Colombia picks defense, interior aides

[Say_What]

Hey whadaya think happened to that $1.3 BILLION that SmirkBoy gave to Uribe and his government? and how about the resignation of the Interior and the Defense Ministers? Security in Colombia improved under the defense ministers leadership. Although this article says that the local papers speculated that she was a scapegoat in the spat with Ecuador, speculation on another board is that she was warned not to investigate too much into corruption. Now they've installed a couple of shills to replace them (probably at the behest of Uncle Sam). What's really going on in Colombia that we don't read about in the press?


<clips>

BOGOTA -- Two businessmen with little political experience took over Colombia's defense and interior ministries yesterday, amid a surprise Cabinet shake-up.

Colombia's first female defense minister, Martha Lucia Ramirez, stepped down Sunday. She read a statement describing how security in the South American country had improved under her leadership, but she gave no explanation for her sudden departure.

President Alvaro Uribe's office also gave no reason, but government officials said privately that Ramirez had been forced out.

Local news media speculated that she was a scapegoat following a spat with neighboring Ecuador over Uribe's public allegations that corrupt Ecuadoran military officials were selling weapons to Colombian rebels, including a rocket launcher used in an attack in Bogota last month.

<http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/11/11/colombia_picks_defense_interior_aides/>

[Judi Lynn]

1. I have a little more in this article, written the 10th, and already cached

Also, looking for photographs, discovered they had been removed already. This is very strange.

Ramirez, who was replaced by a U.S.-educated businessman, clashed openly with Colombia's generals and accused them of hiding information from her. She had alleged military corruption and dismissed military commanders she said were not pursuing the country's rebels aggressively enough.

The president appointed Jorge Alberto Uribe, a businessman who is president of leading insurance company Seguros de Lima, to replace Ramirez. The new defense minister is not related to the president.

When Ramirez was recently summoned by a Senate panel investigating the disappearance of three tons of cocaine seized by police, which are also under her control, she had to admit she knew little of the affair because the generals had kept it from her.

"I hope that in the future no minister of defense must endure this shame of not knowing what is happening in the security forces," Ramirez told the lawmakers. (snip)


Still, nationwide security improved under Ramirez's stewardship. In the last year, homicides were down 22 percent, kidnappings down 35 percent, rescues of kidnap victims up 23 percent and illegal drug crops down 70 percent, the government says.

The results helped make Ramirez one of Colombia's most respected politicians. (snip/...)

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:9DeHsXsgcWkJ:www.fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory%3Furlfeed%3DD7UNGEFG0.xml+%22Martha+Lucia+Ramirez%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

On edit:

Wanted to see if I could find a photo of their President Alvaro Uribe Veles, found this beauty:


Uribe and Dennis Hastert


Looks like such a bad idea to put a dweeb in charge of anything, doesn't it?

[Say_What]

2. "She had alleged military corruption and dismissed military commanders"

Interesting article. A Colombian now living in the US who posts to another board said that although they thought it was just gossip, that they'd heard rumors of a coup a couple of weeks ago. Guess we gotta stay tuned :-)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Interesting note about the other minister who left

Mr Londono has found himself embroiled in controversy before, most notably in June this year when he alleged lawmakers had been smoking drugs when they passed an electoral reform law.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3256053.stm

It really looks as if they are blocking the real story behind the two leaving their positions. The fact they were replaced by businessmen with no experience in government shouldn't be overlooked. Sounds familiar, somehow.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Something relative to this article showed up in one I posted, Say_What

(snip) In another controversy involving public funds, Maya launched an investigation Tuesday into the Colombian military's bidding practices.

Former Defense Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez, who was forced out Sunday, recently recommended that contracts for providing food to Colombian soldiers be open for public bids.

Gen. Jorge Enrique Mora, commander of the armed forces, fiercely objected, insisting the job should remain with the military.(snip/...)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQAW0FWMD.html

Really spooky, isn't it?

[Say_What]

6. Can we spell CORRUPTION?

Public bids sounds fair to me, but I guess the general didn't think so.

Remember those CIA guys, er, contractors they shot down last February that Uncle Sam is offering $5 million for? CIP has a list of *contractors* spread around the Andes. Here's the link and the snapshot. This is from their 2001-2002 fact sheet.

http://ciponline.org/facts/1101jtf.htm

[Say_What]

5. The United States’ military involvement in Colombia climbs to the next lev

From ciponline.org. Former Defense Minister, Marta Lucia Ramirez, in the photo between Powell and the police chief.

