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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Chiquita Brands International: Total Identification


From the  Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective in Bogota


<http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article
Chiquita Board Members: Total Identification

<http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1364 <http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1352> >
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"When I joined the board, I knew the company was making payments to paramilitary groups in Colombia.” [1]

Chiquita Board Members:


Total Identification


José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective
Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo
Editorial
July 23, 2008
Bogotá, Colombia

For more than six years, from 1997 to February 2004, Chiquita Brands International, through its subsidiary in Colombia, Banadex S.A., made monthly payments to the paramilitary structures in the regions of Urabá and Santa Marta, which resulted in more than 100 payments for more than $1.7 million dollars. Chiquita Brands began to make these payments in 1997, following a meeting between then paramilitary chief Carlos Castaño and the then Banadex general manager. The payments were transferred in part through the Papagayo Convivir. [2] It should be recalled the US Secretary of State designated the AUC paramilitary structure as a foreign terrorist organization on September 10, 2001, which made it a crime according to US law for any citizen to knowingly provide material support and resources to said organization. [3] These resources, which turn Chiquita Brands into one of the most important financial sponsors of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC by its initials in the Spanish language), propelled the massive commission of crimes against humanity and grave human rights violations committed by paramilitary organizations in these two regions, including forced displacement, homicide, torture, and forced disappearance, among other crimes. [4]

Within this context, on November 5, 2001, 3,000 AK-47 assault rifles and 5 million 5.62 mm caliber rounds of ammunition were unloaded and entered into Colombia from the ship named Otterloo. These weapons were unloaded in the port of Zungo, specifically on the docks of Banadex S.A., from where the weapons were taken on 14 trucks to paramilitary organizations in Córdoba and Urabá. Then paramilitary chief Carlos Castaño publicly admitted that this incident consisted in “his best goal.” [5] Most of these weapons were also never surrendered as part of the paramilitary demobilization process undertaken between 2003 and 2006. On January 16, 2008, the continuation of the use of these weapons was exposed when 47 AK-47 assault rifles -apparently from the very same Otterloo- were confiscated by the Colombian national police from the paramilitary organization led by the “demobilized” Daniel Rendón Herrera, aka Don Mario, older brother of the former paramilitary chief Freddy Rendón Herrera, aka El Alemán. [6]

In addition to being sustained in both the Colombian and US judicial systems, the relationship between Chiquita Brands International and the paramilitary structure in Colombia –and therefore the responsibility of this enterprise in the commission of multiple crimes against humanity and grave human rights violations- has been further corroborated over the last year by such paramilitary chiefs as Salvatore Mancuso Gómez, aka Santander Lozada, Freddy Rendón Herrera, aka El Alemán, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, aka Jorge 40, Nodier Giraldo Giraldo, aka El Cabezón or Jota, and Éver Veloza García, aka HH. [7]

On September 17, 2007, Chiquita Brands International pled guilty to the felony of “Engaging in Transactions with a specially-designated Global Terrorist” before the US District Court for the District of Columbia and was sentenced to paying 25 million dollars to the US Department of Justice. According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, the Court specifically determined that Chiquita’s payments to paramilitary organizations were “reviewed and approved by senior executives of the corporation, including high-ranking officers, directors and employees.” Additionally, the Court considered that, by no later than September 2000, Chiquita’s senior executives were informed that “the corporation was paying the AUC and that the AUC was a violent paramilitary organization led by Carlos Castaño.” Furthermore, a Chiquita attorney conducted an investigation into the payments in August 2000 and prepared a report, which made clear the “Convivir was merely a front for the AUC and described the AUC as a ‘widely-known, illegal vigilante organization.’” Lastly, this same in-house attorney “presented the results of his investigation to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors during a meeting in defendant Chiquita’s Cincinnati headquarters in September 2000.” [8] In exchange for accepting this responsibility, the Court decided not to prosecute criminal charges or to identify the individual responsibilities of the implicated directors, which also opened the door to move forward the criminal cases in Colombia as well as the eventual extradition of the responsible parties.

As a result of the aforementioned, since more than a year ago, different senior government officials and politicians from both Colombia and United States have repeatedly have made statements in favor of the investigation and extradition of Chiquita Brands’ senior officials and officers. [9] The Colombian Attorney General’s Office has even allegedly taken action in this respect. According to the Union-Tribune of San Diego (USA), on March 20, 2007, the Colombian Attorney General said he would demand the extradition of “eight people allegedly involved with Chiquita's payments.” [10] Although no one was identified at the time, attorney general Mario Iguarán Arana asserted that “[t]hey should be judged in Colombia, not only for the extortion payments, but also for the transport and safekeeping of 3,000 rifles.” [11]

Then, on December 7, 2007, the El Tiempo newspaper reported that the Attorney General’s Office issued an order to call the following Chiquita board members to make statements under charges for conspiracy to commit an aggravated crime and the financing of illegal armed groups: ROBERT W. FISHER, STEVEN G. WARS, CARL H. LINDER, DURK I. JAGER, JEFFREY D. BENJAMIN, MORTEN ARNTZEN, RODERICK M. HILLS, CYRUS F. FREIDHEIM Jr., and ROBERT OLSON. [12]

Nonetheless, in April 2008 attorney general Mario Iguarán Arana alleged that the extradition process could not yet be carried out due to not having “identified and charged” the implicated persons. “There are indeed some Chiquita Brands directors, but we are not able to ask for them in extradition, rather we have to have some information contained in the agreement reached with the US court that includes a confidentiality agreement,” asserted Iguarán. [13]

This last statement is even more surprising when it is taken into account that since the beginning of January 2008 Case Number No. 63.625 was filed before the Attorney General’s Office, which provides specific information on the identities of the Chiquita directors, executives, and senior employees implicated in this case as the responsible parties for the payments or the provision of weapons to paramilitary organizations, and as the alleged instigators and sponsors of crimes against humanity and grave human rights violations committed by these same organizations. [14]

Moreover, there are not only “eight people allegedly involved with Chiquita's payments” that should be investigated. Due to their positions in management, auditing, finances or operations, at least 14 directors, executives and senior employees of Chiquita Brands International should be investigated and requested in extradition, namely CYRUS FREIDHEIM JR., RODERICK M. HILLS, ROBERT OLSON, MORTEN ARNTZEN, JEFFREY D. BENJAMIN, STEVEN STANBROOK, DURK I. JAGER, JAIME SERRA, ROBERT F. KISTINGER, JAMES B. RILEY, ROBERT W. FISHER, CARL H. LINDNER, KEITH LINDER, and STEVEN WARSHAW. [15]

Based on the previously described events, we demand the Attorney General Mario Iguarán carry out the corresponding legal proceedings to bring about the prosecution, capture, and extradition of the previously mentioned persons from Chiquita Brands International for the crimes committed in Colombia due to their involvement in the financing of the paramilitary structure and the introduction of weapons.

The Attorney General’s Office clearly does not need to wait for the United States to respond to its request in order to make progress in the investigation of the persons most responsible for the crimes committed. The Attorney General’s Office should take effective and timely measures that reflect its will in the fight against impunity; these actions should be supported by the respective administrative and judicial functionaries from both countries.

The following is each one of the implicated persons from Chiquita Brands:

Cyrus Freidheim Jr., chairman of the board of directors, chief executive officer, and chairman of the executive committee from March 19, 2002, [16] until May 25, 2004. [17]

Roderick M. Hills, director and president of the audit committee from March 19, 2002, [18] until June, 2007, [19] legal counsel to then President Ford in 1975, and president of the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1975 to 1977. [20] According to the Los Angeles Times, on December 22, 2003, he stated before the board of directors, “we appear to [be] committing a felony.” [21]

Robert Olson, vice-president, legal counsel, and secretary from 1995 until August 31, 2006. [22] According to the Washington Post, on April 3, 2003, Robert Olson told others on the board of directors that he and Hills thought the company had a strong defense and simply should let the Justice Department “sue us, come after us." [23]

Morten Arntzen, director and member of the audit committee from March 19, 2002, [24] up to the present. [25] According to the Wall Street Journal, the Norwegian-American Morten Arntzen knew of the payments in April 2002, one month after joining the board. "When I joined the board, I knew the company was making payments to paramilitary groups in Colombia,” stated Morten Arntzen. [26]

Jeffrey D. Benjamin, director and member of the executive and audit committee [27] from March 19, 2002, [28] until February 6, 2007. [29]

Steven Stanbrook, director and member of the executive committee [30] from December 21, 2002, [31] up to the present. [32] Stanbrook was also a member of the audit committee from 2002 to 2004. [33]

