therapeutic workshops and aromatherapy, massages and makeovers for their wives, and clowns for the kids. This is the army that has received the bulk of the $7 billion that the U.S. government has dispensed through Plan Colombia and its successors under Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama."

Corporate Death Squads Come Back to Haunt U.S. Companies  2/16/2010 Huffington Post: "One of the ex-paramilitaries -- Jose Gregorio Mangones Lugo (aka "Carlos Tijeras") -- was the former commander of the William Rivas Front of the United Defense Forces ("AUC") -- the group that operated in northern Columbia, in the zone where the companies and their suppliers grew bananas. In a sworn statement Tijeras described the AUC's relationship with the multinational banana companies as "an open public relationship" involving everything from "security services" to the kidnapping and extrajudicial assassination of labor leaders fingered by the companies as "security problems." Tijeras' statement -- which reads like the confessions of a corporate death squad leader and directly refutes his paymasters' version of events -- has now been entered into the record in a case filed against Dole last April in California by attorneys with Conrad and Scherer."

Organización de raizales fuera del archipiélago inician actividades para el 2010  2/3/2010 RNC, Colombia

Obama's War for Oil in Colombia  1/27/2010 CounterPunch

COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SOURS ON ISRAELI DEFENSE FIRM  12/1/2009 Cablesearch.org: "GOC officials have expressed security concerns about Global CST in the past, and found it difficult to work with a private firm on national security matters as they were prevented from sharing USG intelligence with them. In February 2008, CNP sources reported that a GLOBAL CST interpreter, Argentine-born Israeli national Shai Killman, had made copies of classified Colombian Defense Ministry documents in an unsuccessful attempt to sell them to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) through contacts in Ecuador and Argentina. The documents allegedly contained high value target (HVT) database information. Ziv denied this attempt and sent Killman back to Israel."

Suspected Colombian paramilitary leader Magaly Moreno captured in Venezuela  11/21/2009 LA Times: "A woman described by Venezuelan authorities as an important leader of a Colombian paramilitary group has been captured, the justice minister said today. Interpol had called for the arrest of Magaly Janeth Moreno Vega, who was wanted by Colombian officials on homicide charges, said Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami. He referred to the 39-year-old suspect as a paramilitary chief for the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC... Moreno previously worked as an investigator for Colombian prosecutors and was detained with her boss several years ago on accusations of aiding militias, according to news reports. Moreno was convicted on conspiracy charges tied to various crimes after she acknowledged working for paramilitary boss Jorge Ivan Laverde, who has said he participated in the killings of more than 2,000 people, the Associated Press reported."

Aline Helg (Parte 1) - Mesa Redonda "Raza e Independencia"  10/19/2009 Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Colombia: Video YouTube

Aline Helg (Parte 2) - Mesa Redonda "Raza e Independencia"  10/19/2009 Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Colombia: Video YouTube

VII Conversatorio Empresarial para el Progreso Afro en la Cámara de Comercio Colombo Americana, sobre convocatorias de Fomipyme  10/13/2009 El Tiempo: "Se realizará el jueves 22 de octubre, organizado por Color de Colombia y AmCham, a propósito de la convocatoria abierta por $ 1737 millones para proyectos que beneficien a la población afrodescendiente."

Neoliberalism Needs Death Squads in Colombia  9/3/2009 Upside Down World: "In recent years, a variety of human rights organizations, as well as mainstream academics and journalists have found it impossible to ignore the astronomical human rights violations. However, even though these groups have accurately reported on the actual atrocities, Jasmin Hristov argues that in their reports, the atrocities are largely de-contextualized from the powerful forces in Colombia and the US that directly benefit from this repression. According to Hristov, this mainstream presentation serves to mask the fact that US and Colombian elites directly support (via funding, training, supervising, and providing legal immunity for) state repression carried out by the police and military, as well as illegal paramilitary groups that are unofficially sanctioned by the government. Whether it is murdering labor organizers or displacing an indigenous community because a US corporation wants to drill for oil on their land, Hristov passionately asserts that death squad violence is purposefully directed towards sectors of society that stand in the way of the ruling class’s efforts to maintain economic dominance and acquire more resources to make even more profit. In her book, Hristov makes a a convincing argument that Colombia’s notorious death squads are inherently linked to maintenance of the country’s extreme economic inequality. Particularly since the neoliberal reforms of the 1990s that have increased poverty, Colombia’s poor continue to resist their oppression in many different ways. In response, state repression on a variety of levels is needed to terrorize unarmed social movements and other community groups and activists."