<clips>

...One of the legislation’s main backers, then-Drug Czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, predicted that the $1.3 billion contribution to "Plan Colombia" – $860 million of it for Colombia, three-quarters of that for Colombia’s police and military – would "strengthen democracy, the rule of law, economic stability, and human rights in Colombia."<1 > Its critics warned of serious consequences. "It risks drawing us into a terrible quagmire," warned the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota). "History has repeatedly shown, especially in Latin America – just think of Nicaragua or El Salvador – that the practical effect of this strategy now under consideration is to militarize, to escalate the conflict, not to end it."<2 >

A lot has happened since the 2000 debate. Fighting between the government, two leftist guerrilla groups and right-wing paramilitaries worsened, killing about 4,000 people and forcing over 350,000 from their homes last year. The Colombian government’s attempts to negotiate peace with guerrilla groups came to a crashing halt in February 2002. Three months later, Colombians elected Álvaro Uribe, a hard-line president who promised to put the country on a total-war footing. Drug production continued to explode. The human rights situation worsened. "Democracy, the rule of law, economic stability and human rights" have eroded further.

...Inattention from the very top, however, has not meant that the policy has stood still. In fact, U.S. policy toward Colombia is marked by two contradictory trends: although Colombia is becoming a lower priority, the size and purpose of the U.S. military aid are expanding rapidly. This is a dangerous paradox. As CIP warned three years ago, the United States is still "getting in deeper" – but with less public debate or top-level supervision than before. (See the CIP International Policy Report Getting In Deeper, published in February 2000.)

...It is remotely possible that U.S. counter-terror aid and President Uribe’s draconian security policies could add up to a push strong enough to force the guerrillas and paramilitaries to collapse, like a house of cards. A more likely outcome is that these policies cause the war to grind on further and fail to hinder the drug trade, creating pressures for even more security assistance and perhaps a greater U.S. military role.

http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/0302ipr.htm

[Say_What]

7. WOLA Deplores Uribe Attack on Human Rights Defenders

The US lapdog in Colombia isn't the nice guy the US press wants the sheeple to believe.

<clips>

Washington, September 9, 2003--Yesterday Colombian President Alvaro Uribe went on record before a military audience, attacking unnamed human rights organizations as "politickers at the service of terrorism." In a stunningly strident speech, Uribe lashed out at critics of his security and social policies, and defended the government tactics, including the granting of judicial police powers to public security forces, arbitrary detentions, and raids of civil society organizations, that have prompted strong expressions of concern from international human rights groups and the United Nations.

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) deplores the president's statements linking human rights defenders to terrorism. The statements are indiscriminate and unjust. If the government has evidence to suggest that any particular organization is engaged in illegal activity under Colombian law, that evidence should be presented to a court of law and judged accordingly. In the absence of such judicial action, statements characterizing human rights organizations as linked to terrorism are simply irresponsible and place the lives of all Colombian human rights defenders at risk.

There can be no question that President Uribe's statements will feed international concern about his commitment to human rights. His comments are the latest in a long string of public statements made by high-ranking government officials, casting aspersions on the motives and actions of national and international human rights organizations, UN officials, judges, and even Colombian government officials who dissent from official policies. The clear conclusion is that the current Colombian government deeply misunderstands the essential role of dissent in democracy.

In his remarks, Mr. Uribe lauded the military's commitment to ending terrorism. But every credible human rights agency in Colombia and internationally continues to report evidence of ongoing collusion between sectors of the Colombian armed forces and illegal paramilitary groups, identified as terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State, and responsible for the majority of human rights violations in Colombia. In Mr. Uribe's speech, "terrorist" is used only in reference to insurgent guerrilla forces; the paramilitaries are referred to as "private justice groups." We beg to differ. The most important step Colombia could take to end terrorism within its borders is to investigate, prosecute and sanction all those responsible for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including the paramilitaries and their military allies. It is impunity, not human rights defenders, that is eroding any prospect for rule of law in Colombia.

http://www.wola.org/Colombia/press_release_uribeattacks_eng.htm

[Judi Lynn]

8. Uribe seems to feel he's totally untouchable.

Anyone who can revile and mock human rights supporters would seem to feel he has the full force of a massive threat behind him, like the right-wing monsters we have promoted, protected, and preserved in the past, in Latin America, etc.

I'll bet Paul Wellstone, had he not been killed, would have had something to say about Uribe's present behavior. He was particularly interested in Colombia, even after being "accidently" sprayed by a crop duster there, and arriving within moments after they had removed a bomb from where his car would have been driving.

On edit:

""The War on Drugs" Meets the "War On Terror"" is a tremendous article. Thanks for posting it.