Source:
TransWorldNewsPeace Corps to Open a New Program in Colombia
Washington, D.C. 5/12/2010 02:55 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)
Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaime Bermúdez and Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams met Tuesday morning to sign an Understanding to establish a Peace Corps program in Colombia. The Colombian Ambassador to the United States Carolina Barco hosted Bermúdez and Williams at the Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C. for the signing.
"We are honored that the government of Colombia has invited Peace Corps to establish a program in Colombia,” said Williams. “It has been nearly 50 years since President Kennedy established the Peace Corps, and although times have changed, our mission to promote world peace and friendship has not. This Peace Corps program will encourage Americans and Colombians to work side by side on Colombia’s education initiatives, with a focus on youth development in local communities.”
In 2009, following the invitation from the Government of Colombia, Peace Corps conducted an assessment of programming possibilities, compelling educational needs, security conditions, local initiatives, and a potential time frame for implementation.
“The return of the Peace Corps to Colombia marks a sign of our deep, long-standing bonds and Colombia’s continued progress in delivering security to its people, said U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield. “From the time that Peace Corps volunteers stood beside Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the literary circle of The Cava in Barranquilla to today the presence of Americans teaching English to Colombians promotes a better understanding of each other’s cultures and the democratic values we share. Improved English skills will, in turn, better Colombians economic and educational opportunities allowing them to compete in a globalized world.”
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http://transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?storyid=350291&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TransWorldNewsCurrentReleases+%28TransWorldNews+Current+Releases%29
From earlier postings in the D.U. Latin America forum:
Colombian Militia Boss: We Burned Hundreds of Bodies
Edited on Fri May-01-09 02:10 AM by rabs
Another horror story out of Colombia; the first mention I have seen of crematoria set up by rightwing paramilitaries (who have been linked to President Uribe) to burn the bodies of their victims. The irony is that today Uribe met with the pope, the former Hitler Youth pontiff, in Rome.
Mancuso said the burning of the bodies “was a favor that (now-deceased AUC founder) Carlos Castaño was doing for the authorities.”
He said the decision came after a meeting where politicians, senior military officers and other notables asked the AUC to dispose of victims’ bodies as a way of holding down the number of deaths that could be attributed to the militias.
That discussion took place at a time when evidence of militia massacres was coming to light, according to Mancuso, who said the militias dug up their buried victims and cremated them in ovens set up near the Venezuelan border.
Another former AUC member, Jorge Ivan Laverde, testified last October that the first of the ovens was built in 2001 in Norte de Santander province to incinerate 98 bodies.
More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3858050#3858083