Venezuelan authorities confirm arrest of Colombian drug lord

[Judi Lynn]

Source: El Universal - Opposition newspaper

Venezuelan authorities confirm arrest of Colombian drug lord
CARACAS, Tuesday July 06, 2010

Renter�a Mantilla, 65, is considered one of the last kingpins of Norte del Valle, a powerful Colombian drug cartel. The US Department of State had offered a USD 5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution

Colombian drug lord Renter�a Mantilla, aka "Beto Renter�a," was arrested in Venezuela in a police raid whose details will be revealed by Venezuelan authorities in the next hours, official sources told Efe on Tuesday.

Renter�a Mantilla, 65, is considered one of the last kingpins of Norte del Valle, a powerful Colombian drug cartel. The US Department of State had offered a USD 5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.

Government sources consulted by Efe did not provide any details about the arrest of the drug baron. However, they said that Venezuelan authorities would disclose details in the next hours.

Norte del Valle drug cartel replaced the Cali drug cartel in southwestern Colombia.




Read more: http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/07/06/en_pol_esp_venezuelan-authoriti_06A4141651.shtml

---

http://www.cambio.com.co.nyud.net:8090/paiscambio/782/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-4348427-2.jpg

Renter�a Mantilla, "Beto Renter�a"

[Demeter]

1. Hillary Better Not Stiff Chavez

nor let anyone else in the administration even THINK about it.

[Fumesucker]

2. He will be replaced before his cell door stops ringing from being slammed behind him..

Same as it ever was.

[JonLP24]

14. +1

[The abyss]

3. Good story Judi!

Remember Carlos Alonso Ojeda?


Just think about the long road the Venezuelans have traveled. They kicked out the US DEA in late 05, I believe? And nailed Carlos Alonso Ojeda in February 06.

You broke it here on DU. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2102556

One of many stories that attracted me to join this site.

Always remember � the machine can send what they want into the memory hole � but they can never expunge everything.

As always � good luck!

[Judi Lynn]

9. So glad to see that thread, Abyss. DU'er "Monkey" contributed some wonderful links

on deeply dirty DEA agents in Colombia, and I had to file it away for reference as soon as I saw it again.

The date on that thread tells us it's TRUE Venezuela has been hauling down these narcotraffickers regularly ALONE, without the D.E.A. there, especially the corrupt ones. They are doing so well, aren't they?

Thank you for taking the time to comment, really appreciate the chance to see the material on the thread you posted. :hi:

[hack89]

12. Since they kicked out the DEA

Venezula has become the top drug transshipment point in SA. Drug violence is is also skyrocketing.

Here is the UN report that shows how badly things have gotten.

The drug trafficking situation in the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela appears to be deteriorating. In 2008, the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was fourth in the world
in annual cocaine seizures (34 mt), ahead of Peru and
the Plurinational State of Bolivia. According to the new
Maritime Analysis Operation Centre (MAOC-N), more
than half of all intercepted shipments in the Atlantic (67
incidents between 2006 and 2008) started their journey
in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Direct shipments
from Colombia, in contrast, accounted for just
5%.7 In addition, many undocumented air flights leave
the country, and all the clandestine air shipments of
cocaine detected in West Africa appear to have originated
in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The
country also appears to be the source of cocaine flown to
clandestine airstrips in Honduras, with devastating
effects there (discussed below).

The murder rate in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
has increased markedly since the end of the Cold War,
but especially since the late 1990s. There may be many
reasons for this, but it happens to have occurred just as
Colombian illegal armed groups' involvement in the
cocaine trade began to pick up. There was a brief drop
after 2003, when Colombia began to reduce the size of
the illegal armed groups, followed by a resurgence afterwards.
Today, there are eight times as many murders as
there were two decades ago, and the murder rate per
100,000 population appears to be in the low 60s, among
the highest in the world. Kidnappings also appear to
have greatly increased, with the areas bordering Colombia
being among the worst affected.

Colombian illegal armed groups = FARC

http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/World_Drug_Report_2010_lo-res.pdf

[Judi Lynn]

15. Colombian illegal armed groups=FARC! Surely you jest.

Retrieve your head from where you left it and use it to understand the subject you pretend to grasp.

~~~~~
Executing justice: Which side are we on?
An interview with Colombian human rights activist Padre Javier Giraldo, S.J.

by Ruth Goring

The government of Colombia has long been engaged in a war with two Marxist insurgent groups, the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the ELN (National Army of Liberation). The U.S. government currently bolsters the Colombian armed forces through Plan Colombia, but most Americans receive little news of the conflict and fail to realize that nearly all its casualties are civilians.

In 1988 Padre Javier Giraldo, a Jesuit priest, was instrumental in founding a human rights organization, originally Catholic and now ecumenical: the Comisi�n Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (Interchurch Commission for Justice and Peace, generally shortened to Justicia y Paz). Over the years Padre Javier has helped compile Proyecto Nunca M�s (the Never Again Project), a massive database of human rights violations in his country.

Last year 4,900 political homicides and 734 forced disappearances were recorded in Colombia, according to the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of Colombia. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and United Nations reporting agencies state that 70-80 percent of political murders in that country are the work of right-wing paramilitary forces supported by major economic interests. The government claims to oppose the paramilitaries as well as the guerrillas, yet according to many eyewitness reports the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC) works hand in hand with the army. A key theme of Padre Javier's work has been impunity--the Colombian government's failure to punish, or even properly investigate, crimes committed by paramilitaries, army personnel, and officials of the state.

More:
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/giraldo1.html
~~~~~
Report outlines atrocities in Colombia
Published: Feb. 3, 2010 at 11:02 AM

BOGOTA, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Violent groups in Colombia are committing atrocities in communities they control including mass murder, rape and extortion, a report says.

The 122-page document released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch calls on the Colombian government to take action against successor groups to the dismantled paramilitary coalition known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.

"Like the paramilitaries, these successor groups are committing horrific atrocities and they need to be stopped," said Miguel Vivanco, Americans director for Human Rights Watch.

More:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/02/03/Report-outlines-atrocities-in-Colombia/UPI-30681265212955

~~~~~
SOA Graduates from Colombia, implicated in atrocities:
Notorious Graduates from Colombia

1LT Pedro Nei Acosta Gaivis, 1986, Cadet Arms Orientation Course Murder of 11 peasants, 1990: Ordered the massacre of 11 peasants, had his men dress the corpses like guerrilla forces, and then dismissed the killings as an armed confrontation between the Army and guerrillas.
(TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

LT Carlos Alberto Acosta, 1992, Curso de Orientacion de Infanteria para Cadetes (Commandant�s List)
Massacre, 1994: Fled after receiving notice of a 58-year sentence for his participation in the massacre of three people in Lebrija in June 1994. (Vanguardia Liberal, 11/15/97)

GEN Norberto Adrada C?rdoba, 1978, Training Management Course; 1975, Special Maintenance Administration Disappearance, 18 June 1986: Covered-up of the murder of William Camacho Barajas and Orlando Garcia Gonz?lez, who were last seen alive in
the hands of soldiers under Adrada C?rdoba's command. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

CPT Delmo William Alba Rinc?n, 1984, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Ram?rez massacre, 1986: Implicated in the murder of 6 individuals (4
were tortured) from the home of the Ram?rez family. (TERRORISMO DE
ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

CPT Juan Carlos Alvarez, 1987, Curso de Operaciones Psicologicas
Death Squad Activity: According to testimony given by Alvarez� fellow
officers to the Colombian attorney general, Alvarez was the officer who
gave the go-ahead for death squad killings. (Human Rights Watch Report:
Colombia�s Killer Networks and Covert Action Quarterly)

CPT Jos? Ismael Alvarez D?az, 1980, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Disappearance, 26 May 1982: Covered-up the murder of Gustavo Alveiro
Mu?oz Hurtado, last seen alive with soldiers under Alvarez D?az'
command. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

MAJ Alejandro de Jes?s Alvarez Henao, 1984, Joint Operations
Paramilitary death squad activity (MAS), 1982: Principal member of
"Muerte a Secuestradores" (MAS), a paramilitary death squad responsible
for numerous assassinations and disappearances. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

CPT Gilberto Alzate Alzate, 1983, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Segovia Massacre, 1988: Implicated in the massacre at Segovia in which
43 people died, including several children. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

1LT Luis Enrique Andrade Ortiz, 1983, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Massacre of a judicial commission, 1989: Believed to be the
intellectual author of the paramilitary massacre of 12 officials,
including 2 judges, who were investigating military/paramilitary
cooperation.
Assassination, 1988: Ordered the assassination of farmer Jorge Ram?rez,
carried out by a military/paramilitary patrol under his command.
Assassination, 1988: Ordered the assassination of Jos? S?nchez, also
carried out by military/paramilitary soldiers under his command. Then
he had the corpse put on display for the benefit of the public.
Ram?rez family massacre, 1986: Andrade Ortiz was one of officers in
charge of military/paramilitary soldiers who broke into the home of the
Ram?rez family, killed two members outright; and captured 4 others whose
bodies were found later with signs of torture. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

LTC Virgilio Anzola Montero, 1967, Cadet Orientation Course
Torture, murder of 5 peasants, 1986: Covered-up the torture and murder
of five peasants by soldiers under his command. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)
Paramilitary death squad activity (MAS), 1982: Anzola Montero used a
paramilitary death squad, "Muerte a Secuestradores" (MAS), to carry out
assassinations and disappearances.

GEN Jos? Maria Arbelaez Caballero, 1954, Communications Officer
Disappearances, 1982: Arbelaez Caballero provided false information to
investigators, the media and human rights organizations in order to
protect army and police personnel responsible for 13 disappearances in
the Cundinamarca department. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

1LT Jaime Gabriel Arcos Negret, 1986, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Disappearance, 18 January 1988: Implicated in the disappearance of
H?ctor Su?rez. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

GEN Agustin Ardila Uribe, 1984, Command and General Staff College
(Commandant's List)
lmprisoned town mayor for publishing poem against violence, 1993: In
1993, commander Ardila had town mayor Tirso Velez of Tibu arrested and
imprisoned for being a terrorist. His crime? Publishing a poem against
both guerrilla and army violence. (Americas Watch Report: State of War:
Political Violence and Counterinsurgency in Colombia, 1993)
Commander, Mobile Brigade 2: Colombia's "Mobile Brigades" are unique in
that they have no permanent base; their commanders answer only to the
Army high command in Bogot?. Mobile brigade soldiers wear distinctive,
U.S. Army-style camouflage and no name patches. A "broad, consistent
and often shocking" pattern of serious human rights violations follows
the Mobile Brigades - including Ardila's Mobile Brigade 2 - throughout
the Colombian countryside. (Americas Watch Report: State of War:
Political Violence and Counterinsurgency in Colombia, 1993)

CPT Carlos Javier Arenas Jim?nez, 1987, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Torture of 19, 1988: Participated in the detention and torture of 19
individuals in June 1988, one of whom sustained permanent damage to both
arms. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

2LT Julio Arenas Vera, 1985, Combat Arms Orientation Course
Assassination, 1986: Implicated in the revenge-killing of communist
Gustavo Alfonso Macias Borja. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

GEN Victor Julio Ar?valo Pinilla, 1975, Special Maintenance
Administration;1971, Engineer Officer Course
Torture, murder, 1989: Strongly implicated in the torture and murder of
Reinaldo Cuenca Wilson and Liliana Camacho Ipuz, and in the attempt to
make their deaths appear guerrilla-related. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

MAJ Julio Elias Barrera Bustos,1982, Joint Operations Course
Paramilitary death squad activity (MAS), 1981-82: Protected and aided
the military/paramilitary death squad MAS.

GEN C?sar Eugenio Barrios Ram?rez, 1968, Military Intelligence Officer
Course
Murder 1987: Protected and covered for soldiers responsible for the
extrajudicial execution of 3 peasants, and the attempt to disguise the
incident as an armed confrontation with guerrillas. (TERRORISMO DE
ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

LTC Luis Felipe Becerra Boh?rquez, Not "formally enrolled." (See below.)

Urab? massacre, 1988: Colombian records indicate Becerra Boh?rquez
attended the U.S. Army School of the Americas in the early 1990's while
a warrant was out for his arrest for his leading role in the massacre of
20 banana workers. The SOA claims Becerra Boh?rquez was never "formally
enrolled" in officer training there. Like Victor Bernal Casta?o (next
page), and other officers in this section (indicated by #), it appears
the Colombian Army sent Becerra Boh?rquez to the SOA to avoid criminal
investigations at home.
Riofr?o massacre, 1993: Becerra eventually led another massacre, this
time murdering 13 civilians at Riofr?o. In November 1993, under intense
international pressure, Colombia dismissed Becerra from the military.
(MFIR, AW:SW, TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

GEN Harold Bedoya Pizarro, 1978-79, SOA Guest Instructor;1965, Military
Intelligence Course
Paramilitary death squad activity, 1965 - present: "Throughout Bedoya's
entire career, he has been Implicated with the sponsorship and
organization of a network of paramilitary organizations. Bedoya, who
has never undergone any investigation for his involvement in the
massacres of non-combatants or other dirty-war crimes, is an articulate
proponent of the continued "legal" involvement of local populations in
counterinsurgency operations." (Ana Carrigan, NACLA Report on the
Americas, March/April 1995)
Paramilitary death squad activity ("AAA"), 1978: Believed to be the
founder and chief of the paramilitary death squad known as "AAA"
(American Anti-communist Alliance). (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA,
1992)

CPT Pedro Vicente Berm?dez Lozano, 1981, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Urab? massacre 1988: Implicated in the massacre of 20 banana workers.
Although an investigation called for the dismissal of the soldiers
involved, a military court acquitted them, citing lack of evidence.
Berm?dez was even promoted (along with Becerra Boh?rquez, above) during
the army's Investigation" of the massacre. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, 1992, AW:SW)

LTC Victor Bernal Casta?o, 1992, Command and General Staff College
Fusagasug? massacre, 1991: Colombian legislature asserts that Bernal
Casta?o was enrolled at the SOA to avoid having to answer to
investigators about the Fusagasug? massacre of a peasant family.
(Charles Call, Miami Herald, 9/9/92) The SOA enrolled him in its longest
and most prestigious course, the Command and General Staff College, and
made him "Jefe del Curso," (Chief of Course)
Disappearance, 1989: Implicated in the disappearance of peasant Sandra
V?lez V?lez.

Much more:
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=235