Durk I. Jager, director [34] from December 2002 [35] up to the present, [36] and member of the audit committee from 2005 up to the present. [37] Jager, a Dutch national, worked with Proctor & Gamble from 1970 [38] to 2000, when he resigned from the board of directors. [39]

Jaime Serra, director from February 2003 [40] up to the present. [41] Serra, a citizen of Mexico, was the deputy secretary of the Treasury, secretary of Commerce and secretary of Finance of Mexico. [42]

Robert F. Kistinger, has held such positions as president, chief operating officer, director, member of the executive and audit committees, among other positions, since 1999. He has been with Chiquita for more than twenty years. [43]

James B. Riley, vice president and chief financial officer from 2001 [43] to September 2004. [45]

Robert W. Fisher, director and chief operating officer from March 19, 2002, [46] up to the present. [47] From 1991 to 1993 and from 1996 to 1998, Fisher was the chief operating officer of the Noboa Group’s banana operations. Before joining the Noboa Group, Fisher spent 25 years at Dole Food Company, including the last four as president. [48]

Carl H. Lindner, president of the board of directors from 1984 until March 2002 and chief executive officer from 1984 to August 2001. [49] According to the magazine Mother Jones, from 2000 to 2004, he was largest private donor to political parties in the Untied States. [50]

Keith Linder, son of Carl H. Lindner, vice president of the board of directors and member of the executive committee from 1996 to 2000. [51]

Steven Warshaw, executive committee, president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer from 1996 to 2000. [52]


End Notes

[1] Morten Arntzen, current director and member of the audit committee. (See: Ex-Chiquita Director Faces Legal Jeopardy. Cohen, Laurie P., Wall Street Journal, New York, August 2, 2007, http://siliconinvestor.advfn.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=23764163).

[2] Case United States of America against Chiquita Brands. US District Court for the District of Columbia, Criminal No. 07-055, March 13, 2007, paragraphs 19, 21 and 82, http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/corru/doc/indictment.html.

[3] Case United States of America against Chiquita Brands. US District Court for the District of Columbia, Criminal No. 07-055, March 13, 2007, paragraph 5, http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/corru/doc/indictment.html.

[4] For instance, according to Semana magazine, “the killings by 'Jorge 40' have occurred in territories where there are major businesses and enterprises. The part of the country with the most common graves, after Putumayo, is the area of Ciénaga and Fundación. There, the Attorney General’s Office has detected more than 300 clandestine graves, surrounded by what was a prosperous banana industry, which included the participation of the controversial multinational Chiquita Brands.” (See: El Verdugo. Semana magazine, June 30, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=104755). (For more general context, also see: De la United Fruit Company a Chiquita Brands International, Cincinnati, Ohio, EEUU. José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective. April 2006, http://www.sinaltrainal.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=64; Una Historia de Impunidad. El Espectador, Editorial, September 22, 2007, http://www.casamerica.es/es/horizontes/zona-andina/una-historia-de-impunidad?referer=/es/casa-de-america-virtual/literatura/articulos-y-noticias/contra-el-olvido.)

[5] Case No. 63.625. 18th District Attorney’s Office, National Unit against Terrorism, Resolution dated from August 1, 2003. (See also: Report of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States on the Diversion of Nicaraguan Arms to the United Defense Forces of Colombia. Organization of American States, OEA/Ser.G, CP/doc. 3687/03, January 29, 2003, http://www.grip.org/bdg/g2052.html.)

[6] “Last January 16 47 AK-47 rifles, which appear to have come from the 'Otterloo' ship, were confiscated from the 'Don Mario' organization. Through the 'Heroes de Castaño' Bloc, Daniel Rendón Herrera has taken over the areas of several former paramilitary chiefs and has killed 70 persons close to those who killed his friend Carlos Castaño. […] Since at least a year ago, he began to appropriate the drug trafficking markets and ‘military’ spaces that were previously occupied by the former 'paras' Salvatore Mancuso, Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano, 'Don Berna', and Ramiro Vanoy Murillo, aka 'Cuco'. […] Of the more than 3 thousand 500 rifles from the 'Otterloo,' the demobilized persons only surrendered a small amount of them to the Uribe government within the AUC demobilization process. The authorities work with the hypothesis that 'Don Mario' is rearming his army, a hybrid between former self-defense forces and drug traffickers, with the remaining [weapons] […]. 'Don Mario' officially appears among the persons that demobilized from the Élmer Cárdenas Bloc, then at the command of is younger brother, aka ‘El Alemán.’ And even though the Government has reiterated that those who return to committing crimes automatically lose the benefits of the Law of Justice and Peace, no legal mechanism has yet to be enabled for this purpose.” (See: 'Don Mario', Narco Ligado a los Hermanos Castaño, es Ahora el Capo más Buscado del País. El Tiempo, February 8, 2008, http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/mario.html.) (See also: "Don Mario" Quiere Expandir a Sangre y Fuego su Negocio. El Colombiano, Medellín, February 8, 2008, http://www.elcolombiano.com.co/BancoConocimiento/D/don_mario_quiere_expandir_a_sangre_y_fuego_su_negocio/don_mario_quiere_expandir_a_sangre_y_fuego_su_negocio.asp.)

[7] By means of example, we include the following statements:

- In an interview on May 7, 2007, Salvatore Mancuso stated: "All of the banana companies paid us. Every one of them. […] [T]oward the end of 1997, the father of Raúl Hasbún, a banana entrepreneur, died in a airplane accident. This resulted in a meeting of all the banana companies, in which Raúl Hasbún was named the banana company representative for dealing with the self-defense forces. Following this meeting, Raúl became the intermediary, and later a commander of the Bananero Bloc. Chiquita Brands Inc., Dole, Banacol, Uniban, Proban and Del Monte all entered into this agreement. They paid us one cent for every box of bananas that left the country. The rest of the companies of the sector made a contribution every six months. The Dole Company was in charge of collecting the money and completing the operation. The others had full knowledge [of the payments], which were registered as contributions to the Papagayo Convivir. […] The sum of these contributions was distributed proportionally among Casa Castaño, the Bananero Bloc, a part for social investment, and another to pay off state institutions. […] Raúl Hasbún explained its workings to Jorge 40, who was put in charge of duplicating the process in Magdalena. […] The massacres allowed them to take apart the systems of social assistance negotiated with the unions.” (See: Springer, Natalia. 'Todas las Bananeras nos Pagaban': Mancuso. El Tiempo, May 14, 2007, http://colombia.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/64836.php.)

- On the US news program “60 Minutes” of May 11, 2008, “[t]he former paramilitary chief Salvatore Mancuso assured that the multinational Chiquita Brands accepted paying the paramilitary groups for their security without there being any threats and he offered to reveal all of the ties between the multinationals with the paramilitaries in Colombia. […] ‘No it is not true they were pressured, says Mancuso. ‘They paid taxes because we were like a state in the area, and because we were providing them with protection which enabled them to continue making investments and a financial profit, explained Mancuso. Additionally, the former paramilitary chief assured that Chiquita Brands was not the only company that agreed to pay the paramilitaries for their security. ‘All companies in the banana region paid. For instance, there was Dole and Del Monte, which I believe are U.S. companies,’ he told the US network.” (See: Alianzas de Bananeras con ‘Paras’ Fueron de “Buena Gana”. El Espectador, May 11, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/articulo-amenazas-de-bananeras-paras-fueron-de-buena-gana.) (Also see: Steve Kroft. The Price Of Bananas. 60 Minutes, May 11, 2008, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/08/60minutes/main4080920_page3.shtml.)

- On the same news program 60 Minutes from May 11, 2008, Salvatore Mancuso assured that “there wasn’t any need to pressure, blackmail or threaten the banana companies for them to pay the percentages. ‘The truth is, we never thought about what would happen because [the representatives for the companies] did so willingly, claimed Mancuso.” (See: Todas las Bananeras de Urabá le Pagaron a las Auc', Asegura Salvatore Mancuso a CBS. El Tiempo, May 12, 2008, http://www.corporaciondemocracia.org/noti_detalle.php?idb=363.)

- According to Freddy Rendón Herrera, aka El Alemán, "[i]t is secret to nobody, especially in the area of Urabá, that the multinationals paid these funds through an intermediary of a corporation for the matter of security." (See: Jefe Paramilitar 'El Alemán' Admite Pagos de Multinacionales Bananeras en Urabá. El Tiempo, April 3, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/conflicto/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3499020.html.)

- Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, aka Jorge 40, also confirmed that Chiquita Brands gave money to paramilitary groups. (See: Jefe Paramilitar 'El Alemán' Admite Pagos de Multinacionales Bananeras en Urabá. El Tiempo, April 3, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/conflicto/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3499020.html.)

