Colombia orders political boss arrested

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Mar. 02, 2007
Colombia orders political boss arrested
Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian prosecutors on Friday ordered the arrest of a prominent political boss for alleged involvement in a kidnapping at the heart of a scandal tying Colombia's political elite to right-wing paramilitary groups.

Alvaro Araujo Noguera's arrest was ordered after his daughter, Maria Consuelo Araujo, was forced to resign as Colombia's foreign minister last week. Her brother, Sen. Alvaro Araujo Castro, was jailed earlier on charges of colluding with the illegal paramilitaries and orchestrating the kidnapping of a political rival - the same crime to which his father was linked.

The Supreme Court had earlier recommended that prosecutors investigate the father, a former congressman and agriculture minister from the northern state of Cesar.

Araujo Noguera's indictment is the latest blow to the government of President Alvaro Uribe, which has struggled to deflect criticism over its own alleged ties to the far-right militias.

Several close allies - including the former head of Uribe's intelligence agency and eight congressmen - were arrested for conspiring with the paramilitaries, which are responsible for some of the worst massacres in Colombia's five-decade civil conflict, widespread land theft and much of the country's cocaine trade.
(snip/)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16819941.htm

"Plan Colombia ... Plan of Death"
Article and photos by Linda Panetta

- This article was originally posted in 2001 and revised in 2006 -
A shorter version (9 pages) was published in the 2006 McGraw-Hill college textbook:
"Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Latin American Issues."

~snip~
Near the conclusion of our meeting with de Francisco, we handed him hundreds of pages of data that were given to us by community leaders in the Putumayo. The data documented over 1,000 hectares of subsistence crops that had been decimated and hundreds of animals, primarily livestock, which had been killed by the fumigations. Once again de Francisco attempted to sweep aside our reports, stating that he had heard of such stories but believed that they were greatly exaggerated. But this time, I confronted him with actual video footage I had taken from the Putumayo region. The video clearly revealed the extent of the devastation to the food crops and forests. The more he viewed the footage, the more the truth was revealed before his own eyes, and the less he could argue the points he had begun to make. Obviously taken aback by what I had shown him, he assured us that he would look more seriously into the situation and assured me that the farmers would be compensated for their losses. Unfortunately, in the months that followed our meeting with de Francisco, we received reports from the residents in the Putumayo that no government official had contacted them or investigated the reports, and no reparations had been made.

The Paramilitary: Many people with whom we met told horror stories about abductions, tortures and massacres by the paramilitaries. One woman lost four of her brothers after they were targeted and killed by paramilitary forces because they had advocated against the violence. I was also shown photos of a murderous rampage committed by the paramilitary in which bodies were mutilated: faces were mauled; there were several decapitations, and bodies were cut in two with propaganda stuffed in the severed torsos warning that more massacres would ensue if people tried to return to their homes. This community had no ties to the opposition forces; the paramilitary perpetrated this violence simply to incite terror and fear and to garner respect in the region.

Over and over again, it was confirmed by the people in the Putumayo that the military and paramilitary are a unified force and act with 100 percent impunity. This was illustrated by the clasping of hands to show that the two were an interwoven and indistinguishable force. Even the US Dept of State in a report released March 2006 states: "Impunity for military personnel who collaborated with members of paramilitary groups remained a problem... Paramilitaries committed numerous political and unlawful killings… local politicians, human rights activists, indigenous leaders, labor leaders, and others who threatened to interfere with their criminal activities, showed leftist sympathies, or were suspected of collaboration with the FARC."
(snip/...)

http://opticalrealities.org/Putumayo/PlanColombia.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia orders arrest of regional political boss for alleged paramilitary ties

Colombia orders arrest of regional political boss for alleged paramilitary ties
By Joshua Goodman
ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:31 a.m. March 2, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia – Prosecutors on Friday ordered the arrest of a prominent political boss for alleged involvement in a kidnapping at the heart of a scandal tying Colombia's political elite to right-wing paramilitary groups.
Alvaro Araujo Noguera's indictment came less than two weeks after his daughter, Maria Consuelo Araujo, was forced to resign as Colombia's foreign minister.

Her brother, Sen. Alvaro Araujo Castro, is already jailed on charges of colluding with illegal paramilitaries and orchestrating the kidnapping of a political rival – the same crime for which his father is wanted.
(snip)

Araujo Noguera's indictment is the latest blow to President Alvaro Uribe's government, which has struggled to deflect criticism over its own alleged ties to the far-right militias.
(snip)

Ordered by the regional paramilitary boss, the kidnapping succeeded in forcing the rival clan to withdraw its candidate from a congressional race, thus allowing the Araujos to further consolidate power.

An AP photographer is married to Araujo Noguera's daughter, the former foreign minister.
(snip)

Colombia is the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid outside the Middle East – more than $700 million a year in anti-narcotic and counterinsurgency aid – and Uribe is the staunchest Latin American ally of President Bush, who is scheduled to visit March 11.
(snip/)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070302-1131-colombia-paramilitaryscandal.html

On edit:

I wonder what this news tells us about the quality of news we can expect to get from Colombia, when Uribe's own foreign minister's husband is an AP photographer there? Holy smokes! (As if we didn't know, anyway, that AP slants HARD right in Latin America and the Caribbean, even in their pathetic headline writing.)

[donkeyotay]

3. No one seems interested in this story. Maybe it will have a higher profile

after bush's tour. Bet he'll be greeted with flowers for bringing them democracy. Our tax dollars at work:

Colombia is the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid outside the Middle East – more than $700 million a year in anti-narcotic and counterinsurgency aid – and Uribe is the staunchest Latin American ally of President Bush, who is scheduled to visit March 11.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Greeted with flowers? No doubt! He's bringing them (right-wingers) billions. Is that odd, or WHAT?

New day, new story:

Last Updated: Saturday, 3 March 2007, 07:04 GMT

Colombia political scandal widens



Ms Araujo resigned as her father and brother were investigated

Colombian prosecutors have ordered the arrest of the father of an ex-minister following an inquiry into links between politicians and right-wing militias.
Alvaro Araujo Noguera, a prominent former politician, is charged with helping to kidnap a political rival.

His daughter, Maria Consuelo Araujo, resigned as foreign minister when her brother was accused of the same crime.

Several allies of President Alvaro Uribe have recently been arrested over alleged ties to paramilitary groups.

Colombia's former intelligence chief was also charged last week with murder and collaborating with right-wing militias.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6414507.stm

[struggle4progress]

2. Colombia orders arrest of ex-minister's father (Reuters)

02 Mar 2007 20:06:21 GMT
Source: Reuters

... President Alvaro Uribe is fending off the growing scandal after his former security police chief and eight congressional allies, including Araujo's son, were arrested on charges they colluded with the militias.

"(Araujo) has an arrest warrant out for the same crime that his son is being investigated for," an attorney general's office spokeswoman said ...

Paramilitary leaders often bragged about their political contacts, and rights groups for years charged that politicians and military officers worked with the militias. But the current probe is revealing the depth of paramilitary influence.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02228999.htm

[donkeyotay]

5. War on terra and human rights activists, labor leaders, those that showed leftist sympathies...

Even the US Dept of State in a report released March 2006 states: "Impunity for military personnel who collaborated with members of paramilitary groups remained a problem... Paramilitaries committed numerous political and unlawful killings… local politicians, human rights activists, indigenous leaders, labor leaders, and others who threatened to interfere with their criminal activities, showed leftist sympathies, or were suspected of collaboration with the FARC."

Drugs. I understand the poppy bidness in Afghanistan is being run by the Taliban...

I'm really curious to see how bushco's visit goes next week.