~~~~~
Gangs tied to paramilitaries cited in Colombia violence By Arthur Brice, CNN
February 3, 2010 3:13 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- Criminal gangs that emerged from Colombia's former paramilitary organizations are carrying out massacres, rapes and extortion, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Nowhere is that violence more pronounced than in Medellin, which recorded more than 200 slayings in January alone. The city's homicide rate also more than doubled in 2009 from the previous year.

Bogota, the nation's capital, also is seeing a surge in violence, with more than 100 killings reported last month.

"Whatever you call these groups -- whether paramilitaries, gangs or some other name -- their impact on human rights in Colombia today should not be minimized," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

"Like the paramilitaries, these successor groups are committing horrific atrocities, and they need to be stopped."

A report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch details widespread abuses by "successor groups" to the paramilitary coalition of 37 armed groups called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, better known by its Spanish acronym AUC.

The Colombian government has said it decommissioned more than 30,000 AUC members from 2003 to 2006, but Human Rights Watch said many of those demobilizations were fraudulent. Large numbers of heavily armed paramilitaries never left the organizations, or new recruits took the place of those who stepped down, the rights group said.

As a result, Human Rights Watch said, widespread violence has exploded in four regions where the groups have a substantial presence: Medellin, the Uraba region of Choc� state and the states of Meta and Nari�o.

The Colombian Center for Human Rights and the Displaced also blames the renewed violence on the resurgence of organizations linked to former paramilitary groups. "Emerging gangs have planted the seed of terror," the group said.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/03/colombia.violence/index.html

[hack89]

17. The FARC has moved their drug operations to Venezuela

your post points out the horrific crimes committed by RW groups in Colombia. You do however ignore the many documented atrocities committed by FARC - but then I know better than to expect anything different from you.

The UN report highlights drug related violence in Venezuela - your post talks about violence in Colombia. Nice attempt at deflection but do you really expect us to believe that FARC, having been pushed out of Colombia, haven't set up shop in Venezuela.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Just post your evidence the FARC is doing business in Venezuela. Don't be shy.

If you have credible reason to believe what you say, post those references.

Nothing can attract people's attention like the truth. Post your information on the FARC doing business in Venezuela.

[hack89]

25. Who else would be able to run drugs with impunity in Venezuela?

Hard to imagine Chavez in bed with RW Colombian groups. The Colombian government is cracking down hard on the drug cartel and FARC drug ops in Colombia - remember the UN report that says that only 5% of drug shipments in the Atlantic came from Colombia. At the same time Venezuela has become a major drug transshipment point accounting for 51% of drug shipments. Do you expect me to believe that FARC has given up on the drug trade? If you believe that, you need to read the UN report again - FARC plays a prominent role in it.

FARC and a Chavez are natural allies - both because of ideology and a shared enemy in Colombia.

Who do you think are running drug operations in Venezuela? How did they get so powerful so fast if not for the active support of Chavez?

[Judi Lynn]

22. Here's a little general background on paras I just found, for anyone interested, while we wait.

Dominion of Evil
Colombia's paramilitary terror
by Steven Ambrus
Amnesty International magazine, Spring 2007

Colombia's paramilitary demobilization is unearthing the staggering magnitude of paramilitary terror-and the unholy alliance of political, military and business leaders that sustained it.

In the early 1990s, a butcher named Rodrigo Mercado got fed up with paying protection money to Colombia's leftwing guerrillas. Unable to shake them off, he sought financing from ranchers, politicians and businessmen and raised a 350-man militia. Then he went on the rampage. People accused of leftist sympathies in the state of Sucre were shot. Others were carved to bits with chainsaws, buried in mass graves or fed to alligators. Mercado delighted in the killing, survivors say. Moreover, it provided benefits. As thousands of people fled, Mercado and his men seized control of local governments and acquired vast tracts of farmland and shoreline. Then they used their new possessions to dispatch boats loaded with cocaine to foreign markets.
"They were merciless," said Arnol G�mez, a community leader from the town of San Onofre. "They had so much power that no one could do business or run for office without their approval. Even the police supported them."

Today, after a decade of terror and destruction, an edgy calm has settled over the rolling grasslands and tin-patch towns where Mercado spent his fury. The warlord has been dead for more than a year, a victim of bloodletting in his ranks. His troops have fully demobilized through a 2003 peace deal between the government and a paramilitary umbrella group known as the United Self- Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Local farmers have returned to their tiny plots of plantains and corn. But criminal investigators are only now uncovering graves on Mercado's abandoned farms. And with hundreds of people dead and hundreds more still missing in Sucre, the painful process of uncovering the truth about what happened there and in other areas of paramilitary control is just getting underway. For the first time, Colombians are confronting the immense dimensions of the paramilitary terror that has gripped their country for four decades, and the unholy alliance of military, business and political leaders that propelled it forward.

"Colombia is at a crossroads after years in which the paramilitaries infiltrated the world of legitimate business and the agencies of local and national government," said Iv�n Cepeda, the son of a left-wing senator who was murdered in 1994 by an alliance of military and paramilitary operatives. "Colombia will either become a nation of laws and democratic institutions or sink further into violence, authoritarianism and the denial of basic rights."

In 2005, Colombia's Congress passed the "Justice and Peace" law governing the demobilization, trial and reintegration of 31,000 AUC combatants, including commanders accused of war crimes and drug trafficking. Harshly criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations, the law allows paramilitary leaders to serve reduced sentences of eight years on special farms and contains loopholes likely to let top commanders keep millions of hectares of stolen land.

More:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Colombia/Dominion_Evil.html

[Judi Lynn]

23. Colombia: a Proxy Country for US Intervention in Venezuela

Colombia: a Proxy Country
for US Intervention in Venezuela
Wednesday, December 29, 2004

~snip~
Colombia is a country of 44 million, where 56 percent of land is owned by 0.4% of the population and 23 percent of the population earn less than $ 1 a day <6>. Since its independence from Spain in 1823 till today it had a violent history. After its independence there were eight general civil wars, 14 local civil wars, countless small civil uprisings, two international wars with Ecuador, and three coup de etats. It took several years, starting in 1858, to create a constitution and from 1885 the country began to call itself Republic of Colombia. In the wake of this poor peasants and indigenous people rose in revolt.

A civil war, called “War of Thousand days” broke out in 1899-1902. Approximately 100,000 people were killed. From 1903 to 1920 a semi dictatorial regime was established by the oligarchs that pursed the policy of brutal repression of union movements and indigenous people <7>. From the late 1920s on, the country began to industrialize. Labor strikes led by the unions became common. To suppress them the army was often called upon. In 1928, the army fired on a peaceful demonstration of banana workers in Cienaga killing 1,000 workers.

In 1948 Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a leftist populist Mayor of Bogotá was assassinated. Riots and rebellion went on for a decade-1948-1958- called “la violencia” period. Some 20, 000 armed rebels, organized in rebel groups, operated in Colombia. One of the groups was to become Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 1964-the largest peasant/workers organization. <8>. Other guerilla groups called National Liberation Army (ELN) and M-19 (April 19 Movement) were formed in 1965 and 1970 respectively. In 2000-2001 these groups administer approximately 50 percent of Colombian national territory <9>.

Enter the Multinational Corporations ( MNCs ) and the US Involvement

By 1970 a large number of MNCs –mostly from US- had billions invested in Colombia: The MNCs were: Petroleum and natural gas reserves-, ExxonMobilr, Occidental, Cano-Limon and British Petroleum. Coal mines- Drummond Company, Birmingham Alabama;, Coca Cola, with 17 plants employing 10,000 workers. Banana exporting companies-Chiquita, Dole, and Del Monte. Dole bought 20% of Colombia’s flower industry and is now the largest single exporter of fresh-cut Colombian flowers <10>

Throughout Colombia indigenous tribes, peasants, small cultivators and small miners stand in the way of oil drilling, pipeline laying through Indian tribal lands, agro-businesses, and large scale mining that causes dispossession of land and environmental damage. Revolutionary peasants and indigenous organizations developed armed resistance and disrupted the operations of MNCs. Between 1982 and 1999 there were more than 600 guerilla attacks on the pipelines-with a 1.6 billion barrels of oil spilled along the way; in 2001 the pipeline was bombed 170 times and was out of commission for 266 days cutting heavily into company’s profits <11>. It became obvious that to safeguard MNCs investment and profits, US military protection and security was (is) required.

Paramilitary, revolutionary peasants and first excuse for intervention

A first step was taken in the early 1970s to subdue insurgency, which was to encourage the Colombian military, in conjunction with the big landlords and financed by drug cartels, to arm and train civilian to form paramilitary force <12> The mandate of the Paramilitary was to pacify-assassinate through its death squad-the revolutionary peasants and guerrillas in the countryside, and to do the same to the activists, labor leaders and organizers in the urban areas. These included hospital workers unions, electrical workers unions, teachers unions, journalists, priests, nuns, lawyers, women’s right’s groups, human right groups, indigenous community leaders, directors of agriculture cooperatives, journalists and other activists. Those journalists not in favor of military and paramilitary and large coca growers were also assassinated <14>

Second excuse for intervention-drugs.

During the post Vietnam years drug use (primarily recreational) began to increase in US, and so did the drug (cocaine) export from Colombia. Drug barons in conjunction with large landlords controlled the expanding cocaine production and trade reaping windfall profits US and Colombian media and diplomatic sources have steadfastly maintained that it is the revolutionary groups- FARC and EL N, and not the paramilitary, that finances its operations through drug (cocaine). However, a report by "Klaus Nydholm, the representative in Colombia of the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) told reporters on May 8, 2001 that right wing paramilitary 'are indeed involved' in drug trafficking', even more than the guerrillas of the FARC, to such an extent that there are regions of the country in which it is hard to tell who are drug traffickers and who are paramilitary' Although the rebels 'finance their war with taxes on the drug trade, Nydholm said, 'we do not consider the FARC drug traffickers. We believe that it is still a matter of guerrilla organization with political objectives', and the ELN 'never has been very involved' in drug trafficking" <16>.

More:
http://www.zcommunications.org/colombia-a-shill-proxy-country-for-us-intervention-in-venezuela-by-sohan-sharma

[Judi Lynn]

16. More on those "Colombian illegal armed groups=FARC" you apparently missed:

Media silent on Colombian atrocities
Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 11:00
By Les Blough
Apparently, the corporate media doesn't consider this to be newsworthy: the confession to a Colombian prosecutor of 30,000 murders by paramilitaries linked to the regime of President Alvaro Uribe.

As of February 25, Associated Press, Reuters and their contracted media outlets remain silent on the news.

If it had taken place in Somalia, China, Syria, North Korea, Iran or any other country Washington sees as its enemy, we would be seeing it on a CNN special report, backed up on the front pages of the New York Times and Washington Post.

The last prominent NYT article on Colombian paramilitary death squads, in January 2007, provided Uribe with cover, stating: "Senior members of Mr. Uribe's government and Mr. Uribe himself have said that anyone shown to have had illegal ties to the paramilitaries, which terrorised Colombian cities and the countryside in the nation's internal war, which has gone on for decades, and made fortunes in cocaine trafficking, should be prosecuted in courts of law�

"Many Colombians credit Mr. Uribe for declining levels of murders and kidnappings and robust economic growth."

Only Russia's Pravda reported, on February 19, that Colombian paramilitaries have admitted to more than 30,000 murders over the last 20 years. It is important to look at the reasons for the silence of the corporate media on matters that threaten the Uribe regime.

Death squad ties

First, it is not surprising to read of the enormity of Colombian paramilitaries' crimes against humanity considering that the Uribe, himself was a close personal friend of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and once worked for the Medellin Cartel when he was governor of Medellin.

A November 2007 Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) report implicated Uribe in acts of murder by right-wing paramilitaries over the years, along with members of his administration.

Uribe is also linked to the murders of trade unionists in Colombia. Some 72 union leaders were killed in 2007 alone and 2300 since 1991.