- A computer belonging to Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, aka Jorge 40, allegedly contained files verifying the shipment of cocaine to Europe on boats transporting bananas. "According to our intelligence reports, the company [used for these shipments] is named Chiquita", according to a report by the Attorney General’s Office. (See: Chiquita Brands Procede de la United Fruit, Firma Involucrada en Masacre de las Bananeras en 1928. El Tiempo, Bogotá, March 18, 2007, http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/corru/doc/chiquita.html.)

- In testimony provided before the Justice and Peace Unit in June, 2007, Nodier Giraldo Giraldo, aka El Cabezón or Jota, nephew of former paramilitary chief Hernán Giraldo and financial chief of the Resistencia Tayrona Bloc, stated that Chiquita Brands made payments to this paramilitary bloc. (See: Sobrino de Hernán Giraldo Destapa a Financiadores. El Heraldo, June 15, 2007, http://www.elheraldo.com.co/anteriores/07-06-15/judiciales/noti2.htm.)

- In testimony provided before the Justice and Peace Unit on November 26, 2007, Éver Veloza García, aka HH, former paramilitary chief of the Bananero Bloc, “indicated that Raúl Hazbún, aka 'Pedro Bonito' or 'Pedro Aponte', ordered the crimes committed by the self-defense forces in the area from 1996 to 2004. 'H.H.', who has admitted to his involvement in approximately 1,500 murders from 1995 to the middle of 1996, made his claims against Hazbún in the testimony proceedings reinitiated on Monday. In the hearing room where the proceedings were carried out many persons were present that the alleged emissaries of Hazbún had forced to abandon their land because it was needed by ‘the boss.’ […] However, on November 25, 2004, [Hazbún] demobilized in the rural community of El Dos de Turbo (Department of Antioquia) as a low-level 'para.’” (See: Empresario de Urabá fue Responsable de 1.800 Asesinatos en la Región, según 'H.H.' El Tiempo, November 27, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2007-11-28/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3834952.html.)

- In testimony provided before the Justice and Peace Unit on March 26, 2008, Éver Veloza García, aka HH, former paramilitary chief of the Bananero Bloc, “implicated the current mayor of Carepa, Arnulfo Peñuela Marín, with the Convivir Associations that operated in the area of Urabá, and with the illegal activities of these groups. Alias ‘H. H.’ declared under oath before the prosecutor from the Justice and Peace Unit that mayor Peñuela Marín was a part of the board of directors of one of these Convivir and told that these associations were created in Urabá, from 1996 to 1997 by the entrepreneur Raúl Hasbún, who he assured belonged to the self-defense forces. Through the Convivir associations, the self-defense forces charged ‘vacunas’ [payments] and extortion from the banana companies in the region of Urabá, among them ‘Chiquita Brands,’ confessed the former paramilitary chief who commanded the presently demobilized Bananero Bloc.” (See: Alias "H H" Salpica al Alcalde de Carepa con el Paramilitarismo. Caracol Radio, March 26, 2008, http://www.caracol.com.co/noticias/567920.asp.)

- In testimony provided before the Justice and Peace Unit on June 9, 2008, Éver Veloza García, aka HH, former paramilitary chief of the Bananero Bloc, “resumed testimony before the Attorney General’s Office with new accusations against the ruling class from Urabá (Department of Antioquia). In the proceedings from yesterday, [he] implicated several political leaders from the area in alleged political agreements with the AUC. […] In his testimony, he also reiterated the ties between the mayor from the municipality of Carepa, Arnulfo Peñuela, and the AUC, after the mayor had said he never had a relationship with Veloza. According to the former chief of the Bananero Bloc, the elected mayor, toward the end of the 90’s the director of the Papagayo Convivir, accompanied him and another AUC commander, aka ‘Doble Cero,’ to meet with senior military commanders on several occasions.” (See: Alias "HH" Implicó a Más Políticos de Urabá con Auc. Juan Carlos Monroy Giraldo, El Colombiano, June 10, 2008, http://www.elcolombiano.com/BancoConocimiento/C/cf_alias_hh_implico_10062008/cf_alias_hh_implico_10062008.asp?CodSeccion=40.)

- In testimony provided before the Justice and Peace Unit on June 10, 2008, Éver Veloza García, aka HH, former paramilitary chief of the Bananero Bloc, “reiterated that the banana companies supported the arrival of the self-defense forces to the region to combat the guerrilla. He also said that the Convivir were created to legalize the payments by the banana companies in order to militarily maintain the illegal group. He also stated that, in exchange for security, the banana companies paid the AUC ‘three cents for every box of exported bananas.’ And he admitted they used threats to force banana company employees to work when they organized strikes. He also admitted to the murder of banana workers. ‘The banana companies never paid us to kill trade unionists, but with the money paid to the AUC many crimes were clearly committed against workers,’ he stated. […] The paramilitary chief revealed that many of the banana ships were loaded with drugs at several ports. Scuba divers paid by drug traffickers even ‘fastened some drug-laden tubes to the hulls of the ships’ at high sea to evade the control points of the security agencies. […] ‘Every month, 4,000 kilos of drugs left from our region to Panama and Central America,’ asserted Veloza García.” (See: “HH" Destapó las Finanzas "Paras". Juan Carlos Monroy Giraldo, El Colombiano, June 11, 2008, http://www.elcolombiano.com/BancoConocimiento/C/cf_hh_sigue_hablando_lcg_11062008/cf_hh_sigue_hablando_lcg_11062008.asp?CodSeccion=40.)

[8] United States of America against Chiquita Brands International: Government’s Sentencing Memorandum. US District Court, Criminal No. 07-055 (RCL), September 17, 2007, http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/chiquita091607.htm.

[9] By means of example, we include the following statements:

- “Extraditions should be from here to there [USA] and from there to here [Colombia] […] The decision [to request them] is in the hands of the Attorney General’s Office," stated president Álvaro Uribe Vélez. (See: Uribe se Declara a Favor de la Extradición de Directivos de Chiquita Brand. Caracol Radio, March 17, 2007, http://www.caracol.com.co/noticias/403481.asp?id=403481.)

- "It is certainly a hypocrisy that while here we fight to catch the bandits, to extradite them, there they make such indignant arrangements," stated vice president Francisco Santos. (See: Colombia Quiere Juzgar a Chiquita. CNN Expansion, September 19, 2007, http://www.cnnexpansion.com/negocios/2007/9/19/colombia-quiere-juzgar-a-chiquita/view.)

- “We hope the Attorney General’s Office carries out the corresponding investigations, that they ask for all the information. We should request the Attorney General to look into this issue. An Interpol red notice for some of the senior executives of multinationals makes their life uncomfortable; at least they won’t be able to leave the country,” reiterated vice president Francisco Santos. (See: Vicepresidente Dijo que Continuarán Investigaciones contra Chiquita Brands en Colombia. La FM, Bogotá, September 12, 2007, http://www.lafm.com.co/noticia.php3?nt=23779.)

- "From a formal point of view, the US justice system has some parameters that deserve all of our respect, [however] this does not mean that the public is not somewhat perplexed that such an important case does not result in anyone going to jail," indicated foreign minister Fernando Araújo Perdomo. (See: Fallo contra Chiquita en EEUU Genera "Perplejidad" en el Gobierno. RCN, September 17, 2007, http://ourlatinamerica.blogspot.com/2007/09/colombia-judge-approves-chiquita-plea.html.)

- "Naturally [they may be prosecuted in Colombia]. What we are seeing here is a judicial case that has gone before American courts, in which Colombia has not had any participation," asserted foreign minister Fernando Araújo Perdomo. (See: Los Tribunales Estadounidenses se Limitan a Multar con 25 Millones a la Multinacional que Financió Paramilitares en Colombia. Telesur/Rebelión, September 20, 2007, http://www.nodo50.org/tortuga/article.php3?id_article=6584.)

- "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lets it be known that if the conduct of officials from the banana company Chiquita Brands classifies as any crime in Colombia, with the support of the Attorney General’s Office, we will request the extradition of these persons to the country," as reported in a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Colombia Quiere Juzgar a Chiquita. Ibid.)

- “The Government is analyzing the possibility that the unit in charge of the Nation’s legal defense advises the victims of 'paras' in Urabá and Magdalena so the executives from Chiquita Brands may be held responsible in Colombia," stated interior minister Carlos Holguín Sardi. (See: Bananera Chiquita Tendría que Pagar por Víctimas de los 'Paras', Considera Estados Unidos. El Tiempo, September 12 de 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2007-09-13/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3720132.html.)

