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Plan Colombia Devastates Afro-Colombian Communities Several hours up the Tapaje River from the Pacific Ocean, the monotony of the lush green rainforest is broken when we round a bend and the remote village of San José comes into view. Most of the buildings on the riverbank are fragile wooden structures precariously perched on stilts. Afro-Colombian women busily wash clothes in the river while their children splash around in the fast-flowing brown water. The motorboat slows, glides past the women and pulls up to the crumbling cement steps that constitute the dock. There is little to distinguish San José from hundreds of other remote jungle villages in Colombia that have suffered from goverment neglect in the social and economic spheres. And, like many other rural communities, San José has also been devastated by the U.S.-backed counternarcotics initiative called Plan Colombia. U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Pact on the Minds of Obama, Bush and Colombia’s Popular Movement Is There Really Much Difference Between McCain and Obama on Free Trade? In the final presidential debate, the South American country of Colombia briefly became a central theme in the U.S. election campaign, not so much because of its infamous history of drug trafficking and civil conflict, but because of international economic policies. Last year, the Bush administration signed a free trade agreement with the Colombian government. However, its ratification in Congress has been stalled because many Democrats oppose the pact on human rights grounds. During the debate, Republican candidate John McCain decided to take the offensive against his opponent Barack Obama by attacking the Democratic candidate’s opposition to the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement. The arguments presented by each candidate are telling with regard to the degree of difference between the two of them on international economic issues. Violent History Repeats Itself For Indigenous Communities in Colombia More than 12,000 indigenous activists and representatives of other popular and social sectors of southern Colombia have congregated in the “Territory of Peace and Coexistence” in La Maria Piendamó in Cauca and are confronting a massive presence of state security forces who have been ordered to dislodge them. The popular mobilization began on October 12, and was called to protest the militarization of their territories, the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the failure of the government of President Alvaro Uribe to fulfill various accords with the indigenous communities relating to land, education and health. In initial clashes, more than 50 indigenous were injured and one killed. Displacement, Disappearances and Extrajudicial Executions Increase Under Uribe While many supporters of Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe and proponents of free trade agreements between Colombia and the governments of the United States and Canada repeatedly point to a recent decline in killings and kidnappings to support their causes, they conveniently ignore startling increases in other human rights abuses. The US-sponsored Plan Colombia and Uribe’s so-called Democratic Security Strategy have improved security for many Colombians, particularly in urban areas. However, Colombia’s conflict continues to rage in rural regions and civilians continue to be the principal victims of the violence. The state’s escalating role in the rapidly growing number of forced displacements, disappearances and extrajudicial executions represents the human rights reality for many rural Colombians. Recent Articles Threats Mount Against Indigenous Social Movement in Colombia The Case of Liliany Obando and the Rights of Colombian Workers If Not Colombia, Then Where is the Cocaine Coming From? Examining FARC Resistance in Colombia: Not the End of Guerrilla Warfare Is the Colombian Government Guilty of War Crimes? Wall Street Journal a "Front" for State Terrorists A More Plausible Scenario for Colombia Hostage Saga Colombia Hostage Rescue Endangers Lives of Journalists and Aid Workers The Ramifications of a Split in the Polo Democratico Distorted Perceptions of Colombia's Conflict Colombia's Economic Growth Fueled by Repression Extradition of Paramilitary Leaders Undermines Para-Politics Investigation FARC Should Release All Civilian Hostages Propagandizing Human Rights in Colombia Bush Administration Fails to Acknowledge Existence of New Paramilitary Groups in Colombia The Significance of the Deaths of the FARC Leaders FARC Leader's Killing Sabotages Prisoner Exchange For more articles, visit the Archive
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Updated: January 9, 2009
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