Uribe's regime is Washington's closest ally in Latin America, fully cooperating with the US military Southern Command. He has also provided cover for the US "war on drugs" that has sucked US$5 billion from US taxpayers, some of which has been has been diverted to Colombian paramilitaries, a February 3 Slate.com article said.

His government has also leased seven Colombian military bases to the US on the border with Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, is a thorn in the side of Washington.

Uribe's dark affiliations are only mentioned in the corporate media as passing references that provide him with cover, as in the NYT article cited above.

It is also interesting that it is the right-wing United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) that is responsible for 30,000 murders in Colombia, and not the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). But it is FARC that is usually reputed by the Western media to be the "terrorists" of Colombia.

The US corporate media frequently describes the FARC as a "terrorist organisation, funded by illegal drugs". The reason is obvious: it is the FARC that has been battling against Colombia's corrupt and violent government.

More:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/43308

~~~~~
The 122-page report, the result of two years of fieldwork, says that after the demobilisation process had come to an end, new groups almost immediately "cropped up all over the country, taking the reins of the criminal operations that the AUC leadership previously ran."

"The emergence of the successor groups was predictable, in large part due to the Colombian government�s failure to dismantle the AUC�s criminal networks and financial and political support structures during the demobilisations," adds the report, which was released in Bogot� Wednesday.

"The successor groups are engaged in widespread and serious abuses against civilians in much of the country. They massacre, kill, rape, torture, and forcibly 'disappear' persons who do not follow their orders. They regularly use threats and extortion against members of the communities where they operate, as a way to exert control over local populations," it says.

The appearance of the successor groups has also likely contributed to a significant rise in the number of internally displaced persons nationwide since 2004, HRW says. According to official figures, the number of people forced to flee their land dropped to less than 229,000 in 2004, before increasing each year to a total of 327,600 in 2007.

The groups "are quietly having a dramatic effect on the human rights and humanitarian situation in Colombia," says the report, which adds that they often target human rights defenders, trade unionists, displaced persons, victims of the paramilitaries who are seeking justice, journalists, and community members who do not follow their orders.

HRW Americas director Jos� Miguel Vivanco said "death threats against labour leaders and other social activists from these groups have increased drastically. Threats are very effective and sadly allow (the groups) to control the population under their influence."

AUC, which emerged in the 1980s and was heavily involved in the drug trade, according to its own leaders, was blamed by United Nations rights officials for 80 percent of the atrocities committed in Colombia's four-decade civil war.

They also worked in close cooperation with the military, as documented by U.N. officials, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the U.S. State Department, and prominent international rights watchdogs like HRW and Amnesty International.

More:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50225

[hack89]

18. Where are your posts on FARC atrocities?

Kidnappings, drug smuggling, etc?


Nice deflection - can we now talk about the violence in Venezuela and not Colombia?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

26. Go ahead and post all that information you have. Don't hold back. n/t

[Lionheart23]

4. U.S. considers him one of the "most powerful and sophisticated narcotics trafficker"

in Colombia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Alberto_Renter%C3%ADa_Mantilla

[EFerrari]

5. Bravo!

[rabs]

6. Hillary now has to decide on the five-million dollar reward

From the story

--------

The US Department of State had offered a USD 5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.

----------------

So, is the reward going to the Venezuelan government? Maybe some reporter will ask Hillary.

Also, Hugo Chavez today said:

"Es colombiano pero lo solicita EE.UU.", dijo el mandatario venezolano en un breve comentario sobre el caso.

"�Por qu� si es colombiano no lo solicitar� Colombia?", pregunt� el presidente venezolano y agreg�: "bueno, cumplamos con las leyes. �Envi�moslo! Estaba solicitado por Interpol con c�digo rojo".

"He is Colombian but the United States is asking for him," the Venezuelan leader said in a brief comment about the case.

"Why, if he is Colombian, is Colombia not asking for him?" asked the Venezuelan president, and added, "Okay, let's comply with the laws. Let's send him. He was sought by Interpol under a Code Red (arrest warrant)."

[Judi Lynn]

11. That's so peculiar, rabs. Stunning! Why WOULDN'T Uribe's administration get him first?

It has to be there are too many politicians he'd name the minute they took him back to Colombia. Do you think that could be the reason?

That's no petty criminal they are letting the US haul off to slap with narcotrafficking charges. He has ordered assassinations. MURDERS should take precedence over the rest, as huge as the rest is. Colombia's government needs to show its citizens it is going to deal with the savage, SERIOUS crimes first, to seek justice for the loved ones of the victims FIRST.

The U.S. government should cough up that resward money and hand it over to the Venezuelan government, in a flash, or be prepared to look like dirtballs again, publicly.

Thanks for the information from Venezuela. It adds a lot to think about. :hi:

[hack89]

27. Colombia has killed and arrested many of Mantilla's peers

No reason to believe he has any thing else on Colombian politicians that the others had. There is a history of extraditing Colombian drug leaders to the US - you should know this. After the scandal of Pablo Escobar's "prison term" the Colombian government knew that extradition was the only way to truly break the power of the cartels - cartel drug money couldn't corrupt the US justice system. Extradition is a powerful weapon for the government - it is something the cartels truly fear and the threat of it has been vital in developing informants in the cartels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norte_del_Valle_Cartel

[Judi Lynn]

30. Actually the opportunity to go to the US and serve a sentence on narcotrafficking

is far more attractive than staying in Colombia, presenting an unwanted hardship on the right-wing colluding Colombian government, and facing the hordes of loved ones connected to the many, many innocent Colombian citizens who've been tortured, raped, mutilated, murdered and thrown into common graves, or eviscerated and thrown into the rivers.

Of course I learned this not from my own feverish imagination, but from doing actual research. Here are some examples:

Salvatore Mancuso G�mez, also known as "el Mono Mancuso","Santander Lozada" or "Triple Cero", among other names (born August 17, 1964 in Monter�a, C�rdoba) is a Colombian paramilitary leader, once second in command of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group. The paramilitary groups commanded by Mancuso fought the guerrillas (mainly EPL, FARC and ELN), and financed their activities by receiving donations from land owners, drug trafficking, extortions and robbery.

The AUC committed numerous atrocities and massacres against pressumed guerrilla members and the civilian population. Mancuso was initially jailed in a Maximum Security Prison in Itag��, Antioquia after a peace process that led to his demobilization and then transferred to a prison in the city of Cucuta to from there help identify victims whereabouts. In a surprise move by the Colombian government, Mancuso, together with 13 other top members of the AUC was extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Early years and education
Mancuso was born in Monter�a, the provincial capital of C�rdoba Department. In the northern Colombian Caribbean Region. His father an Italian immigrant and his mother a Monteria native. He is the second of six children. He studied civil engineering in the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and later farming administration in the Escuela de Formaci�n T�cnica Agricola in Bogot�. He also studied English at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania<2>.

~snip~
During his Colombian imprisonment, Mancuso had his own website and criticized the Colombian government, led by �lvaro Uribe V�lez on numerous occasions. Many politicians, members of the National Army and government officials, said Mancuso, had links with the AUC.<4>