- "This is governed by international law standards that are in force in both countries. […] There is the possibility that Colombia asks for US citizens in extradition, just as the United States may ask for nationals," stated interior minister Carlos Holguín Sardi. (See: Colombia no Descarta Pedir a EEUU Extradición de Implicados en Pagos. EFE, March 16, 2007, http://notiemail.com/noticia_print.asp?nt=10725807&cty=100.)

- "The agreement is unbecoming of the US justice system, because it creates the sensation that impunity may be bought for a few million dollars," reiterated interior minister Carlos Holguín Sardi. (See: Bananera Chiquita Tendría que Pagar por Víctimas de los 'Paras', Considera Estados Unidos. Ibid.)

- “It makes no sense that a transnational buys impunity for 25 million dollars either here or anywhere,” indicated interior minister Carlos Holguín Sardi. (See: Colombia Criticó Arreglo de Chiquita Brands en EEUU. Canal RCN, September 19, 2007, http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/index.php?op=info&idS=742&idC=39991.)

- "With these funds, terrorist groups have put our homeland into mourning. They should face justice,” wrote former president Andrés Pastrana. (See: Uribe Apoya Extradiciones de Ejecutivos. Bogotá, Colombia/DPA, March 13, 2007, http://ediciones.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2007/03/18/hoy/mundo/922223.html.)

- “I think [Chiquita] escaped any kind of appropriate sanctions. […] We will take a good, hard look at how American multinationals operate around the world, using Colombia as a model. […] It really deserves an exhaustive effort to examine where we need legislation and if there are gaps in our criminal code that allow U.S. corporations to aid or abet violence in other countries that erode our credibility and our moral standing in the world. […] Do our economic interests trump the war on terror? Are we making trade-offs? […] If we are, at the very least the public should know about it,” asserted William Delahunt, member of the US Congress and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight. (See: U.S. Bending Rules on Colombia Terror? Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2007, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chiquita22jul22,0,186594.story?page=1&coll=la-home-center.)

- "Up to now, the Colombian government has not spoken with us about any extradition and we would have to follow our extradition treaty to the letter," asserted Thomas Shannon, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs. (See: Gobierno Norteamericano Avala Gestión de Senadora Colombiana con las Farc. Asdrubal Guerra, La W Radio, September 21, 2007, http://www.wradio.com.co/nota.asp?id=483264.)

- “Chiquita’s position is that the payments were made for protection, so they would not be attacked during the time of their presence in Colombia. […] This justification is not acceptable,” asserted William Brownfield, US ambassador in Bogotá. (See: “La Justificación de Chiquita no es Aceptable”. Semana Magazine, September 29, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=106545.)

- "I hope that this [the extradition of the Chiquita directors] is not a problem between the two governments, I have no reason to believe it would be, because in the end the two governments and the two countries have the same objective and desire to eliminate the activities of the violent groups," asserted US ambassador William Brownfield. (See: Estados Unidos no ve Problema que Colombia Pida en Extradición a Empresarios de Chiquita Brands. Caracol Radio, October 1, 2007, http://www.caracol.com.co/noticias/487506.asp?id=487506.)

- "I do not doubt in the slightest that there will be collaboration in accordance with our formal obligations and the excellent bilateral relationship we enjoy," asserted US ambassador William Brownfield. (See: E.U. estaría Dispuesto a Extraditar a Colombia a Ejecutivos de Chiquita Brands, Afirma Embajador. El Tiempo, October 22, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2007-10-22/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3776950.html.)

[10] Colombia Seeks Extradition of 8 people in Chiquita Payments to Terrorists. Javier Baena, Union-Tribune, San Diego, USA, March 20, 2007, http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20070320-1501-terrorism-bananas.html.

[11] Colombia Seeks Extradition of 8 people in Chiquita Payments to Terrorists. Ibid.

[12] Diez ex Directivos de Chiquita fueron Incluidos en Investigación de la Fiscalía por Pagos a las AUC. El Tiempo, December 18, 2007, http://www.freshplaza.es/news_detail.asp?id=2470.

[13] Acuerdo de Confidencialidad ha Impedido Extradición de Directivos de Chiquita Brands. El Universal, Colprensa, April 23, 2008, http://www.eluniversal.com.co/noticias/20080423/ctg_nal_extradicion_de_macaco_tendra_que_esperar.html.

[14] This is not the first time the Attorney General’s Office asserted it has initiated legal actions to then later contradict itself. It should be remembered that Chiquita Brands admitted to having made payments to paramilitary organizations on April 24, 2003, before the US Attorney General’s Office, which was made known in a press release issued on Monday May 10, 2004. Later, then attorney general Luís Camilo Osorio stated to the Colombian media that the government would initiate a criminal process against Chiquita Brands and seek the extradition of the responsible officials and directors.

Based on these statements, on June 10, 2004, the Lawyers’ Collective filed a right of petition before the Attorney General’s Office, which requested information on whether a criminal investigation had been opened, if this were the case, the file number, and the stage of the process.

Through order DNF No. 06123 of June 24, 2004, the Attorney General’s Office responded to the right of petition, denying the requested information, arguing that there was no specification of the object of the petition, the grounds, or the motives in which this solicitation was based. On July 16, 2004, we reiterated the request of right of petition No. 009429, complementing it with the information indicated by the prosecutor. On August 9, 2004, we received a response, which asked us for more specific information, such as the exact place of the incidents, the complainant or complainants or other information with which the investigation could be located. On February 16, 2005, information was newly provided and we requested the same information as before.

On May 12, 2005, after having presented a writ for legal protection due to the violation of the right of petition, through order No. 005862, the Attorney General’s Office replied “[…] there is no criminal investigation at a preliminary or investigative stage where the mentioned citizen appears as a complainant or defendant.” On May 16, 2005, the 27th Criminal District Court of Bogotá resolved the writ for legal protection under No. 0163 of 2005, declaring the inadmissibility of the motion, for having “exceeded the motives that gave it origin.” Lastly, on June 13, 2005, the Cundinamarca GAULA communicated to us that it had carried out a preliminary investigation filed under No. 72.025 for the alleged unjust extortion of the “victim” Chiquita Brands International.

In other words, more than two years after the information was provided, the Attorney General’s Office never responded in a timely, serious or precise manner concerning the investigation that should have been initiated against Chiquita Brands for these incidents and, to the contrary, the only information that reached us concerning any investigation, Chiquita Brands appeared as the “victim.”

[15] Chiquita Brands International had the following directors and officials when the shipment of weapons entered on the Otterloo: Cyrus F. Freidheim, Jr., Morten Arntzen, Jeffrey D. Benjamin, Robert W. Fisher, Roderick M. Hills, Carl H. Lindner, Robert F. Kistinger, Robert W. Olson, James B. Riley. (See: Chiquita Brands International 2001 Annual Report. Chiquita Brands International, Inc. and Subsidiary Companies, Directors, Officers and Senior Operating Management, http://www.chiquita.com).

[16] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., SEC File No. 1-01550, No. 950152-2-3445, April 29, 2002, http://www.secinfo.com/dsvs7.33bq.htm.

[17] Cyrus Freidheim to Retire from Chiquita's Board of Directors. Chiquita Brands International, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 12, 2004, http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=120896.

[18] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[19] Congressmen Eye Chiquita Case. Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2007, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chiquitaside22jul22,0,1652595.story?coll=la-home-nation.

[20] Ex-Chiquita Director Faces Legal Jeopardy. Ibid.

[21] Ex-Chiquita Director Faces Legal Jeopardy. Ibid.

[22] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. Form 10-Q. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., June 30, 2006, http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?SessionID=HhhlC2bI2E1w4Uo&ID=4573994.

[23] In Terrorism-Law Case, Chiquita Points to U.S. Washington Post, August 2, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102601.html.

[24] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[25] See the official corporate web page for Chiquita Brands International, http://www.chiquita.com, last time reviewed: June 30, 2008.

[26] Ex-Chiquita Director Faces Legal Jeopardy. Ibid.

[27] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[28] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[29] Form 8-K: Current Report. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., February 6, 2007, http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?SessionID=7W80CNVjuQ9_J8Q&ID=4942869.

[30] Chiquita Brands International 2002 Annual Report. Chiquita Brands International, Inc., http://www.chiquita.com.

[31] Chiquita Brands International Selecciona a Steven Stanbrook para Entrar en su Junta Directiva. Chiquita Brands International, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 12, 2004, http://prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/release?id=95876.

[32] Chiquita Brands International 2006 Annual Report. Chiquita Brands International, Inc., http://www.chiquita.com.

[33] Chiquita Brands International 2004 Annual Report. Chiquita Brands International, Inc., http://www.chiquita.com.

