COLOMBIA: Death Threats for Tracing Paramilitary Expansion

Source: IPS News


COLOMBIA: Death Threats for Tracing Paramilitary Expansion
By Constanza Vieira

BOGOTA, Sep 10 (IPS) - Death threats have been received by members of a think tank in the Colombian capital that published a new book describing the expansion of ultra-rightwing paramilitary militias in several provinces of Colombia and their alliance with local politicians.
(snip)

The return address is: auc_bloque_capital@hotmail.com. The AUC (United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia) is the paramilitary umbrella group that completed a partial demobilisation process last year, as a result of controversial negotiations with the rightwing government of Álvaro Uribe. But the "Bloque Capital" faction continues to operate in Bogotá.

The AUC, many of whose leaders are drug lords, supports the armed forces, with which it has well-documented ties.
(snip)

She told IPS that the threats were in response to "several public statements I made, in which I talked about the ties between the paramilitaries and candidates" running in the Oct. 28 local and regional elections.

With regard to the proximity of the elections, she said, "We do not see this as a coincidence. The book’s focus is going to raise a lot of hackles."



Read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39202

the following was published earlier this month:

Death Threats Against National Leadership of Oil Workers Union, USO
by UNION SINDICAL OBRERA DE LA INDUSTRIA DEL PETROLEO - USO Wednesday, Sep 5 2007, 1:46pm
usonacional@yahoo.es address: Calle 38 No. 13-37 Oficina 302, Bogotá phone: 234 40 74/41 06/43 99
venezuela/colombia / repression / prisoners / non anarchist press

In Colombia, according Alvaro Uribe, the paramilitary groups have demobilised but the reality is that they are even more active from either inside or outside jail.
DEATH THREATS AGAINST NATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF OILWORKERS UNION USO

Our union, Unión Sindical Obrera, (the Oilworkers Union of Colombia) has been the object of written and telephoned death threats against leaders. These are attributed to “Águilas Negras” .

Each time the government and state oil corporation Ecopetrol’s management implement privatisation programmes (or give away our resources), the threats increase against the union – as now when the workers reject the decision to sell shares that started on 27August.

Events:

1) At 7.45pm on 12 August 2007 comrade EDGAR MOJICA, a member USO’s National Human Rights and Peace Commission, received a call from a male with a marked valluno accent who stated:

“we know the work that you are doing in human rights, especially the denouncements overseas, and if you continue doing this we will go ahead, we know where you are, but especially your family.”

2) On 17 August we received a pamphlet which condemned to death members of USO and other social and political organisations. The text said,

“Whoever stays we’ll burn. Our threats are real the guerrilla of Cartagena continue to believe that it is a game but the death of Manuel López wasn’t an accident. Many more who are on our black list for having links with the Farc or with Bolivarian groups will end up like him as a result of our intelligence work. This work has as its objective the prevention of the appearance of new political forces allied to the guerrilla left in Cartagena. We will elect 80% of the deputies of Bolívar and 70% of the Cartagena council. Many “gay” leaders have left the city but you sons of bitches that remain will run the same luck as López…….In the same way that since November many sons of bitches have left as a result of our operations together with the military forces….You with your cheap communism have wanted to buy consciences…trade unionist, social leaders, journalistic organisations, democracy observers and student organisations linked to the Cartagena guerrilla are military targets and we know how your and your families’ movements around the city. Sons of bitches, these threats aren’t temporary as many of you think.
(snip/...)

http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=6312

corporate media in the states, due to Colombia's value to right-wing U.S. politicians with a need to control the governments of Latin Americans, as crude and vicious as it is to meddle in other countries.

Our media won't bother us with the details. We just should keep on sending all our taxes everywhere, and not ask any questions. Always trust and DON'T VERIFY, just the way the right-wing wants it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070911/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_drug_lord

BOGOTA, Colombia - Soldiers swarmed onto a farm Monday and captured one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers hiding in bushes in his underwear. Colombian officials called it their biggest drug war victory since the 1993 slaying of Medellin cartel leader Pablo Escobar.


Diego Montoya, who sits with Osama bin Laden on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list and has a $5 million bounty on his head, allegedly leads the Norte del Valle cartel. It is deemed Colombia's most dangerous drug gang and is accused of shipping hundreds of tons of cocaine to the U.S.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told a news conference at Bogota's airport that Montoya was responsible for 1,500 killings in his career.

"Drug traffickers take note: This is the future that awaits you," Santos said before Montoya limped out of an air force plane wearing plastic handcuffs and escorted by five commandos.

3 arrested as Colombia investigates drug cartel's recruitment of retired army officers
The Associated Press
Published: July 26, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia: Colombian investigators have arrested three people allegedly involved in recruiting recently retired army officers to work for the country's largest drug cartel, authorities said Thursday.

The allegations are an embarrassment to an army receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid for arms and training to fight the world's largest heroine and cocaine industry.

The three arrested include a secretary in the army's central human resources office in Bogota, said a member of the federal prosecutor's office who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. The secretary allegedly passed on the resumes of recently retired army officers to a former sergeant working for the Norte del Valle cocaine cartel.

The retired sergeant, who like the others was arrested in June, is accused of head hunting candidates to train hit men and run security operations for one of Colombia's largest traffickers, Diego Montoya. Known as "Don Diego", Montoya sits on the FBI's ten most-wanted list and is described as a leader of the Norte del Valle cartel.
(snip/...)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/26/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Cartel-Recruits.php





"Don Diego," (Diego Montoya) shown celebrating
with Argentinian soccer star, Diego Maradona.
"Don Diego" is the "man" in the lower circle of
the photograph.

Your tax dollars at work, helping to pay the salaries of these clowns until they can get on the dopers' payrolls FULL TIME and really start making some real money!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mentioned in an article by a Christian Science Monitor writer:

~snip~
For the past two years, the cartel has been riven by a brutal internal power struggle between Mr. Montoya and his rival Wilber Varela, a.k.a. “Jabon” or Soap. Each faction leader has turned to different sides of Colombia’s civil war for support: Varela is reportedly allied with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Montoya reportedly has ties to the right-wing paramilitaries.

http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=9&newsid=1901