Revisiting Colombia

The Nation: Questions Arise About Bush's "Amigo," Key Ally

(The Nation)  This column was written by Liliana Segura.

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When George W. Bush embarked on his five-country tour of a left-leaning Latin America in early March, he no doubt looked forward to visiting his one remaining ally in the region: the man he calls "mi amigo," right-wing Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. But a recent series of explosive revelations of Colombian government collusion with paramilitary thugs ought to put a damper on the occasion.

The first came November 9, when Colombia's Supreme Court issued warrants for the arrest of three uribistas in Congress for their alleged ties to the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), Colombia's murderous right-wing paramilitary group. Rivals of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the paras have grown increasingly powerful over the past decade, dominating the drug trade, even as they have become beneficiaries of the so-called Peace and Justice Law, which last year granted amnesty to some 32,000 paras in exchange for their disarmament.

Then, on February 15, five more senior senators were arrested for paramilitary ties, including Senator Álvaro Araújo, the brother of Uribe's Foreign Minister, María Consuelo, provoking her resignation February 19. A warrant for the capture of their father, Álvaro Araújo Noguera, was issued March 2; meanwhile, former security and intelligence head Jorge Noguera, a campaign chief for Uribe in 2002, was arrested for arranging the assassination of union leaders and academics by paramilitaries.

The unraveling confirms what has long been an open secret: The Colombian government is rife with paramilitary influence. "What we are discovering here is not just a series of meetings between politicians and criminals," Senator Gustavo Petro of the leftist Polo Democrático told Congress November 30. "What we are discovering, before the eyes of all citizens, is the building of a mafioso regime in Colombia."

The Bush Administration has been largely mute about the mounting parapolitica scandal. But with the advent of a Democratic-led Congress and the State Department requesting a new round of funding for Latin America, the upheaval in Colombia may become impossible to ignore. For the first time since the passage of Plan Colombia — the Clinton-era drug-eradication package that under Bush became a $4.7 billion boon for the Colombian military and American corporations outfitting the drug war — Democrats head key committees that under Republican control have funneled U.S. dollars to Bogotá.

Politically, Plan Colombia has benefited from the seamless merging of "war on drugs" rhetoric with that of the "war on terror." "When it comes to Colombia," Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern says, "the Bush Administration says two things: One, we're fighting terrorists, and two, we're protecting our kids from drugs. Facts don't matter. And anyone who disagrees is 'soft on terror.'"

The events of 2006 alone (labeled the "black year" by the Colombian press) make an overwhelming case for rethinking aid to Colombia. A low point came last fall, in a scandal that spoke volumes about what Uribe's U.S.-funded "democratic security" state has wrought. After a spate of attempted — and seemingly coordinated — terrorist attacks in the weeks surrounding Uribe's re-inauguration last summer, the daily El Tiempo broke the story: Of seven bombs discovered by the military, "at least four" were planted by hired hands of the very officers who were later credited with deactivating them. This included a July 31 attack that injured nineteen soldiers and killed a civilian.

At the root of this scandal lies the military's relentless pursuit of positivos (literally, "positives"). Central to Uribe's results-oriented doctrine of "seguridad democrática," positivos are the successful missions — often measured in guerrilla corpses — that yield money and professional advancement for those involved. Recently, positivos have led to some gross displays of military pageantry, like a staged "rescue" operation last summer in which six innocent "kidnappers" were murdered and then dressed as FARC guerrillas. In January Col. Hernán Mejía, one of the most decorated officers, was revealed to have collaborated with the notorious AUC leader "Jorge 40" in staging similar slaughters.

Thus far, Uribe seems strangely immune to the scandals that have riddled his tenure in office. "Many people believe so completely in what Uribe says that all he needs to do is make a public declaration and they'll go back to their routines," Bogotá-based activist Angela Cerón says. But as Uribe's allies become indistinguishable from the paras that dominate Colombia's conflict, his legacy will be inextricable from a military's whose actions last summer seem all too logical — and consistent — in a society governed by a war too profitable to end.

[wogerwabbit]

It's no wonder Uribe and Bush are amigos. They're both war profiteers.