[34] Chiquita Brands International 2002 Annual Report. Ibid.

[35] Chiquita Brands International elects Durk Jager to board of directors. Chiquita Brands International, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 12, 2002, http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/release?id=95484.

[36] Chiquita Brands International 2006 Annual Report. Ibid.

[37] Chiquita Brands International 2005 and 2006 Annual Report. Chiquita Brands International, Inc., http://www.chiquita.com.

[38] B-Schools: Reading List. Business Week Online, January 4, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/books/recommenders/jager.htm.

[39] Chiquita Names Former P&G CEO to Board. Business Courier, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 11, 2007, http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/12/09/daily40.html.

[40] Chiquita Brands International Elects Jaime Serra to Board of Directors. Chiquita Brands International Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, February 3, 2003, http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-977948/Chiquita-Brands-International-elects-Jaime.html.

[41] Chiquita Brands International 2006 Annual Report. Ibid.

[42] Chiquita Brands International elects Jaime Serra to Board of Directors. Chiquita Brands International Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, February 3, 2003, http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-977948/Chiquita-Brands-International-elects-Jaime.html.

[43] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[44] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[45] Chiquita Names John W. Braukman III as Chief Financial Officer; Manuel Rodriguez Promoted to Senior Vice President of Government & International Affaire. Cincinnati, August 18, 2004, http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=128521.

[46] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[47] See the official corporate web page for Chiquita Brands International, http://www.chiquita.com, last time reviewed: June 30, 2008.

[48] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[49] Chiquita Brands International, Inc. 10-K/A. Ibid.

[50] Jodi Enda. Are We Better Off: Welcome to Rangerville. Mother Jones Magazine, May 3, 2004, http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/2004/04/MJ100_201.html.

[51] Chiquita Brands International 2000 Annual Report. Chiquita Brands International, Inc., http://www.chiquita.com.

[52] Chiquita Brands International 2000 Annual Report. Ibid.
--

"No podrá haber paz mientras subsistan diferencias tan profundas,
desproporcionadas e irritantes en la suerte de las personas y de los pueblos."

- José Alvear Restrepo

"Peace is not possible as long as such profound, disproportionate, and
aggravating differences exist in the fate of persons and peoples."

- José Alvear Restrepo


Declaration of TeleSUR in Response to the Affirmations of Minister Santos

(Translated by Steve Cagan, a CSN volunteer translator)

The multi-country news channel TeleSUR is issuing a communiqué in response to the recent declarations by the Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, with reference to the illegal use that his government made of the logo of this journalistic center.
 
Herewith, we transmit the communiqué in its entirety:
 
TeleSUR Communiqué

Faithful to our commitment to inform in a truthful and timely manner, a few days ago we recorded and communicated to our audience the declarations of the Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, during a forum in the Center for American Progress in the city of Washington in the United States, in which he affirmed that they had trained military personnel “to be able to pass for an Italian, an Australian, an Arab, a doctor, a nurse and a cameraman of TeleSUR.”
 
In respect to this, TeleSUR, the multi-country information channel, emphasizes to world public opinion:
 
  1. Pretending to be journalists in a military operation is a wicked simulation and a fraudulent felony as serious as pretending to be the International Red Cross, one that cannot be accepted under any pretext, because it violates people’s rights, international agreements and the rules of war, which are accomplishments of civilization.

  1. Such irresponsibility constitutes a danger for the lives of innocent professional, endangers their security, and thus is an assault on the universal right to information.

  1. Rigor and honesty are the foundation of the daily work of TeleSUR. This channel is committed to transmitting information in a truthful and opportune way, as the Colombian government and those of those countries where we have correspondents can confirm.

  1. Neither journalists nor personnel of TeleSUR participated or will participate in what was called “Operation Check,” nor in any action outside the objective of informing.

  1. TeleSUR did not and will not authorize the Colombian government, nor any other, to pretend to be us or to use the distinguishing marks of this journalistic center.

  1. We exercise our work in an ethical and responsible way, which is why we energetically reject the use of our name to make truth be the first casualty of battle.

  1. TeleSUR respects international law and those of every country, including Colombia, for which we demand reciprocity.

  1. Therefore, TeleSUR is evaluating the possible legal actions and international denunciations that it can carry out with respect to this aggression against our credibility and independence.

  1. TeleSUR gives thanks for the innumerable expressions of professional organizations and associations of journalists, social communicators, artists and intellectuals of the whole world who have joined the repudiation of this action committed by the Colombian Government.

Latin America
Caracas City
July 26, 2008
 




Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI  53701-1505
phone:  (608) 257-8753
fax:  (608) 255-6621
e-mail:  csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net



Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Cerrejon is a bad neighbor

(Translated by Amy Rose Pekol, a CSN’s volunteer translator)

Wayúu Indigenous Hearing in Cabo de la Vela, Colombia
 
Author: TPP (Permanent People’s Tribunal) &
ONIC (National Indigenous Organization of Colombia)
 

The Wayúu Indigenous Hearing was successful in terms of the high turnout, but not so considering the weakness and grief of its attendees.  With the enduring energy from the burning sun, the refreshing breeze from the sea and the mirror of the desert, the fifth and last Permanent People’s Tribunal (TPP in its Spanish acronym) indigenous pre-hearing took place in Cabo de Vela, Colombia on June 18th and 19th, 2008.  The meeting coincides with the Latin American Forum and the Final Indigenous Hearing from July 17-19 in Valledupar and Atánquez, Kankuamo Reserve of the Sierra Nevada, respectively.

Mining, fishing, ports and other riches vs. the poverty caused by multinational corporations in the Wayúu territory were among the topics discussed during the two-day hearing.  More than 170 delegates from different regions of the Wayúu community, such as Maicao, Uribia, Mayabamgloma, Barranca, Distracción, Bahía Portete and Puerto Estrella, attended the hearing accompanied by the Embera peoples of Caldas (CRIDEC), the Mokaná peoples, the Kankuamos, the Cerrejón labor union, the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective, Taganeros and the team from TPP of ONIC.
 
In Wayúu territories, the Colombian government is supporting multinational corporation projects such as the wind-power park and Cerrejón coal mine, among others, by displacing the Wayúu families from the beaches in Cabo de Vela where they have lived for thousands of years, relying upon tourism and fishing as their primary means of support.  Vice President Santos and foreign investors have recovered this land in hopes of turning the natural beaches into an eccentric vacation spot.  “They want to rid us from these lands in order to make room for hotels and multinational corporations, just like what happened in Cerrejón.”
 
The irony is that they are exploiting the energy resources in great quantities while the indigenous peoples of these areas lack basic public services.  Just 15 minutes away in Media Luna there is no electricity, according to the testimony of a local community member.  “We can only watch the windmills turn and hope for the rain to fill our jugs with water for our families and animals.  The Media Luna community is located in a coal unloading zone.  They refused to be forced off their land and today suffer the effects with skin rashes, deafness, nutritional deficiency and restriction of movement. Meanwhile, their houses are made with scraps from the mine, since the materials they used to use to build their houses remain inside the area that was closed by the mine.”
 
Several community members, whose skin has been noticeably weathered by the sun, stated “we can no longer fish the inside sea, but very close to the coast we are finding very large fishing boats that, with permission from the Colombian government, are destroying our ecosystem by taking everything and leaving our (Wayúu) community without any fish, our primary means of subsistence.
 
Wayúu community leaders asserted that “since the mining began, the communities have lost thousands of hectares of land to the point that the Wayúu no longer have access to the river from as far as Albania because the Cerrejón has privatized all the surrounding areas and floodplains.  The provincial reservation is less than 500 meters from the mine, eating coal and sleeping with the vibrations from the nearby garbage dump and explosions.  A railway and a highway run through the middle of the San Francisco Reservation.
 
Others pointed out that “the majority of the southern Guajira communities surrounded by the Cerrejón coal mine do not even have enough land for their goats to graze on, much less to cultivate.  And if that weren’t enough, we can’t even visit our deceased because their cemeteries are desecrated in the midst of the Cerrejón.
 
An old man, weathered more from sadness than the inclement sun, dressed in his traditional clothing, told of “an anthropologist who started investigating the Tabaquito community and concluded that we, the inhabitants of Tabaquito, were not Wayúu, just like everything else is being denied to us.”  Another Wayúu leader confirmed that the mine caused the displacement of this community.  Since the 15 square kilometers from the border with Venezuela were purchased by the mining company and since they didn’t want to sell, they were isolated and completely confined.  The communities of Tabaco and Chancleta, among others, share the same fate due to the Cerrejón’s expansionist plans with consent from the Colombian government.
 
