Parapolitical scandal is Uribe's quagmire

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez is nose-deep in a parapolitical scandal. Like Merlin, the wizard at King Arthur’s court, he is trying to come up with the magical spell that will turn around his cruel reality show. His delusion is shared by U.S. President George W. Bush, who, along with Bush’s close associates, consistently defends Uribe.

But reality only pulls Uribe deeper and deeper into the horrible quagmire caused by the tight relationship of his closest political associates with the criminal paramilitaries who have inflicted so much suffering on Colombia’s people. So far, more than a dozen politicians, including senators and other government officials, all from parties or groups allied with Uribe, are in prison because of these links. And that’s not all.

According not only to human rights advocates but also to other paramilitaries, the investigations and subsequent arrests are mounting and getting closer and closer to Uribe himself. And the testimonies of “reinserted” or “demobilized” paramilitaries have only begun to reveal the intricate network of crimes, assassinations and utter corruption that involve the Colombian military, police, government officials, the president and several U.S. corporations.

A compromising video

Dan Kovalik, a United Steel Workers union attorney, represents the relatives of three murdered employees of the U.S. mining company Drummond. This corporation is currently on trial in federal court in Alabama for its hiring of paramilitaries to use against its workforce in Colombia.

During his investigative work for the USW suit against Drummond, Kovalik found a video recorded on Oct. 31, 2001, in Colombia’s northern department of Antioquia. In it, presidential candidate Uribe is seen shaking hands with a well-known paramilitary chief in that area, Frenio Sánchez Carreño, also called commander Esteban. Uribe’s spokesperson denied the relationship, saying that Uribe “was not aware that the person had connection with or was a paramilitary.”

Kovalik countered in a June 15, Miami-based Nuevo Herald article that, “It is reasonable to think that Uribe should have known that he was meeting with members of the AUC [United Self Defense Forces of Colombia or paramilitaries], including commander Esteban, given his [Esteban’s] notoriety.”

An article in the Colombian Semana.com supports Kovalik’s assertion in the Nuevo Herald article, saying, “The newspaper also affirms that during that time, the name of commander Esteban was well-known among the labor leaders in Barrancabermeja. Twelve days before the meeting, Esteban signed a message from the AUC targeting the union leaders of the region, something that prompted a 24-hour strike by the workers of ECOPETROL. This news had national repercussion.”

Uribe’s associates under investigation

Though Uribe denies association with paramilitaries, there is a report from the Secret Department linking current Army Commander General Mario Montoya with the paramilitaries of Medellín. In July, the Supreme Court initiated an investigation of three more Congresspeople for the same reason. Among them were Uribe’s first cousin, Senator Mario Uribe. Uribe’s vice-president, Francisco Santos, is also under suspicion of association with paramilitaries, particularly with Carlos Castaño.

Jorge Noguera, the former director of the Administrative Department of Security/Intelligence (DAS), was rearrested on July 6. Noguera is an Uribe appointee who was imprisoned last February and accused of allowing the “infiltration of paramilitaries” in the DAS. He was also accused of giving to paramilitaries a list with names of labor leaders, many of whom were assassinated afterwards.

Noguera had been in jail one month when a judge ruled in March that his detention was illegal due to the technicality that the prosecutor in his case was only a “deputy” instead of the general prosecutor. After this ridiculous decision, the prosecutor issued a new order stating that there is evidence linking Noguera to paramilitaries.

These “parapoliticians” as they are called in Colombia, are now in the justice system. Their testimonies could offer more information about the paramilitary association of others, including Uribe. For that reason, and to “protect” his parapolitician friends, Uribe will have to devise a way to help them out of this swamp.

As May ended, Uribe proposed a law that would help politicians who associate with “paras” but have committed no “atrocious” crimes and who confess the “truth.” Neither their opponents nor the parapoliticians, who objected to the part that stopped them from holding public office, accepted this law.

Uribe’s unilateral releases: setup, cover up, or both?

At the end of May, Uribe unilaterally released more than 100 prisoners, whom he identified as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Uribe’s main enemy with whom he has refused to negotiate. The FARC denied the 100 were members.

Uribe also released Rodrigo Granda, FARC’s international relations person, to act as “peace negotiator.” Granda stated that he took orders only from the FARC secretariat. If prisoner-exchange peace negotiations are to succeed, they have to be planned by both sides. But Uribe was making a theatrical gesture, not really opening talks. Granda eventually went to Cuba, which had offered asylum.

Days later, on June 18, the Colombian government launched a military operation to “rescue” politicians whom the FARC had detained. Eleven deputies from Cali died in the crossfire. Uribe accused the FARC of killing them.

Humanitarian exchange

With U.S. approval, Uribe had consistently called for a military retaking of the hostages. This attitude completely ignores the demand of the majority of the Colombian people, including most of the hostages’ relatives, who want to see a negotiated humanitarian exchange. Completely misjudging the situation, Uribe called for demonstrations on July 5 to “condemn terrorism,” which to him means condemning the FARC. But thousands of people turned out with slogans of “humanitarian exchange now,” and many blamed the government for the death of the 11, calling Uribe’s administration irresponsible.

In a shameless show of cruelty against victims’ relatives, local government officials in Cali criticized Carolina Charry, daughter of one of the victims, when she thanked those present at a demonstration for their solidarity and “for mobilizing to reject the government policies that are stained with my dear father’s blood ... as an indolent president refused to listen to their plea to declare [the zones] Pradera and Florida a Zone for Humanitarian Exchange.”

The real terrorism

The real terrorists, known to millions of Colombians, are the criminal paramilitaries in alliance with the government forces and U.S. imperialism. Through Plan Colombia, U.S. military and corporations plot to steal the natural wealth and resources of the Colombian people.

Let us not forget the victims of paramilitaries’ crimes: close to 5,000 members of the Patriotic Union killed; 4 million people displaced; the hundreds of assassinations already confessed to by just one paramilitary; the hundreds of bodies being unearthed from common graves; the more than 3,000 kidnapped; the 10,000 bodies expected to be found in several common graves according to the general prosecutor.

“Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres”—this Spanish adage corresponds to: “You are known by the company you keep.” Uribe’s close company with criminal paramilitaries has become his big problem.