Cloak and machete
Feb 23rd 2006 | BOGOTÁ >From The Economist print edition The disturbing political muscle of the right-wing paramilitaries AP Surrendering his arms, but not his influence TEARS rolled down the faces of Rocío Árias and Eleonora Pineda, two congresswomen who openly support the country's right-wing paramilitary groups, as they announced their expulsion from Colombia Democrática, one of President Álvaro Uribe's main supporting parties. They felt baffled and betrayed, they said. They need not have worried. Like half a dozen other candidates ousted from big-party lists for alleged links with the paramilitaries, they were soon snapped up by lower-profile pro-Uribe parties to stand in the legislative elections on March 12th. The two women accuse America of being behind their ejection. Its embassy in Bogotá had threatened to revoke the visa of Mario Uribe, Colombia Democrática's leader and the president's cousin, unless he removed them from his list, they say. In a carefully worded statement, the American State Department insisted that it had not instructed its embassy to intervene in the selection of candidates. But Colombians remain unconvinced. There are two main groups of armed militias in Colombia, the left-wing FARC rebels and the pro-government United Self Defence Forces (AUC), commonly known simply as the paramilitaries. Both have committed the most appalling atrocities. Paramilitary influence in Colombian politics is not new. After the 2002 election, Salvatore Mancuso, the AUC's leader, proudly announced that the paramilitaries now controlled 35% of Congress. While this was almost certainly an inflated estimate of their influence, it may reach that level in the next parliament. When the present campaign began, several demobilised AUC leaders sought to launch their own candidacies. Ernesto Báez, a legendary AUC figure, even suggested that the government reserve two special seats for them. More than 22,000 paramilitaries have already laid down their arms in exchange for a government promise of reduced sentences for those guilty of the most serious crimes. But until the entire AUC has been demobilised, all paramilitaries are barred from politics. This has not stopped the AUC from continuing to work behind the scenes. Mauricio Romero, one analyst, says that the paramilitaries have never played such an important role in an election; nor have the stakes for them ever been so high. The next Congress is likely to be asked to outlaw extradition to the United States, where nine of the AUC's leaders are wanted on drug-trafficking offences. It will also have to flesh out the details of the government's peace pact with the paramilitaries. The Justice and Peace law, which still has to be approved by the Constitutional Court, is facing dozens of legal challenges and may have to be radically amended. An accurate measurement of paramilitary influence in Colombian politics is not easy. Claudia López, a Colombian journalist, tried to gauge the extent of their infiltration by studying atypical voting patterns in the last election. In areas where the AUC had consolidated its power through massacres, she found that political newcomers often won by overwhelming landslides. It may not constitute proof, she admits, but it does suggest a disturbing trend. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