“The needs are great and the opportunities few,” explained an elderly community leader.  “The Media Luna community doesn’t have any support.  We no longer eat grilled goat but rather charcoaled goat because instead of eating food we eat ashes from the coal.  We no longer die of old age; we die of weakness as they take everything and leave us with only holes and artificial lands.  What they reforest is like a soccer stadium with grass on the surface and rubble underneath.  And from the rubble nothing good ever surfaces.”
 
Media Luna authorities said “we regret not speaking Spanish, because when the company arrived they said beautiful words to us and now everything is a complete disaster.”  Nowadays, one can’t fish or shepherd because there are no more animals.  “It angers us greatly picking up our children’s dead bodies from alongside the train tracks.  It seems a goat is worth more than a Wayúu person these days as they always respond to train accident deaths by saying it was due to carelessness on our part for not reading the warning signs.  And what are we going to read?  We don’t even understand Spanish well and now we are supposed to understand English?”
 
“I was a little girl when the Cerrejón mine came.  My father was a fisherman and our area was rich in animals and fish.  We were happy.  But with the mining company’s arrival, my family started living in misery.  Now, we don’t even have a traditional house.  We live with scraps from the Cerrejón mine.  We make our homes from what the company throws away. We can no longer obtain yotojoro because it is all inside the mining zone. The only work to be found for the Wayúu in Media Luna is collecting coal from under the docks.  The Cerrejón is not presenting the community with sustainable solutions.  The Cerrejón is a bad neighbor!!”
 
Members of Sincracarbón, a Colombian coal-workers’ union, confirm that of 3,500 coal workers, approximately 800 suffer from illnesses related to mining work.  And the Wayúu are only employed in mining clean-up jobs.
 
Wayúu authorities and community members were pleased with the solidarity shown by the audience. “We hope our words don’t get carried away by the wind or dried up in the sun or scattered in the desert….here, we will continue fighting against the windmills.”
 
FOR THE SURVIVAL OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES: RESISTENCE & AUTONOMY!
 
Contact TPP and ONIC at Tpp-indigena@onic.org.co or comunicaciones@onic.org.co
















From the Indigenous Council OREWA in Choco

(Translated by Stacey Schlau, a CSN volunteer translator)


In spite of what the Armed Forces high command publicly states to the media, that the units under its command strictly comply with human rights standards, the Council of Indigenous Authorities, of the Embera Association of Indigenous Town Councils, Wounaan, Katío, Chamí, and Tule, of the Department of El Chocó OREWA, again denounces to international and national public opinion the actions that violate human rights by members of the Colombian army, against the indigenous peoples who live in the Department of El Chocó.
 

  1. Last July 3, members of an army patrol commanded by Sargent Hernández, who were driving through the sector 18 in a truck, on the road that goes from Quibdó to Medellín, attacked and beat up compañero Ricardo Tequia, of community 90. He was in that place to fish for food; the patrol surrounded him, called him a guerrillero, and threatened to kill him if he did not tell them how many guerrilleros there were in the indigenous communities. This compañero was saved because other community members realized what was happening and prevented the soldiers from continuing to attack him.

 
  1. On July 20 a group of soldiers under Sargent Hernández’s command shot at the family of the compañero Crisanto Cheché Campo, Amelia Estevez Viucay and the child Wilson Tequia Tequia, who had gone up to the mountain from community 18 to look for food. Even though the aforementioned informed the soldiers where they were going, the army shot at them.

As a consequence of this the compañera Amelia Estevez Vitucay is badly bruised because in order to avoid the shots she threw herself down among some rocks. The same thing happened to the child Wilson Tequia Tequia, who was lost for several hours. Therefore, the community decided to take over the highway and blockade it until such time as the child appeared and the army stopped treating them without respect.
 
  1. Facing the indigenous people’s demands, the Major of the army, named Cardoso, who remains in command of the troop of the Manosalva Flores batallion that controls the highway in the spot where the antennas of Telecom are, threatened the community with shooting at them if they did not take down the blockade and move away from that place.

  1. The communities dismantled the blockade when the child appeared and the army major stopped threatening them. The army has justified its attitude by saying that in that moment the guerrilleros were moving through that area and the community was hiding them. As proof they say that they found insurgents’ camouflage clothing.

When the commmunity went to verify what the army had said, what they found was the clothing and shoes of the child Wilson Tequia who, when he was shot at, fled, leaving it behind.
 
  1. In addition to these facts, the army has restricted the movements of these communities, because of the mining prospecting that the Cordillera Mining Explorations Company Inc. is doing, which has damaged their plantings and use of the forest.

  1. We also let it be known that the communities of the highway are in a Permanent Assembly, waiting for a commission to verify these facts and the fulfillment of the accords to which the federal government agreed.

In order to make visible the situation in which the indigenous communities of the Quibdó highway are living our association is convening to ensure that those in control and international humanitarian aid organizations agree to a fact-finding mission of verification.
 
We ask:
 
That the national and departmental governments fulfill the accords agreed to in June of last year as a result of the nonviolent demonstration we had, especially naming teachers for our communities, paying attention to the health of our communities, the amplification and constitution of the safeguards that are lacking, and respecting human rights.
 
That government agencies, the Public Ministry, carry out the necessary investigations of who is committing these violations and offer protection of our lives, because we believe that these signs and actions place us at risk, because we are in between the armed participants on opposite sides.
 
That the actions of the police be investigated, in line with international humanitarian law and the 2006 Directive 16 of the Ministry of Defense.
 
That a commission be established to verify the violation of our rights and the violations to our territory as a result of the prospecting being carried out by the Cordillera Mining Exploration Company Inc.
 
We demand that all armed participants respect our territory and not use it as a place for confrontation.
 

Council of Authorities
Quibdó, July 23, 2008







Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI  53701-1505
phone:  (608) 257-8753
fax:  (608) 255-6621
e-mail:  csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net



New threats and intimidation in Narino State

(Translated by Kevin Funk, a CSN volunteer translator)



New threats and intimidation against human rights organizations and defenders, and the victims of crimes, in the state of Narino.
 

Humanidad Vigente is urgently informing the national and international community that this past July 21, different human rights organizations working in support of the victims of state crimes in the department of Nariño received an email signed in the name of the “Grupo de Liberación y Justicieron de nuestra sociedad Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia” (Liberation and Avenging Group of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia).

The email is directed to organizations like the Permanent Human Rights Committee of Nariño, the AVRE Corporation (Support to Victims of Sociopolitical Violence for Emotional Recuperation), the Movement of Victims of State Crimes, and the Development and Peace Foundation. However, it also mentions different human rights defenders and organizations that have been working in the region for a long time. Amongst these organizations – which are listed in the text – our organization, “Humanidad Vigente Corporación Jurídica” (Humanity in Force Legal Corporation), is mentioned.
 
The authors of the message – written in an aggressive tone and with coarse language – accuse the threatened organizations and persons of belonging to “urban guerrillas,” of being “defenders of the guerrillas,” and of “seeking to defend the relatives of guerrillas.” Likewise, they show a high degree of disgust in light of the fact that, supposedly, the threatened individuals and groups did not attend the March for Peace and Liberty that was carried out last Sunday, July 20.
 
The most worrying aspect is that the intimidating message ends with blunt death threats, such as the following: “with grenades and shooting we will free our people from these guerrillas, may blood spill to rid us of your oppression.”
 
But beyond the intolerance before different political programs – as evidenced in the threat – the message is disturbing since it was sent just days after the first regional assembly of the Victims’ Movement of Nariño.

It alarms us deeply that, added to the polarization that currently divides the country, there is a stigmatization of people or organizations that cannot or do not wish to participate in, or disagree with, the large demonstrations organized by the government and mass media. Likewise it is disturbing that they are catalogued as “guerrillas” or “relatives of the guerrillas,” declaring them a military target, above all keeping in mind that such organizations and human rights defenders are carrying out their activities with the victims of state crimes.

It gives us alarm to know that the people and entities that carry out activities next to the victims of state crimes are submitted to rigorous vigilance, since only hours after Sunday’s march those who didn’t participate were already being threatened. This, in open contradiction of the government’s position which rejects vigilante groups and monitoring, and systematically evades its obligation to provide security and protection, to the people and organizations who dedicate themselves to the defense of human rights.


There are several precedents for the threats, intimidation, killings, illegal raids, and theft of information that people and organizations defending human rights have suffered. The national government has evaded its responsibility in these incidents, classifying them as “self threats.”

