President Uribe's visit to Europe revealed
his officials' scant agenda preparation and caused a series of problems
seen as much in the absence of radical sectors represented in the European
Parliament as in his unsuccessful meeting with Government President Silvio
Berlusconi, not to mention the meager attention by the regional press.
Nonetheless, the holding of the next Donors' Table in Colombia, the declaring
of the ELN as a terrorist organization in Germany and the extension of
the import duty reduction for 10 years, as well as financial assistance
to demobilize paramilitary members were among the visit's main achievements.
The fundamental problems for civil society and the government are still
compliance with the London Agreement regarding human rights and support
to the paramilitary demobilization, respectively.
Meanwhile, in Haiti, after the departure
of former President Aristide, US and Canadian troops returned to the country
for the first time after 1994, with UN Security Council endorsement. Issues
such as humanitarian intervention and stabilization have again become elements
that justify the sending of foreign troops to a country in the region.
Finally, UN support was received for the Colombia-OAS agreement (23/1) on accompaniment and verification of the peace process with any armed group, setting aside supposed incidents and differences between the two bodies. For his part, OAS General Secretary César Gaviria pledged to back the demobilization and reinsertion process, and gave his support to the Penal Alternativity Law. Meanwhile, EU criticisms of the process of demobilizing the paramilitary groups and the application of a regime of exception and militarization of justice continue. Differences emerged between OAS General Secretary César Gaviria and his envoy James Lemoyne: "Lemoyne is fully within his right; he represents an organization that evidently does not share this process.... What is happening is that I have a very clear decision to cooperate with the President." Nonetheless, (19/2) the DAS has recorded 362 killings, 16 massacres and 180 killings attributable to the paramilitiaries since they started their unilateral cease-fire. A meeting was held between UN Secretary General Koffi Annan and Chris Patten, the EU's commissioner for RREE. (23/2) In addition, the Office of the Comprehensive Action Program against Antipersonnel Mines, for which the OAS is responsible, was set up.
(27/1) During an interview with US Ambassador William Word, he said that with Uribe in the presidency, "we are working with a winning team" in circumstances in which Latin America's fifth economy expects 3.8% growth in 2004, with the peso regaining strength relative to the dollar. Regarding the supposed presence of FARC chiefs in territory belong to neighboring countries he said, "We occasionally have information that regrettably the FARC leaders make use of borders that are a bit permeable." Regarding the functioning of Plan Colombia, Ambassador Word said it would last until 2005 or 2006. In fact, a recent editorial in El Tiempo said, "The list of incidents caused in neighboring countries due to the effects of the domestic conflict is interminable." It states the Colombian Foreign Ministry will pay more attention to the borders during 2004.
A presidential determination from October 2003 claimed that 70,000 people had requested asylum in the United States for fiscal year 2004. For its part, the Human Rights Report of the US State Department still shows Colombia, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela with a poor record relative to previous years.
(23/2) A recent study by the Social Solidarity Network said that hunger is provoking more displacement than violence among the 1.2 million people registered in the Singly Registry System for Displaced. CODHES recognizes that there is a reduction in displacement (175,270, 49% fewer), but not in the confinement of communities, which would suggest that civilians lack freedom of movement even more than before. The same institution calculates that 20,727 people were displaced during 2003 to 45 border municipalities, and from there calculates that 15,000 of them have crossed the border. (26/2) An attack on Santa Marta Huila left 11 soldiers and 4 guerrillas dead. (28/2) An attempt was made on the airplane carrying President Uribe when he went to the city of Valledupar, Cesár.
BRAZIL
A report from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime has reported the existence of coca crops in Guainía, Vaupés (on the Brazilian border), as well as La Guajira and Chocó. (26/2) President Lula traveled to Venezuela to participate in the XII Summit of the Group of 15, reinforcing the conversations with Caracas.
ECUADOR
Some Ecuadorian analysts argue that the impact of the dollarization is that while detaining asylum, it is also promoting the migration of the Colombian labor force. The president of the Provincial Artisan Board, Clementina Arcos, said, "This problem has to be dealt with in the laws because cheap labor takes jobs away from Ecuadorians. In addition, the serious part is that the money Colombians earn is not invested in Ecuador." In February, acts of violence against opposition figures and leaders took place in Quito and Guayaquil. (27/2) Declarations by the Ecuadorian Ambassador in Quito that "Ecuador is a small-size Colombia" led to clarifications by Foreign Minister Zuquilanda. Ecuadorian Vice Minister Maria Emilia Mora said that Colombians will not be asked for visas because they constitute 26.6% of the tourists.
