STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subj: GAZETTE [Montreal]: Colombia stories Date: 6/13/01 8:58:57 PM Mountain Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Colombian Labor Monitor) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR www.prairienet.org/clm Wednesday, 13 June 2001 [NOTE: The reporting has been rather narrow and has kept close to official versions and interpretations. Almost made to order for Ambassador Kertzman. -DG] 1. THE GAZETTE [Montreal] -- Wednesday, 13 June 2001 'We only act out of fear' Residents of rebel-run zone can't wait for war to end By Andres Cala 2. THE GAZETTE [Montreal] -- Wednesday, 13 June 2001 Rebel radio is not Mix 96 By Andres Cala 3. THE GAZETTE [Montreal] -- Tuesday, 12 June 2001 War or peace: All the same to leftist guerrillas By Andres Cala 4. THE GAZETTE [Montreal] -- Tuesday, 12 June 2001 Montreal group pays for search ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * 1 * THE GAZETTE [Montreal] Wednesday, 13 June 2001 'We only act out of fear' Residents of rebel-run zone can't wait for war to end --------------------------- By Andres Cala SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia -- The demilitarized zone Colombia's FARC guerrillas control is a model of stability and many rules, residents say. Dona sits in her second-floor diner, dripping and fanning herself in 30-degree heat and 90-per-cent humidity and waits for customers - neighbours, journalists or guerrillas, as long as they pay for their meals. All Dona knows is she sells food, her business is going well and she is leaving here the second that the FARC loses control of its demilitarized zone. She is 52 years old and has lived and worked here, for more than two years, knowing that "speaking the truth is dangerous." In one of the corner houses adjacent to San Vicente's park, humbly decorated with five plastic tables, wooden chairs and a FARC calendar, she decides she only wants to be referred to as Dona. Five houses away, also bordering the park, is the information office of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known as FARC). San Vicente is the unofficial "capital" of the Switzerland-size distention zone, demilitarized by the government in November 1998 as a precondition of the guerrillas before they sat down for peace talks to end the 37-year-old conflict. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the war this past decade alone. "We only act out of fear," Dona said as she pointed to the calendar of the 18,000-combatant rebel army, the only authority in the 42,000-kilometre zone. In "Farclandia," the guerrillas have written the rulebook. There are no judges, armed forces or state offices. Only the municipal government functions, and with some limitations, as part of the official decree signed almost 2 1/2 years ago. Dona said she fears, as do the rest of her neighbours, that if the zone ends, their lives will be in danger, once the right-wing paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) tries to retake the area. The AUC, backed by the Colombian military, are fighting the guerrillas by eroding their grass-root support, through intimidation, displacement and massacres. "I want them to take the distention zone away, and when it happens, I am leaving," Dona insisted, "because everyone in the outside world thinks we are guerrillas or their supporters, and that is not true. We did not choose to live in 'Farclandia.' The government imposed it on us." A cashier at the local hospital also refused to give his name for the same reasons as Dona. He is about 38 years old - he prefers not to give that information out either - and has lived in San Vicente for 13 years. He also wants an end to the separate guerrilla-run zone. "I would prefer to be killed when the 'paras' (paramilitary forces) come in than to live without liberty with the FARC. "The guerrillas have intelligence and spies. I have known my neighbours for years, but I do not talk to them about this because one cannot know who they really are any more. Even children are dangerous to talk to. But if they catch me talking bad about them, they will force me to leave," the cashier said. Residents' main objections to FARC rule are: - Restrictions to free movement, regulated through a "no-excuses" curfew between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. - Arbitrary judicial methods, in which commandants play the role of judge to resolve any problems in their territory, extending from theft to murder. - The impunity by which the rebels get rid of the opposition, through ejections and executions, and - The stigma of living in the demilitarized zone because the population is identified as guerrilla supporters. According to the FARC, the curfew, which restricts movement outside urban centres for the entire 12 hours, was implemented to protect civilians from paramilitaries. Nonetheless, people complain they lack the liberty to move, to the point that if a resident is stopped at a FARC security post outside an urban centre, they are forced to walk to their destination, whether it be one or 50 kilometres away. "We cannot get sick at those times," the cashier said cynically. In what concerns law enforcement, the Centre of Investigation, Formation and Information for the Amazonian Service, an independent non-government organization of the Catholic Church that works in the zone and which has a contract to evaluate the social needs and living conditions of people in that territory, says the FARC presence exerts "social control in the zone" that did not exist under government authority. An independent security force, the civic police, was created for urban centres. Thirty people, half chosen by the guerrilla and half by the state, are in charge of keeping order. Penalties are also FARC-made. Since the judicial branch was completely removed from the