~~~

In the early morning of May 13, 2008, Mancuso and thirteen other paramilitary leaders were taken from their jail cells in a surprise action by the Colombian government. According to Colombian Interior Minister Carlos Holguin they have been refusing to comply to the country's Peace and Justice law and are therefore extradited to the United States. During his first appearance before the District of Columbia Court, Mancuso refused to speak after having said his name. His lawyer pleaded not guilty for him. <5>

The National Movement of State Crimes, a coalition of several victim organizations that have suffered from state or paramilitary violence, has asked �to return the paramilitary chiefs to the Colombian authorities so they may be processed by the ordinary justice system and not under the framework of the Law of Justice and Peace, since this framework benefits the victimizers and not the victims, since they have not told all of the truth, have not made comprehensive reparations to the victims, and have not dismantled their criminal structures.� <6>

The Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that �<...> according to Colombian law, the reasons claimed by the President of the Republic to proceed with the previously-suspended extraditions are also grounds for their removal from the application of the �Law of Justice and Peace� and for the loss of the benefits established therein�.<6>

The Inter-American Commission stated that this �affects the Colombian State�s obligation to guarantee victims� rights to truth, justice, and reparations for the crimes committed by the paramilitary groups. The extradition impedes the investigation and prosecution of such grave crimes through the avenues established by the Justice and Peace Law in Colombia and through the Colombian justice system�s regular criminal procedures. It also closes the door to the possibility that victims can participate directly in the search for truth about crimes committed during the conflict, and limits access to reparations for damages that were caused. This action also interferes with efforts to determine links between agents of the State and these paramilitary leaders.� <6>

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Mancuso

Taken from an earlier DU thread:
Mancuso admits responsibility for 4 massacres (Colombian para. in Washington prison)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3911207

~~~~~
Another mega-criminal from the Norte Valle cartel:

Colombia drug kingpin pleads guilty in US
WASHINGTON: A Colombian drug kingpin admitted leading a cartel that sent more than $10bn worth of cocaine to the US and pleaded guilty on Friday to US racketeering charges, the Justice Department said.
Luis Hernando Gomez-Bustamante, also known as �Rasguno,� pleaded guilty in Washington, DC, federal court to being a leader of the Norte Valle cartel. Since 1990, the group has exported more than 500,000kg (1.1mn lb) of cocaine, worth more than $10bn, from Colombia to Mexico and ultimately to the US, the department said.
It said the cartel engaged in murder, drug smuggling, money laundering and bribery, and relied on the paramilitary organisation Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, for protection. The US State Department has labeled the AUC a terrorist group.
Gomez-Bustamante also acknowledged taking part in a conspiracy to make and distribute more than 10,000kg of cocaine destined for the US, the department said.
The US, as part of an extradition request to Colombia, has agreed not to seek a life sentence for Gomez-Bustamante and instead seek a multi-year prison term.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=248788&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19



Luis Hernando Gomez-Bustamante, "Rasguno"
Touch any of Colombian President Uribe's party members, you're probably going to reach someone connected to the Colombian death squad massacre, land-stealing, torture-loving paramilitaries:

Ex-senator in Colombia gets nine years for ties to paramilitary
Mar 19, 2010, 5:36 GMT

Bogota - A former senator and close ally of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison for his ties to right-wing paramilitary fighters.

Alvaro Araujo belonged to a criminal ring by having close ties with a paramilitary commander and accepted money from the paramilitary group, the Supreme Court said Thursday during the sentencing.

About 70 lawmakers, most of them supporters of Uribe, are being investigated for ties with the now-demobilized United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).

The AUC was formed to fight leftist guerillas but, along with its rivals, was accused of civilian massacres, other human rights abuses and engagement in the drug trade. Over two decades of fighting, it was accused of killing at least 150,000 people and was designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.

More:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/americas/news/article_1542211.php/Ex-senator-in-Colombia-gets-nine-years-for-ties-to-paramilitary

More on this filthy Senator, brother of former Uribe foreign minister, son of another dirty Colombian Senator:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4312100

http://www.eltiempo.com.nyud.net:8090/colombia/justicia/2008-08-05/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-4427888-1.jpg
Article on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's paramilitary-connected cousin:

Page last updated at 10:20 GMT, Thursday, 25 February 2010
Cousin of Colombia President Alvaro Uribe rearrested

A cousin of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been rearrested over his alleged ties to paramilitary groups. Mario Uribe Escobar, a former senator, was detained following an order from the Colombian Supreme Court.

Mario Uribe, who denies any wrongdoing, was detained for several months in 2008 but subsequently released for lack of evidence linking him to paramilitaries. Dozens of current and former lawmakers have been jailed or investigated over their alleged links to paramilitaries.

Former paramilitary leaders have alleged that Mario Uribe conspired with their groups in the 1990s to take over farmland in agriculturally rich regions of Colombia that were under paramilitary control.

The right-wing militias were created by landowners and drug traffickers to combat left-wing rebels and anyone suspected of being a sympathiser.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8536095.stm

~~~~~~snip~
The Elections: Guns, Elites and Terror

Elections are a process (not merely an event) in which prior political conditions determine the outcome. During the previous eight years of outgoing President Uribe�s and Defense Minister Santos� rule, over 2 million, mostly rural poor, were forcibly uprooted and driven from their homes and land and displaced across frontiers into neighboring countries, or to urban slums. The Uribe-Santos regime relied on both the military and the 30,000 member paramilitary deathsquads to kill and terrorize entire population centers, deemed �sympathetic� to the armed insurgency, affecting several million urban and rural poor. Over 20,000 people were killed, many, according to the major Colombian human rights group, falsely labeled �guerrillas�. Santos, as Defense Minister, was directly implicated by the Courts in what was called �false positives�. The military randomly rounded up scores of poor urban youth, shot them and claimed a resounding victory over the FARC guerrillas.

Several of the most important captured paramilitary deathsquad leaders testified that over 60 of the congress people backing Uribe � Santos were on their payroll and they �ensured� votes from regions under their control. Faced with damaging testimony, Uribe-Santos double-crossed their narco-deathsquad comrades and �extradited� them to the U.S. where the judicial process excluded evidence linking them to the mass killings at the behest of Uribe-Santos.

Over two thousand trade unionists, human rights activists, journalists and congress � people critical of Uribe-Santos � were murdered by deathsquad hit-men serving the regime. The world�s major trade union confederations have sent missions and published reports condemning Colombia as the most dangerous country for workers� representatives.