(27/1) Military operations intensified as a consequence of the capture of Simón Trinidad and the subsequent visit of the Army's intelligence director, General Jaime Andrade. This new situation is increasing fear about the rupture of Ecuador's neutrality, from the position of the armed actors in Colombia. These operations took place in Nuevo Loja and Puerto Nuevo, Pacayacu parish, with the participation of 850 men from the Fourth Division of the Amazonas Army. By way of example, the Ecuadorian army conducted 155 operations in the border zone in 2003 in an attempt to recover control of the border. For his part, the commander of Forest Brigade 19 stated: "This is a strategic zone for the Colombian guerrilla forces. Here they receive all kinds of logistical support and supplies." Gasoline trafficking from the Ecuador Petro complex (20,000 gallons daily). The jurist Julio Prado, said that the capture of Trinidad is involving Ecuador in the Colombian conflict.
Different municipalities in the department of Nariño have been suffering incursions and attacks by the FARC's Front 29; it is one of the few department in which one observes the taking of populations and the use of cylinders in a context of progressive transfer of illicit crops from Putumayo. (27/2) The Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) denounced abuses by military personal against the indigenous rearguard, Awa de Maguí, in the municipality of Ricaurte. (14/2) Surprise military operations were conducted along the 175 kilometers of border between the province of Carchi and Nariño (there was an inspection visit in the five border points of Tobar Donoso, Chical, Maldonado, Tufiño and El Carmelo). The 310-kilometer highway to Tumaco along the Pacific is a clear problem. (29/2) An Ecuadorian commission of legislators, ecologists and the Foreign Ministry toured the border to observe the impacts of the fumigation. The last time the area was fumigated was in November 2003: 45 women with problems of sterility and cancer, 10,000 peasants affected and 600 displaced.
(24/2) Utilization of the Manta infrastructure for the devolution of migrants who dream of going to the United States. So far in 2004, three cases: on 15/1 (107), on 19/1 (121) and 24/2 (104), with the use of US warships. While tensions continue among those who demand stricter control measures, (23/2) suspicious foreigners in Ecuador are subjected to questioning about history and the national hymn by Migration authorities to determine their stay in the country. This is causing problems and charges of xenophobia (21/2) by 50 human rights organizations, which they will submit to Minister of Government Ra=FAl Baca. A possible request for police record or background is another of the measures being studied. (24/2) The Jesuit Refugee Service, the Migration Department and the UNHCR proposed that a census be done to determine the dimension of the problem before adopting any measure.
In February, the research on women refugees in Ecuador, promoted by INREDH and PCS, was published in Quito. It is one of the first specific investigations on the issue in Ecuador. Authorities from the Foreign Ministry, the UNHCR and organizations of feminists and Colombian refugees attended the presentation.
PANAMA
(27/1) Visit by UNHCR high commissioner Kamel Morjane to Chocó, in the framework of a larger visit to Colombia and Ecuador. He visited Bojayá and Tangui, on the Río Atrato, where 180,000 people live in riverside communities that are suffering the blockade of the river by armed actors. There he witnessed the level of the blockade of civilian communities by the armed groups. He noted that the humanitarian crisis is a regional and international problem. In Cacarica the harassments, singling out of people, threats and abuse of authority against the CAVIDA community centers by members of the XVII Brigade are continuing.1 The peace community of San José de Apartadó is going through a similar situation.
In the last week of February, discussions took place between Colombian and Panamanian authorities regarding the return of six families from Boca de Cupe, via Capurganá to Riosucio and Turbo. It finally happened on 20/2, with the participation of authorities from both governments and the UNHCR. The CIPDH has commented on the community's fears of returning to Colombia given the presence of paramilitary groups that are not in talks with the government (Bloque Elmer Cárdenas). Meanwhile, the general secretary of Panama's National Security Council, Ramiro Jarvis, assured that the return process is very safe and that authorities from both countries would evaluate this in March.
(25/2) Loans amounting to 9 million balboas were approved for the acquisition of four helicopters to strengthen security in Darién, as part of the continuing militarization of the border. Another 4 million had been approved in December 2003 for the acquisition of weapons for the border security corps. (29/2) Deputy Migration Director Javier Tapia said actions need to be coordinated among the region's countries to control the traffic of undocumented migrants; he referred to a recent deportation case involving a group of 75 Colombians, Ecuadorians and Peruvians who had come in through Tupisa, Darién and got as far as the border with Costa Rica. On 24/2 there had been another massive detention of up to 34 people motivated by the carnivals.
Nonetheless, the issue of migrations and refugees is absent from the electoral debate in Panama, except for occasional declarations, such as that of Guillermo Ford from the Solidarity Party: "Panama cannot be a den of evildoers, now that political asylum is reserved for those who really are politically persecuted and not for scoundrels fleeing from justice."
PERU
(26/1) The existence of 2,000 hectares of coca on the Río Napo was reported on, although 400 hectares have already been eradicated. Loreto's regional government president, Robinson Rivadeneyra, favors eradication "because the coca is an attack on our development and our security due to the closeness of the Colombian border." (17/2) A visit by the Peruvian foreign minister to Bogota to review all the issues on the agenda, particularly the focal point of conflict on the border.