zone, in accord with the government, the guerrillas created the Office of Complaints and Objections, where people bring in any problems they have. Implicated people are called into the office, on the outskirts of every major urban centre, and the problem is resolved by mutual agreement between the parties, with the mediation of a guerrilla commander, who charges a 3- per-cent commission on the penalties. FARC does not have any jails for civil crimes either and the punishments range from hard labour and community services, to strong economic sanctions, ejections and executions. Nonetheless, the sentences are arbitrary and depend on the "judge." In a well-remembered case, a man who murdered another person in a fit of jealousy was first ordered to leave the zone. But when he appealed to a different commander, he was ordered to pay $25,000 U.S. to the family of the victim. Extrajudicial executions The church group has received reports of extrajudicial executions and disappeared people, which cannot be investigated until legal authorities are allowed back. The NGO has information on prostitutes, drug dealers and traffickers and recurrent criminals that have been killed by the FARC. The cashier said that when people disappear, either the FARC expelled them, forcing them to leave all their belongings behind, or their bodies show up downriver. But Dona said violence has decreased and the economy improved under the FARC's temporary rule. The church NGO confirmed that the number of deaths and violent crimes have almost disappeared because of the rebels' strict control. Before the creation of the zone, there was an average of one to two violent deaths daily; now there is that many a month. Economically, the most important sectors - commerce and cattle ranching - have doubled their earnings since the beginning of the zone, according to the Amazonian service centre. A bit more modest in his appreciation was the president of the city council, Gentil Cuenca, who calculates a 20-per-cent increase in those sectors. Exact figures of the economical development in the zone do not exist since the FARC control a large portion of the economy, through purchasing, taxing or management of infrastructure. Cuenca said another factor for the economic improvement has been the population increase. Forty-five per cent of the distention zone's population lives in San Vicente - almost 23,000 people, 35 per cent more than at the creation of the zone. The demilitarized area has been a FARC stronghold for more than 35 years, thus the inhabitants have known guerrillas all their lives, some of them having family members in the organization. People are willing to live and abide by the guerrillas' rulings, out of sympathy, fear or apathy for the governing power, according to the church group, whose executive believes that people in the zone do not actually care who is the power behind the gun, as long as the economy prospers and the criminality is controlled. The love-hate relationship with the FARC can also be seen in the newly acquired taste to the FARC radio station, Voz de la Resistencia, which is listened to by most inhabitants of the region, according to the NGO, because of lack of a better option and because they consider their news bulletins the best source of information of the region. Most sympathizers live in the rural areas since the government has had little to no presence or investment in those areas, the church group said. This has led people to distrust the government as much as the insurgents. "The government is just as bad. And although their judicial system does not work very well, I would prefer that than the guerrilla judges," Dona said. In the last municipal elections, Oct. 29, people elected the Green Oxygen Party candidate, with no ties to the traditional parties or the FARC, which was read as a reflection of general discontent for government and guerrilla policies. The contender supported by the rebel group came in second with 39 per cent of the ballots, 16 percentage points less than the winner. "It was a punishment election. People did not vote for the candidate, but against the other two, backed by the Liberal Party and the FARC, respectively," explained a member of the NGO's executive. Give 'em what they want The insurgent organization says it only implements what the community wants. According to Ivan Rios, a FARC commander, the guerrillas do not impose any laws on the community, except in very extreme cases, like ecological norms, when the community "knows no better." In practice, according the Catholic NGO, the guerrillas enforce pre-existing laws through their own methods, which are not always legal, and arbitrary cases are not uncommon, especially when someone goes against the FARC interests. Meanwhile, people continue to survive in Farclandia. "We had a better life before, with the crime and all, because people were more alive and happy," explained the cashier. "Now, everyone is scared, although we do not dare to say it. We want the distention zone to end, but God forbid when the 'paras' get here: they will kill many, they will kill us all." Copyright 2001 Southam Inc. ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * 2 * THE GAZETTE [Montreal] Wednesday, 13 June 2001 Rebel radio is not Mix 96 ------------------------- By Andres Cala LOS POZOS, Colombia -- Imagine this advertising jingle from Mix 96: "We make radio another form of struggle." >From the heart of the Colombian demilitarized zone, the FARC has developed a radio network called the Bolivarian Radio Chain, Voice of the Resistance. And though it purports to have popular listenership, it isn't for its pop music. The guerrillas have 12 stations throughout the country, transmitting into every major city except for the capital, Bogota. Most transmissions outside the distention zone last less than two hours. And they're ad-free. FARC programs are devoted to revolutionary propaganda, social and cultural information of the zone, official statements, war reports and music that does not go against FARC ideology, like the Vallenatos style made popular by Carlos Vides, salsa, meringue and Tex-Mex corridos. The zone station is the only permanent dial the rebels have, broadcasting through 95.9 FM. The FARC took over the station when it bargained for control of the demilitarized area in 1998. The other stations, found sometimes on the FM dial, sometimes AM, change frequencies permanently to avoid having their signal jammed by the armed forces of the government. The rebels operate these from mobile stations that reposition every two days to avoid being captured. Voz de la Resistencia, as it is known in Spanish, is listened to by most of the population in the demilitarized zone, according to the Centre of Investigation, Formation and Information for the Amazonian Service, an independent non-government organization run by the Catholic Church that evaluates the social needs and living conditions of people in the territory. An independent way to measure the actual rating of the 7-year-old station does not exist, outside or inside the zone because of the constant dial change, but church sources say that people in rural areas listen to the FARC station as much or more than the other two stations in the area. FARC measures the "rating" by giving simple but noticeable commands to the population, like turning off the lights at a certain time or protesting against some issue they rally for through the dial. That way they calculate how many people listen to them. The only way in which listeners can find the stations is by previously established broadcast times. According to Leonardo, a Voz reporter, the objective of the stations is to transmit FARC ideology. Copyright 2001 Southam Inc. ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * 3 * THE GAZETTE [Montreal] Tuesday, 12 June 2001 War or peace All the same to leftist guerrillas ---------------------------------- By Andres Cala LOS POZOS, Colombia -- Through all-out war, or suing for peace, the oldest guerrilla group in the world, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, says it will find its way into power. So far, war seems the preferred path. A peace process now in its third year is highly questioned in Colombia for its lack of concrete results - and with some justification. The armed conflict has actually escalated, with the FARC intensifying its military activity by 30 per cent, calculated General Fernando Tapias, commander of the armed forces. Financed mainly by kidnapping, extortion and taxing the multimillion-dollar cocaine industry, the 18,000-strong insurgency was responsible for 17 per cent of civilian deaths in 1999 and 2000, and at least 20 per cent of the serious international humanitarian law abuses against persons, according to the Centre for Investigation and Popular Studies, a non-government organization run by the Catholic Church. During the same period, attacks in civilian urban centres rose by 66 per cent, and the number of captured or killed guerrillas increased by 61 per cen, the NGO said. The army said kidnappings grew in frequency by 15 per cent. Tapias also calculated that the FARC army has grown 30 per cent during the peace process. Colombia's 40-year-old armed conflict involves at least 23 illegal armed groups and the country's military. The FARC is the biggest organization, followed by the rightist paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), and the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN). Most of the 4,000 yearly victims of the conflict are civilian and the biggest aggressor has been the 8,000-strong AUC. Meanwhile, the militarily diminished ELN has presumably formed an alliance with the FARC to survive offensives by the armed forces and paramilitary group. On May 27, the FARC commemorated 37 years of existence. In a lengthy sit-down interview with The Gazette, Raul Reyes, one of the seven members of the FARC secretariat and the main negotiator for the subversive group in its peace talks with the government, explained his organization's role in a conflict in which, this decade alone, 40,000 people have died. Los Pozos is an impoverished, one-street town in the middle of the Switzerland-sized distention zone in the southern part of Colombia. The area was demilitarized as a guerrilla precondition before they would sit down at the table to talk peace. On the outskirts of town lie the two buildings and three palmhuts built by the government as a negotiation camp. Satellite dishes, top-of-the-line communication equipment, four-wheel-drive vehicles and more than 50 guerrillas surround the FARC negotiators' office. Inside, was Reyes, denying the contention by the Colombian army and U.S. intelligence that the FARC is a drug cartel or that its attacks are directed at civilians. "We are fighting to benefit the people, to achieve power, and take over the government. Right now, we favour negotiations, but if the state closes dialogue possibilities, then the FARC will continue to struggle militarily until we reach our objectives," Reyes said. "The FARC lives by the people and needs them. No guerrilla group can exist and develop, confronting such a powerful enemy as the Colombian armed forces, without popular support. We favour the political goals over the military ones. The international community that has come here and has heard our proposals knows this," he insisted. France, Switzerland, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Norway, Spain, Italy and Sweden meet every two weeks with the FARC as "facilitator countries" of the peace process. Canada was named to preside over this commission last month because it is seen as being legitimate and fair by both the government and the