Colombia: The Embera Struggle to Save a Sacred Mountain  8/18/2009 Upside Down World

US military base plan fuels Latin American tensions  8/11/2009 VoltaireNet: "Washington and Bogota have cast the agreement as a response to the shutdown of the US air base in Manta, Ecuador by the government of President Rafael Correa. That facility was ostensibly dedicated to anti-drug trafficking operations. The scope of the US-Colombian pact and both the number and location of the bases involved, however, indicate that Washington is pursuing far wider regional objectives. The Bogota daily El Tiempo, pointed out, “The absence of an airfield close to the Pacific, through which the principal drug-trafficking routes pass is noteworthy.” The Manta base was on the Pacific coast of Ecuador."

En Colombia se movilizaron contra bases yanquis  8/6/2009 Aporrea: "En Barranquilla más de dos mil personas se concentraron este miércoles 5 de agosto frente a la gobernación del Departamento del Atlántico para repudiar la instalación de bases militares estadounidenses en Colombia. La jornada fue organizada por la Gran Coalición Democrática, destacándose las delegaciones de las centrales obreras CUT y UTRAL-CGT, el Polo Democrático Alternativo, las asociaciones de pensionados, organizaciones estudiantiles de la Universidad del Atlántico y de colegios de secundaria, comerciantes estacionarios, Comité de Base de la Salud, Casa Anfictiónica, entre otras."

US Escalates War Plans In Latin America - US Military: After Iraq, Latin America  7/23/2009 Global Research

Reparaciones para negros, afrocolombianos y raizales  7/12/2009 Actualidad Etnica: "El artículo 'Reparaciones para negros, afrocolombianos y raizales como rescatados de la Trata Negrera Transatlántica y desterrados de la guerra en Colombia,' escrito por Claudia Mosquera Rosero-Labbé, hace un análisis del multiculturalismo esquemático que se está implementando en el país desde hace quince años con la Constitución de 1991."

Canada: Colombian president clashes with NDP, Bloc MPs  6/11/2009 Toronto Sun

Two Colombian Generals Face Charges  6/8/2009 Consortium News: "In July, 2003, just before Urapalma's USAID application, Colombia's national daily El Tiempo reported that "the African palm projects in the southern banana region of Uraba are dripping with blood, misery, and corruption." The region is where Urapalma is active. The Nation article goes on to report that in 2003, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights singled out Urapalma for collusion with paramilitaries in these words: "Since 2001, the company Urapalma SA has initiated cultivation of the oil palm on approximately 1,500 hectares of the collective land of these communities, with the help of 'the perimetric and concentric armed protection of the Army's Seventeenth Brigade and armed civilians'", i.e., paras. All of the above, of course, has gone on by fleecing American taxpayers, courtesy of SOA and USAID."

The Dark Side of Plan Colombia  5/27/2009 The Nation: "In addition to the $161,000 granted to Coproagrosur, USAID also awarded $650,000 to Gradesa, a palm company with two accused paramilitary-linked narco-traffickers on its board of directors. A third palm company, Urapalma, also accused of links with paramilitaries, nearly won approval for a grant before its application stalled because of missing paperwork. Critics say such grants defeat the antidrug mission of Plan Colombia. "Plan Colombia is fighting against drugs militarily at the same time it gives money to support palm, which is used by paramilitary mafias to launder money," says Colombian Senator Gustavo Petro, an outspoken critic of the palm industry. "The United States is implicitly subsidizing drug traffickers."

Informe del Movimiento Nacional Afrocolombiano CIMARRON sobre la situación de derechos humanos de la población afrocolombiana (1994-2004)  4/7/2009 EIP: publicado en 2004

Elecciones regionales de Colombia de 2007  4/7/2009 Wikipedia: tiene lista de miembros ganadores del partido Movimiento Nacional Afrocolombiano

The Colombian Government ‘s SECRET PLAN for San Andres, Providence and Ketlina Islands  3/6/2009 AMEN: Released by THE SONS OF THE SOIL (S.O.S.) MOVEMENT

Gobierno calumnia al movimiento raizal, AMEN-SD responde  3/3/2009 Actualidad Etnica: "El 22 de Diciembre de 2007, el periódico El Espectador publicó un polémico articulo titulado ‘Rastreo a protestas raizales' donde se acusa al movimiento Archipiélago Movement for Ethnic Native Self-Determination (AMEN-SD) de recibir dineros del narcotráfico. En el polémico artículo se hacen acusaciones directas al movimiento de tener relaciones financieras con ‘Los Mellos', una familia que ejerce el trafico de estupefacientes en la Isla. De igual forma el artículo hace referencia a un informe que confirma la información y a diferentes pruebas que constatan la relación que se afirma: AMEN-SD tiene con el narcotráfico…"

PRESIDENT URIBE APPROVES THE "STRATEGIC LEAP"  3/2/2009 Cablesearch.org: "Working groups met regularly in 2007-2008 to develop policies in these areas. The MOD considered USG participation critical to this effort and included Embassy officials in the meetings--despite initial resistance by GLOBAL CST to the USG presence."

AFROAMERICA XXI  1/12/2009 AfroAmerica 21

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Colombia in the News Archive: 2009-2014

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