What we consider to be most serious is that actions of this type, together with the constantly committed crimes, demonstrate once more the open and free manner in which paramilitary groups operate in Nariño and in other regions of the country, under the euphemism of “emerging bands” that give continuity to military, political and economic control, which have flaunted themselves for years. This occurs before the complicit watch of the Colombian government, which not only does not protect but also endangers the legitimate actions of the victims, their organizations, and any organized expression in defense of human rights.

We encourage the nation and international community to persist in accompanying the victims in their struggle for truth, justice, and redress in Colombia.

PS: We are taking the liberty of sending the message containing the threat in the attached file.
 
 
Liberation and Avenging Group of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia


SAN JUAN DE PASTO, JULY 20, 2008
 
THE DEFENSE OF THE PEOPLE IS IN OUR HANDS, THE INJUSTICE OF SO MANY PEOPLE KIDNAPPED SO MANY CHILDREN HARMED, OUR WHOLE CORRUPT SOCIETY INTOLERANCE IN OUR PEOPLE ALL THIS GENERATED BY ARMED STRUGGLE, THAT LOOK TO PERVERSE IDEALS LOOK TO LIVE WELL IN EXCHANGE FOR LIES ABOUT HELPING THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE, THESE VICTIMS ARE GUERRILLA TERRORISTS, THAT HAVE BEEN SERVED JUSTICE BY OUR HANDS FOR DAMAGING OUR COUNTRY, OUR SOCIETY THE MOVEMENTS CREATED FOR THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN URBAN GUERRILLA MOVEMENT WITH WARPED IDEALS, THAT SEEK TO MAKE LIBERATORS BE SEEN AS TERRORISTS AND KNOWING THAT THEY THEMSELVES ARE NOTHING MORE THAN DEFENDERS OF THE GUERRILLAS’ WAR THEY CRITICIZE AND CRITICIZE AND MAKE THEMSELVES SEEM LIKE VICTIMS WHEN THEY ARE THE REAL VICTIMIZERS WE ARE MORE THAN SAVIORS FOR A SOCIETY CLEANSED OF THESE CORRUPT ONES AND IF BLOOD HAS TO BE SPILLED IN OUR COUNTRY TO BRING THESE OPPRESSORS OF LIBERTY TO JUSTICE IT WILL BE SPILLED BECAUSE WE DO NOT WANT ANY MORE OF YOU GUYS, THE COURIERS OF THE GUERRILLAS, AND IF WE HAVE TO GIVE YOU A LESSON AND MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WITH YOUR DEATHS THE COUNTRY WILL BE FREED FROM BLOOD KIDNAPPINGS VIOLENCE COMMON CRIMES WE WILL DO IT WE WANT A FREE COUNTRY WITH DIGNITY AND PEACE.
 
WITH YOU, THE COURIERS OF THE GUERRILLAS, DEFENDERS OF THE ILL-BRED OF OUR FATHERLAND.
NEVER WILL THE PEOPLE’S PURPOSE BE CARRIED OUT, OF A COUNTRY AND A DECENT SOCIETY
 
OUR PURPOSE IS TO MAKE THE PEOPLE OF NARIÑO SEE YOU AS NOTHIING MORE THAN AN URBAN GUERRILLA. WHY DON’T YOU MARCH FOR PEACE AND AGAINST WAR?
 
WHY ARE YOU A GUERRILLA GROUP?


YOU GUERRILLA SONS OF BITCHES YOU HAVE TO DIE FOR THIS COUNTRY TO BE FREE

THOSE SONS OF BITCHES THAT ARE NAMED DOCTOR MARTHA MELO DELGADO LEADER OF THE GUERRILLAS OF SIMANA THAT CREATES ‘MODEP’ AND ‘MOVICENAR’ GROUPS THAT ARE NOTHIING MORE THAN GUERRILLA GROUPS YOU ARE GOING TO DIE TOGETHER WITH YOUR GROUP AND FOLLOWERS YOU CALL YOURSELF DOCTOR WHEN YOU ARE A SIMPLE GUERRILLA LEADER BLOOD WILL SPILL SO THAT YOUR IDEALS NEVER GET TO OUR PEOPLE FOLLOWED BY JAVIER DODRADO ILL-BRED LEADER OF OUR SOCIETY WITH GRENADES AND SHOOTING WE WILL FREE THIS PEOPLE FROM THESE GUERRILLAS WE WILL EXACT SOCIAL JUSTICE WITH THESE CRIMINALS.

YOUR HELPERS AND GUERRILLAS ALSO THAT DO NOT SEEK PEACE IN COLOMBIA BUT RATHER SEEK TO DEFEND THE FAMILIES OF GUERRILLAS IN MEETINGS AND GROUPS THAT FORM THE DEFENSE OF RELATIVES OF GUERRILLAS THAT DO SO MUCH DAMAGE TO OUR COUNTRY AND OUR PEOPLE
 
ORGANIZATIONS OF CRIMINAL GUERRILLAS LIKE FUNDEPAZ, CORPORACION AVRE, SIMANA, SIMANA,CPDH.....


THOSE WHO SEEK VIOLENCE AND GUERRILLA WAR IN OUR DEPARTMENT......

YOU WILL DIE AND BLOOD WILL SPILL.....

WITH GRENADES AND SHOOTING WE WILL FREE OUR PEOPLE FROM THESE GUERRILJAS MAY BLOOD SPILL TO RELIEVE US OF YOUR OPPRESSION


MARTHA MELO DELGADO
JAVIER DORADO
JESUS ARMANDO ARCINIEGAS
CAROLINA PEREZ
EDUARDO MONTENEGRO
LILIANA SALAZAR
BLANCA ORTIZ
JOSE DARIO LOPEZ
FUNDEPAZ
COORPORACION AVRE
CPDH
MOVICENAR
HUMANIDAD VIGENTE COORPORACION JURIDICA
ANDAS
PNUD

AND ALL THE COLLABORATORS WITH THESE GUERRILLAS
WITH GRENADES AND SHOOTING YOUR MOMENT AWAITS YOU......

SIGNED BY:


Liberation and Avenging Group of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

WE SUPPORT A SOCIAL CLEANSING IN OUR DEPARTMENT…………………………………..



Wednesday, July 23, 2008

CAQUETA DIOCESE REPORTS ON SITUATION THERE

(Translated by Anne Boylon, a CSN ‘s  volunteer translator)
 
                                                    COMMUNIQUÉ
THE SAGRADO CORAZON  DE JESUS RECTORY, VICARIA DEL SUR
                                    FLORENCIA DIOCESE – CAQUETA


TO THE INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES OF COOPERATION
TO THE CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS
TO THE NATIONAL AND DEPARTMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
TO THE SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
TO THE RURAL AND CITIZEN ORGANIZATIONS
TO THE VARIOUS COMMUNICATION MEDIA            

The Sagrado Corazon de Jesus RECTORY, VICARIA DEL SUR,
Florencia DioceseCaqueta, informs the above organizations, the authorities and the general public of the following events  that have taken place in the southwest part of Caqueta in the San Jose del Fragua municipality, 60 miles from the capital, Florencia, and of the effects of these on the rural population and rural neighborhoods in the south of Caqueta.
 
During October and November, 2007, and February and April, 2008, the national government, as part of its anti-drug program, carried out repeated aerial fumigations using glyphsate (roundup) on a large part of the Municipal area.  These fumigations have caused severe damage to the legal crops.
 
The 27 hamlets that have been most affected by these fumigations are:
 
-      Berlin, El Rosal, LaY, Palmeiras, El Sinai, El Topacio, El dDviso, El Portal Zabaleta, La Cristalina, Puerto Bello, La Alberto, Fraquita, El Jardin, Patio Bonito (Fumigated in October and November, 2007).
-      La Primavera, El Portal Zabaleta, El Diviso, Buenos Aires, Resguardo el Portal, Los Andes, El Jardin, Patio Bonito, Zabaleta (March 2008).
-      La Primavera, El Portal Zabaleta, El Diviso, Buenos Aires, Resguardo el Portal, Los Andes, La Cristalina, Puerto Bello, Costa Rica El Palmar, El Diamante, El Jardin (April, 2008).
-      Monterrey, La Apz, La Esmeralda, Alto San Isidro, El Mirador. (March, 2008).
 
The government’s fumigations have affected the horses, the corn, banana and yucca crops, the fruit trees and private family orchards; they have harmed the domestic animals and contaminated the water.  Some of these fumigated farms had no coca crops: Mr. Belisario Trivino, whose farm is in the Palmeiras hamlet, had none, but he was fumigated on three different occasions; in the Monterrey hamlet the fumigations completely demolished Mr.Gilberto Triana’s cocoa crops.
 