In other words, all the social sectors with social and political grievances against the regime were terrorized, many of their local opinion leaders, killed, displaced or driven into exile � undermining the possibility of sustained independent socio-political organization.http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/leader-of-deathsquads-wins-colombian-election/

[hack89]

32. Instead of off the point cut and paste carpet bombing

are you actually capable of nuanced argument? We all understand that there are bad people in Colombia - where do you get the idea that criticizing Chavez automatically means support for Colombian RW paramilitaries? I accept everything you say - I understand all the horrible things that happened in Colombia. I also know that FARC and ELN are evil people too - with a history of drugs and violence. Why can't you see the same thing?

[Judi Lynn]

35. Why would mere opinion outweigh the facts? I produced the facts.

I also encourage you to produce the facts which give substance to your charges, claims, etc. Far more is needed than your "take" on the facts.

[hack89]

34. That's funny

I guess you forgot the Pablo Escobar "prison sentence" scandal in Colombia. The drug gang money reached everywhere - they were scared of no one.

[Judi Lynn]

36. Why would it be pertinent to mention Pablo Escobar, the friend of the current right-wing President

Alvaro Uribe?

How would his "prison sentence" have anything to do with the fact that extraditing narcotrafficking supercriminals to the U.S. on lesser narcotrafficking charges is wrong when they should be retained in Colombia and stand trial for the massacres for which they committed? I fail to see there's a point to be made on this issue.

For general information for DU'ers who might read this thread who never heard yet about the clear connection between Colombian major a-hole Pablo Escobar, and the current horrendous right-wing Colombian President:

U.S. INTELLIGENCE LISTED COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT URIBE AMONG
"IMPORTANT COLOMBIAN NARCO-TRAFFICKERS" IN 1991

Then-Senator "Dedicated to Collaboration with the Medell�n Cartel at High Government Levels"

http://www.gwu.edu.nyud.net:8090/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB131/diaexcerpt.jpg

Confidential DIA Report Had Uribe Alongside Pablo Escobar, Narco-Assassins

Uribe "Worked for the Medell�n Cartel" and was a "Close Personal Friend of Pablo Escobar"
Washington, D.C., 1 August 2004 - Then-Senator and now President �lvaro Uribe V�lez of Colombia was a "close personal friend of Pablo Escobar" who was "dedicated to collaboration with the Medell�n cartel at high government levels," according to a 1991 intelligence report from U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officials in Colombia. The document was posted today on the website of the National Security Archive, a non-governmental research group based at George Washington University.

Uribe's inclusion on the list raises new questions about allegations that surfaced during Colombia's 2002 presidential campaign. Candidate Uribe bristled and abruptly terminated an interview in March 2002 when asked by Newsweek reporter Joseph Contreras about his alleged ties to Escobar and his associations with others involved in the drug trade. Uribe accused Contreras of trying to smear his reputation, saying that, "as a politician, I have been honorable and accountable."

The newly-declassified report, dated 23 September 1991, is a numbered list of "the more important Colombian narco-traffickers contracted by the Colombian narcotic cartels for security, transportation, distribution, collection and enforcement of narcotics operations." The document was released by DIA in May 2004 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the Archive in August 2000.More:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB131/index.htm

[Prometheus Bound]

21. That's a pretty interesting question, indeed!

[hack89]

28. There have been many Norte del Valle Cartel leaders

extradited to America - along with leaders from many other cartels. There is nothing unusual or uncommon about this. It is in fact the biggest weapon the Colombian government has - the cartels truly fear extradition because their money and influence is useless in America.
The Colombian government knows all to well how drug money can corrupt their justice system - extradition is a pragmatic and effective solution to a real problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norte_del_Valle_Cartel

[Prometheus Bound]

29. Perhaps you missed the question.

I didn't notice the poster or me finding it uncommon for them to be extradited to the US. Why would you waste time pointing out there is nothing uncommon in this.

[hack89]

33. I was responding to Chavez's comments at the end of the post

and I had read post #30 too. Sorry I wasn't clearer.

[Judi Lynn]

31. In case you overlooked previous information, from an earlier post to this thread,

a clear example of what happens when these Norte de Valle mass murdering idiots is extradited to the U.S. and neatly side-steps what should be the Colombian justice system prosecuting them for atrocities, instead:

Another mega-criminal from the Norte Valle cartel:

Colombia drug kingpin pleads guilty in US
WASHINGTON: A Colombian drug kingpin admitted leading a cartel that sent more than $10bn worth of cocaine to the US and pleaded guilty on Friday to US racketeering charges, the Justice Department said.
Luis Hernando Gomez-Bustamante, also known as �Rasguno,� pleaded guilty in Washington, DC, federal court to being a leader of the Norte Valle cartel. Since 1990, the group has exported more than 500,000kg (1.1mn lb) of cocaine, worth more than $10bn, from Colombia to Mexico and ultimately to the US, the department said.
It said the cartel engaged in murder, drug smuggling, money laundering and bribery, and relied on the paramilitary organisation Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, for protection. The US State Department has labeled the AUC a terrorist group.
Gomez-Bustamante also acknowledged taking part in a conspiracy to make and distribute more than 10,000kg of cocaine destined for the US, the department said.
The US, as part of an extradition request to Colombia, has agreed not to seek a life sentence for Gomez-Bustamante and instead seek a multi-year prison term.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=248788&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19



Luis Hernando Gomez-Bustamante, "Rasguno"

~snip~
The Inter-American Commission stated that this �affects the Colombian State�s obligation to guarantee victims� rights to truth, justice, and reparations for the crimes committed by the paramilitary groups. The extradition impedes the investigation and prosecution of such grave crimes through the avenues established by the Justice and Peace Law in Colombia and through the Colombian justice system�s regular criminal procedures. It also closes the door to the possibility that victims can participate directly in the search for truth about crimes committed during the conflict, and limits access to reparations for damages that were caused. This action also interferes with efforts to determine links between agents of the State and these paramilitary leaders.� <6>More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Mancuso

Post #30:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4455550#4456996

It's clearly the perfect solution to protect the mega-criminals and the dirty right-wing Colombian politicians connected to them.

[Socal31]

7. Why is Venezuela messing with dealers?

End the drug war!

[Judi Lynn]

8. Silly Venezuela, "messing with dealers." Don't they have something important to do?

Wikipedia profile of this "dealer":

Carlos Alberto "Beto" Renter�a Mantilla (born March 11, 1945 in Tulu�, Valle del Cauca) is a Colombian narcotrafficker and crime boss, presumed leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel.<1> Renter�a is believed by the United States government to be holding a leadership position within the drug cartel, he has been labeled "one of Colombia's most powerful and sophisticated narcotics traffickers" by Adam Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, United States Department of the Treasury.<2><3><1><4> The Attorney General of Colombia and the Colombian National Police accuse Renter�a of narcotrafficking and money laundering.