[mbievtea]

All these comments are the same 'ol song and dance' about America and America is at fault for everything in the world. Here's the truth: America is a civilized country based upon laws and the common belief in the system of laws. Most other countries are still struggling with the demons of dictators and oligarchies. The inability to adequately form a "system" perpetuates these things.

[adian1-2009]

Since John F. Kennedy, no president has looked south to improve the lives of the peoples of Latin America. Not Johnson, not Nixon, not Carter, not Reagan, not Bush senior, not Clinton. When Nixon visited LA, he was stoned. The one who has neglected LA the most is Bush junior. Be realistic. It is not Chavez. It is the whole region. Colombia does not enjoy the respect of most countries in the region. They haven't even been able to deal with the guerrillas. FARC has been fighting the governments in Colombia for more than four decades. The US has been good either at tumbling governments or supporting military coups in the region. Going now over there to talk softly won't work. Peru will fall to Humala. Chile will follow. While Bush was on the other side of La Plata greeted by huge protests, Chavez was greeted by a huge rally in Buenos Aires. The populists in the region are the poors. What has the US done for the poor there? Nothing. Reagan and the contras. Allende tumbled in Chile. Mexico, the nearest neighbor, almost fell to populist Lopez. It will take just months for Ortega to show his nails in Nicaragua. Bolivia is gone. Uruguay will go. The future for the US south of the border is less than bleak.

[l8c6]

The atrocities committed by some factions in our government representing illusive covert interests that have been perpetrated against the common citizenry of latin american countries for instance can with eventuality be perpetrated against our own populace. What rationale could be given to explain how and why the american citizenry would be spared such assaults if rendered as vulnerable as some are in other nations?--*****CORRECTION*****above is not a comment by FATHER MIGUEL D'ESCOTO

[l8c6]

The atrocities committed by some factions in our government representing illusive covert interests that have been perpetrated against the common citizenry of latin american countries for instance can with eventuality be perpetrated against our own populace. What rationale could be given to explain how and why the american citizenry would be spared such assaults if rendered as vulnerable as some are in other nations?--FATHER MIGUEL D'ESCOTO

[l8c6]

Because of Reagan and his spiritual heir George W. Bush, the World today is far less safe and secure as it has ever been. Reagan in fact was an international outlaw. He came to the Presidency of the United States shortly after Samosa, a Dictator that the U.S. has imposed over Nicaragua for practically half a century; had been deposed by Nicaraguan Nationalists under the leadership of the Sandinista Liberation Front. To Reagan Nicaragua had to be re-conquered. He blamed Carter for having lost Nicaragua, as if Nicaragua ever belonged to anyone else other than the Nicaraguan people. That was then the beginning of this war that Reagan invented, and mounted and financed and directed, the Contra War. About which he continually lied to the People. Helping the United States people to be the most ignorant people around the world. I said ignorant, I don't say not intelligent. But the most ignorant people around the world about what the United States does abroad. People don't even begin to see -- if they did, they would rebel.--FATHER MIGUEL D'ESCOTO:

[l8c6]

FATHER MIGUEL D'ESCOTO:-- First of all, let me start out by saying that, of course, Reagan is now dead. And I, for one, would like to say only nice things about him. I'm not insensitive to the feelings of many U.S. people mourning president Reagan, but as I pray that god in his infinite mercy and goodness forgive him for having been the butcher of my people, for having been responsible for the deaths of some 50,000 Nicaraguans, we cannot, we should not ever forget the crimes he committed in the name of what he falsely labeled freedom and democracy.

[l8c6]

The 8 years Reagan was in office represented one of the most bloody eras in the history of the Western hemisphere, as Washington funneled money, weapons and other supplies to right wing death squads. And the death toll was staggering - more than 70,000 political killings in El Salvador, more than 100,000 in Guatemala, 30,000 killed in the contra war in Nicaragua. In Washington, the forces carrying out the violence were called "freedom fighters." This is how Ronald Reagan described the Contras in Nicaragua: "They are our brothers, these freedom fighters and we owe them our help. They are the moral equal of our founding fathers."---Fr. Miguel D'Escoto, a Catholic priest based in Managua, Nicaragua. He was Nicaragua's Foreign Minister under the Sandinista government in the 1980s.