guerrillas. Reyes dismissed international criticism of persistent human-rights violations, such as the use of gas cylinders as unconventional weapons, the drafting of children into their ranks, and the kidnappings. "These are all fabrications from our enemies. We don't fire gas cylinders against the civilian population, but there is always the risk that they might fall on houses surrounding military and police installations. They are very isolated incidents," Reyes explained. At least 50 villages and towns were threatened or partially destroyed last year under these circumstances. The FARC finances its armed struggle with taxes on the cocaine industry, extortion and kidnappings, in that order, earnings that General Tapias calculated at $1 billion a year. Because of that relationship to the illicit cocaine trade, the U.S. State Department refers to the FARC as a narcoguerrilla and a cartel. "The American government has no authority to accuse us because they consume most of the drugs in the world. The international community would not talk to us if they had information that we were narcotraffickers," Reyes said. The FARC strongly opposes Plan Colombia, a multiphase government initiative that includes almost a billion U.S. dollars in military aid from the United States, as an "imperialist" intervention into Colombian affairs. The FARC views paramilitary growth as the main obstacle of the negotiations and the reason behind the intensification of the conflict. The latest threat to the continuing talks came last November when the FARC froze the process, arguing that President Andres Pastrana and the armed forces did nothing to combat the AUC, which Reyes defined as a "criminal organization supported by the state." Although the government denies any institutional relationship with the AUC or negligence when confronting them, various international organizations - including the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch - have denounced Colombian military ties with paramilitary forces. Carlos Castano accepted retired military personnel as members of his organization while he was its commander. Castano was reported to have hung up his guns last week to head the AUC's political wing. The European Union and United States insist that Colombia confront the AUC in return for economic aid. The government says it confronts the AUC, not out of FARC pressure, but because that is its responsibility. Luis Guillermo Giraldo, a negotiator for the government, responded by saying: "Unfortunately, this is a weak state and the armed forces have to also fight the subversion, drug dealers and common delinquents. We think that if there is a ceasefire (by the FARC), the armed forces would be able to concentrate more on confronting the paramilitaries. "The international community needs to understand this will be a long process and that we all have to arm ourselves with a lot of patience," Giraldo said. Regardless, the FARC insists it is getting ready for war and to confront what it calls a U.S. invasion through Plan Colombia. And although Pastrana has a year left to his term, the negotiations have practically come to a standstill while armed groups wait for the peace policy of the next chief of state. Copyright 2001 Southam Inc. ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * 4 * THE GAZETTE [Montreal] Tuesday, 12 June 2001 Montreal group pays for search ------------------------------ A Montreal human-rights group has pledged $10,000 to pay for a search effort for an indigenous-rights leader kidnapped in Colombia, the organization announced yesterday. Kimy Pernia Domico - a world-renowned expert on water, indigenous people and human rights - was taken at gunpoint on June 2 by gunmen on motorcycles in the Cordoba state township of Tierralta, about 350 kilometres northwest of the capital, Bogota. He is scheduled to speak in Vancouver at an international water conference taking place July 5-8. In response, Rights and Democracy said it was providing financial support to help find Pernia. About 1,000 aboriginal Colombians are on their way by bus to Tierralta to search for Pernia, the group said in a statement. "Our money is going to transportation," said Mary Durran, a spokesman for Rights and Democracy, a nongovernmental organization that promotes human rights and is headed by former Liberal MP Warren Allmand. Pernia, who is leading a fight on behalf of the local indigenous population to prevent a hydro-electric plant from being built on their land, had planned to arrive in Canada this month. Since Pernia's kidnapping, more than 50 MPs - including Conservative leader Joe Clark and NDP leader Alexa McDonough - have signed a petition to Colombian President Andres Pastrana demanding his release. Colombian officials have said it's not clear who was responsible for the abduction. But the Inter Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America, one of several social justice groups involved in Pernia's case, said last week that the kidnapping was done by right-wing paramilitaries, the private militias formed by drug dealers and rich landowners. The largest of these paramilitary groups is the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC. Pernia first visited Canada in 1999 to protest against the Urra dam megaproject in Colombia, which is partly funded by Ottawa. He also spoke at the People's Summit in Quebec City in April in the run-up to the Summit of the Americas. Durran said the chances of finding Pernia alive are slim. "I don't think they have a hope of finding him," Dunn said. "It's more of a political statement. It's about mass organization so they can put pressure on the authorities to do a proper investigation." Since 1994, 11 Embera-Katio indigenous leaders have been killed by illegal armed groups in the conflict. 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