Role
As chief in the Norte del Valle Cartel, it is believed Renter�a shares in the decision making of the cartel in aspects of transportation of drug shipments, bribery of political officials and assassinations. Renter�a also operates his own organization under the Cartel capable of multi-ton cocaine shipments, as well as investing in other cocaine smuggling transports. The Norte del Valle cartel operates principally out of the North Valle del Cauca region. It is believed the cocaine is shipped from around the neighboring Colombian Departments as well as Peru and other South American countries before being transported again via trucks and airplanes to the Pacific Coast port of Buenaventura, Colombia. From Buenaventura the cocaine, through Renter�as' operation, is primary transported to Mexico before being shipped again to the United States via go-fast boats, fishing vessels, and other maritime shipping methods.<1><4>

Government actions
Law Enforcement

While it is believed Renter�a has been involved in drug trafficking since the 1970s. The first indictment regarding Renter�a was unsealed in 1994 in the Southern District of Florida, charging Renter�a with conspiracy to import, possess and distribute cocaine in the United States. In 2004 an indictment was unsealed in the District Court for the District of Columbia, charging Renter�a with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). In addition to the indictments a reward of $5 million was placed for information leading to the capture of Renter�a.

http://upload.wikimedia.org.nyud.net:8090/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/ca/Renteria_mantilla_chart.jpg/800px-Renteria_mantilla_chart.jpg

Finances
Beginning on March 17, 2005, the United States Department of Treasury announced its first actions targeting the financial holdings of Renter�a. In 2005 Renter�a was first declared a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker, the label permits the United States to seize assets connected to Renter�a through front companies and associates.<2> Since 2005 the Department of Treasury has announced over seven actions targeting Renter�as financial holdings. The companies designated range from agricultural, clinics, hotels, accounting firms and the Colombian soccer team Cortulu�.<2><3><5><6><7><7> It is believed Renter�as' money contributed significantly to the economic growth in the area, as business operations, hotels and clinics began to be built to launder his money through.<8>

On September 1, 2006, Colombian authorities confiscated around 34 properties in the northern Caribbean region, mainly in the city of Cartagena and in other regions of Colombia; in the capital Bogot� and near his major area of operations; Valle del Cauca Department. The operation was dubbed "Patria 44" by the Colombian Central Directorate of the Judicial Police and Intelligence (DIJIN).<9><10>

Arrest
On July 4, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Carlos Alberto Renteria Mantilla aka "Beto" was captured in Venezuela by local security forces with the assistance of British intelligence services. <11>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Alberto_Renter%C3%ADa_Mantilla

[Judi Lynn]

10. Treasury Identifies International Financial Network of Notorious North Valle Drug Cartel

June 13, 2006
JS-4318

Treasury Identifies International Financial Network of
Colombia�s Notorious North Valle Drug Cartel

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added five individuals and twenty companies tied to Colombia's North Valle drug cartel to its list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs). The five individuals act as front persons for North Valle cartel leaders Raul Alberto Grajales Lemos (Raul Grajales) and Carlos Alberto Renteria Mantilla (Beto Renteria). Both Raul Grajales and Beto Renteria have been indicted in the U.S. on charges relating to narcotics trafficking.

"Today's action exposes a key financial network of the North Valle cartel," said Barbara Hammerle, Acting Director of OFAC. "This network utilizes front companies in Colombia, the United States, Panama, and the British Virgin Islands to move its illicit proceeds. By exposing the financial backbone of Colombian drug cartels through our designation process, we thwart their ability to launder illicit proceeds."

The four newly named Colombian individuals, Francisco Javier Duque Correa, Ricardo Jaar Jacir, Moises Abdal Saieh Muvdi, and Carlos Ernesto Saieh Jamis, represent the interests of Raul Grajales and Beto Renteria in the operation of Casa Estrella and associated companies. Casa Estrella is a department store chain located in Colombia that was previously named as an SDNT by OFAC in May 2005. This activity is carried out in attempts to hide the North Valle cartel's control of the department store chain.

Francisco Javier Duque Correa is the general manager of Casa Estrella and has been an associate of Raul Grajales for the past 16 years. Ricardo Jaar Jacir, a share holder in Casa Estrella, is the half brother of Armando Jaar Jacir, a key front person for Raul Grajales and Beto Renteria who was previously designated by OFAC in November 2005. Moises Abdal Saieh Muvdi and Carlos Ernesto Saieh Jamis have been business associates of Raul Grajales and Beto Renteria for the past 15 years and are also shareholders in Casa Estrella.

The fifth individual designated today, Salvadoran national Carmen Elena Siman De Jaar, was named for her involvement in the SDNT entity, Armando Jaar y Cia. S.C.S., as well as her involvement in Cipe Investments Corporation, a Panamanian shell company. Carmen Elena Siman is the wife of Armando Jaar Jacir.

Also named today are 20 companies which comprise an international financial network for Colombia's North Valle cartel. These companies are located in Colombia (8), Panama (5), the British Virgin Islands (1) and the United States (6). The 20 companies encompass a wide range of services including real estate, investment, construction, property management and manufacturing. The U.S. and Panamanian companies are owned or controlled by Moises Abdal Saieh Muvdi and Carlos Ernesto Saieh Jamis. These entities are shell companies used to facilitate financial transactions. Gimber Investing Corporation is located in the British Virgin Islands and is the majority shareholder of Confecciones Lord S.A., a Colombian company also named today, which is affiliated with Casa Estrella.

SDNTs are subject to the economic sanctions imposed against Colombian drug cartels in Executive Order 12978. Today's action freezes any assets found in the United States and prohibits all financial and commercial transactions between the designees and any U.S. person.

The assets of a total of 1,260 business and individuals in Aruba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Spain, Vanuatu, Venezuela, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the United States have been designated by OFAC pursuant E.O. 12978. The 487 SDNT businesses include agricultural, aviation, consulting, construction, distribution, financial, horse breeding, investment, manufacturing, maritime, mining, offshore, industrial paper, pharmaceutical, real estate and service firms. The SDNT list includes 19 kingpins from the Cali, North Valle and North Coast drug cartels in Colombia.

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js4318.htm

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Butbutbut that can't be! Chavez = bad guy, drug dealers = bad guys, and bad guys stand together!

Why don't they find common ground and unite against the common enemy -- Good, Wholesomeness, Mom, Apple Pie and the Judeo-Christian civilization?

[rabs]

24. Sorry, deleting: wrong thread