(22/2) According to the Colombian Ambassador in Lima, Héctor Quintero, following the death of Tiberio, the FARC command that was operating on the Colombian-Peruvian border recognized the support from Peruvian authorities in the operations that led to his death. In the first half of March, the Colombian defense minister will visit Lima as part of the Tripartite Agreement between the two countries. (23/2) Peru's defense minister announced that he was ready to reinitiate interdiction flights, and is only waiting for the United States to authorize the flights and provide the radar plane, in circumstances that suggest the increase of illicit crops on the Putumayo border.
VENEZUELA
Venezuela expects 25% inflation for 2004, announced the minister of planning and development, Jorge Giordani. Asimismo. It also expects 6% economic growth for this same year, as the main macroeconomic tendencies. (17/2) On a visit to Guajira, an agreement was signed between the Colombian and Venezuelan petroleum companies to provide Colombian gas as the main bi-national border aspect. Nonetheless, (15/2) it is calculated that 7,000 barrels of petroleum a day are stolen by the illegal groups, causing a loss of US$75 million a year to the state.
(27/2) The Office of the People's Ombudsman for Rioacha Guajira created a Departmental Council on the Displaced. Although 3,000 indigenous people are found in this situation, they regrettably are not even registered as requesting asylum by the indigenous groups and there are no policies in Venezuela to respond specifically to this problematic.
The debate is continuing between the government and the opposition about the process of verifying and authenticating signatures for the referendum, which centers on counting the signatures and determining if there was fraud or not, as the government claims. Ultimately the National Electoral Council will determine the veracity of the approximately 1.2 million doubtful signatures by the end of February, but the process is very slow. While the OAS is threatening to pull out, the government appears willing to show it everything. (29/2) The National Electoral Council will say whether the opposition gets the needed signatures (2.4 million) for holding the referendum despite accusations of fraud.
(26/1) The diplomatic dispute is continuing between Venezuela and the United States due to the political crisis in Venezuela and its position with respect to US policy. While the United States is asking for more collaboration in the fight against terrorism, Vice President Rangel is asking for reciprocity with respect to the declared terrorist planners of the coup against the Venezuelan government, who are living comfortably in the United States. During the holding of the Summit of the Group of 15 in Caracas and as February drew to an end, both the opposition and government supporters held several marches and other mobilizations, which left two dead and some wounded.
(22/2) The new Venezuelan foreign minister, Jes=FAs Pérez, said he was condemned to come to an understanding with the United States. He also said he would not suspend the petroleum shipments as a form of pressure on Washington. For his part, US State Department official Peter DeShazo said that the OAS and the Carter Center should have guaranteed the referendum. (26/2) A former Venezuelan defense minister, Fernando Ochoa, denounced the rupture of the strategic balance in the region due to the purchase of 46 AMX30 tanks from Spain.
The first 47 cases of Colombian requests for asylum resolved by the National Commission for Refugees lightened the Venezuelan state's backlog in its response to the humanitarian problem represented by the presence of thousands of Colombians on its border fleeing the armed conflict. There are 2,338 request cases and the number of people requiring protection in Venezuela is calculated at 15,000. (3/2) The government published a decree to regularize the situation of Colombians found in an ambiguous migratory situation. For their part, the UNHCR, Caritas and the Jesuit Refugee Service have implemented a total of 55 community projects benefiting 26,000 people in 24 communities along the borders.
(27/1) Anti-drug operations got underway in the Perijá Mountains, in the state of Zulia, and will be carried out over the next four months to eradicate illicit crops and destroy laboratories (with the participation of CONACUID, the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard's Anti-drugs Commando). (30/1) The chief of the National Police's Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Department, Lieutenant Colonel Heberto Rusell, was himself kidnapped by elements of the FARC's Front 41 in the forests of the Perijá Mountains, the Diluvio sector. (23/2) Towers were also blown up in the municipalities of Táme and Puerto Rondón, in the department of Arauca, keeping the population on edge. A recent report on the perspectives for armed conflict in 2004, especially on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, mentions that the guerrilla forces' tendency toward tactical retreat and the public forces' effort to reach more distant points will continue. It states that President Chávez could use the issue of the conflict on the borders to resolve the problems that could arise around the referendum.
Borders Program -- PCS & NRC
Starting in 2000, the PCS consortium developed a program focusing on legal aid, political advocacy and humanitarian assistance for the refugees on Colombian's borders with Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama. The program has been implemented by church organizations and NGOs, and liaisons were established with international agencies, in particular the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Since January 2004, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has taken responsibility for parts of this program. The initial focus of the NRC's borders program is legal aid, information and Counseling, as well as national, regional and international advocacy focusing on refugee rights.
PCS and NRC will continue to disseminate its monthly borders report, with information and analysis about the situation on the borders with Colombia.
Note: 1 Justice and Peace executive report No. 36.