Many of both the primary and secondary crops that have been affected by these recent fumigations are the products of the San Jose del Fragua Rural Municipal Development Project which was implemented by Vicaria del Sur and financed by Misereor (Zentralstelle from Germany) and the Global Gift program of the Irish Agency Trocaire.  Fumigations also took place in Belen, Albania and Morelia on cultivations that were the product of projects developed by SCIAF from Sweden, Trocaire from Ireland and Manos Unidas from Spain.
 
The VICARIA del Sur Diocese wishes to alert the above co-operating agencies and governments of these illegal government measures which are resulting in veritable assaults on the rural population and their livelihoods.
 
The fumigations violate legally established standards for the protection of the environment and human beings:
-      bodies of water, legal crops, animals, mountains, areas close to villages and homes which house children and adults are being fumigated at an altitude of more than 50 meters.
-      The same hamlets are being fumigated repeatedly – as much as three times in a six or seven month period.
-      Crops that are being grown as an alternative to coca are also being fumigated:  cocoa, coffee, sugar cane and minor crops.
-      Livestock wells are also being fumigated.
 
Another harmful policy of the governmental anti-drug program is the manual eradication of crops. This involves the militarization of whole areas and results in frequent intimidation and abuses of the population such as the theft of their domestic animals and food crops by military personnel. To prevent them from denouncing these abuses, the victims are threatened with detention and the eradication of their coca crops.
 
The consequences of these governmental measures and the manner in which they are implemented are not only critical for the rural population but also for the inhabitants of rural neighborhoods and villages for whom these small farms are their main source of food.
 
These consequences are:
-       economic crisis and food insecurity in the rural farms
-      poverty and hunger for poor village families
-      health problems, damage to the flora and fauna; general deterioration of the environment
-      displacement of many families to urban areas following the loss of their crops
-      the removal and replanting of illicit crops to higher areas near streams and the source of rivers
-      the complete violation of the fundamental rights of people and families:  the right to food , health, a healthy environment and work.
 
 
These consequences are in direct contradiction to the legal and constitutional norms which have been instituted in order to improve the quality of life.
 
The Palmeras, Bosque Bajo, La Pradera and La Paz hamlets in the San Jose municipality which are part of the national government program Guardabosques (Save the Forests) have even been fumigated.  
 
The fumigations being carried out in the El Diamante, El Jardin, Los Andes and El Palmar hamlets located within the natural park, Indi Washi, AND ON THOSE WITHIN THE AMORTIGUACION ZONE OF THE PARK  are even more critical.  This is a national conservation area protected by resolution 0198 which was created on February 25, 2002.

Is this the way to protect the environment?
 
Farmers have denounced the fumigation of legal crops to the municipal magistrate, but no legal measures have been taken which would lead to a legal process in which the damage to their farms would be acknowledged. According to testimony from the magistrate in the municipality of San Jose de Fragua, that office has received a series of denouncements reporting damage to crops and illnesses among the population, particularly skin and respiratory problems.  “The denouncements are received and sent to the anti-drug section, but no reply is ever received.”
 
Vicaria del Sur calls on the National Government to indemnify these farmers for the damage done to them and to enter into full and honest negotiations in order to put an end to the further violation of the rights of the population.
 
We call on the social, environmental and human rights organizations to speak out against these anti-drug measures which are only serving to create more poverty and displacements and are resulting in the destruction of natural resources and the militarization of entire areas.
 
We also call on the International Agencies to protest to the national government about the damage caused to projects financed by them and to urge the government to commit itself in future to desist from obstructing the successful realization of these projects.
 
Morelia June 12, 2008
 
 
 
 
 
 




Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI  53701-1505
phone:  (608) 257-8753
fax:  (608) 255-6621
e-mail:  csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net



Tuesday, July 22, 2008

COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK STATEMENT ON HOSTAGE RELEASE



              

 

                                                                 July 5, 2008

 

 

            The Colombia Support Network (CSN) celebrates the release from captivity of Ingrid Betancourt, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes, and the remaining eleven FARC hostages who were freed on July 2, 2008. We are very pleased that these 15 persons are now able to return to their families and resume normal activities, leaving behind the constant fear and great physical suffering they were forced to endure as FARC captives.

 

            We hope that the FARC, the ELN and any other insurgent groups which may remain in Colombia recognize that kidnapping is a crime against humanity and an act which produces revulsion against and rejection of those who kidnap. It is contrary to any meaningful ideals these revolutionary movements claim they hold. We call upon the FARC and the ELN to release all of the hostages they continue to hold and abandon kidnapping for either political or economic purposes. It is time for a negotiated end to the conflict in Colombia and for the guerrillas and the Colombian government to work toward a Humanitarian Agreement, under the Geneva Conventions, for release of hostages and prisoners and commencement of substantive peace talks.

 

            Other countries in the international community have played an important role in support for a peace process for Colombia. We should keep working toward this goal and not forget nor abandon the immense group of Colombian citizens who continue to suffer the effects of the conflict in Colombia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

 

 

            

 

 

            

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Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI  53701-1505
phone:  (608) 257-8753
fax:  (608) 255-6621
e-mail:  csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net



You Can't Evade Justice with a Plebiscite in the Ballot Box


June 30. 2008
( Translated by Steve Cagan, a CSN volunteer translator)

The attacks by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez against the Supreme Court of Justice and his decision to call the Congress of the Republic into session in order for them to process as quickly as possible a bill that would once again authorize his reelection constitute an affront to democracy, an insult to the rules that govern a system of law and a clear abuse of power. These decisions are intended to impede the action of constitutional controls to make clear the legislative action that gave rise to reelection, and that at the same time are intended to be an obstacle to judicial procedures which ought to be judging the crimes that were behind their questionable approval, they are extremely serious acts, which break down judicial order and depart from the basic rules of a democracy.

The Supreme Court of Justice has proved the commission of criminal acts originating from executive gifts, which twisted the will of those who cast the decisive votes for the approval of the constitutional reform that allowed reelection. That’s why they have ordered the Attorney General to investigate all the ministries and co-workers of the president involved in these acts and ordered the Constitutional Court to reexamine the validity of the legislative act approved with these antecedents. This cannot be a reason for the President of the Republic to publicly slander the Supreme Court of Justice and attack it for abusing its power and applying selective and partial justice, and its magistrates for lending themselves to the trap of terrorism, this last argument one with which from the beginning of this government they have attacked human rights defenders, those who exercise political opposition, and those who have had to carry out judicial or control functions that are not in agreement with the criteria and interests of the president.

The opposition of the President of the Republic to the approval of a political reform, which would have purified a Congress that has been serious questioned because of the connection of a significant percentage of its members, mostly in the parties that supported the reelection of the President, to paramilitary groups that sowed terror among the citizenry in order to impose his election, cannot be taken advantage of now by the President to order Congress and its majorities that are under question to approve the acts that would lead to another reelection. That constitutes a mockery of judicial and constitutional procedures and threatens democratic rule.

The Colombia-Europe-United States Coordinating Group condemns the attacks by the President of the Republic on judicial order and democratic procedures. It rejects his attacks on the Supreme Court of Justice, and demands that the President respect its magistrates and comply strictly with its decisions and judicial procedures, without regard to the rank or authority of whoever may have, through their illicit activities, threatened the popular sovereignty expressed in a sacrosanct constitutional order. We ask the Attorney General to continue with the investigations in order to bring to justice all those responsible for these crimes, and we demand that the constitutional control process about the validity of the legislative reelection act under question be continued.

The Colombia-Europe-United States Coordinating Group also calls upon the Congress of the Republic not to continue desinstitutionalizing even more the precarious bases of our democracy by accepting this kind of pressure from the executive branch, and we request that they refuse to move forward with a reform process which is intended to undermine the recognition of the integrity of the magistrates and the legitimacy of the actions and decisions of the judicial system. In a state of law, neither the Congress nor the authorities are permitted to organize plebiscites in the ballot boxes every time they are affected by judicial decisions. The measures proposed by the President of the Republic assault the autonomy and independence of the justice system and threaten the viability of the principle of separation of powers, a basic guarantee needed for the respect for and reestablishment of human rights and fundamental liberties in any democracy.

Bogotá, June 27, 2008

Board of Directors of the Colombia-Europe-United States Coordinating Group
(Mesa Ejecutiva de la Coordinación Colombia-Europa-Estados Unidos)

The Colombia-Europe-United States Coordinating Group is a coalition of 199 Colombian organizations that work for the promotion, divulgation and defense of Human Rights.

Coordinating Group of Non-Governmental and Social Human Rights Organizations
(Cooridinación de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales y Sociales de Derechos Humanos)


 

 

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