Leftist Takes Over As Mayor of Bogota

[Judi Lynn]

Leftist Takes Over As Mayor of Bogota
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: January 1, 2004


Filed at 9:04 p.m. ET

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- With a pledge to combat poverty, Luis Eduardo Garzon took the helm Thursday as the first leftist mayor of Colombia's capital.

``We have never had the opportunity to govern,'' the former communist union organizer said in his inauguration speech in Bogota's Plaza Bolivar. ``We have a responsibility to manage things well, and to be completely efficient.''

Bogota is the biggest political prize ever claimed by an openly left-wing politician in Colombia. It provides a powerful launch pad for opponents of hard-line President Alvaro Uribe to attack his plans for tax hikes and labor reforms aimed at raising cash to pay for his war on leftist rebels.

Garzon has said he would oppose some of Uribe's more controversial tactics in the government's campaign to crush the insurgency, particularly mass arrests of suspected guerrillas.
(snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Colombia-Mayor.html
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[Tinoire]

Deleted - Dupe

[Tinoire]

1. Found this article earlier today

and it alarmed me. I know we'd been baaaaad in Columbia but I didn't realize to what extent. I am very disappointed.

I hope this guy does well by the people of Bogota.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Media Services (August 30, 2000)
Philadelphia Inquirer (August 31, 2000)


Clinton in Colombia: The Ugly American

When President Clinton announced his trip to Colombia, he said his purpose was "to seek peace, to fight illicit drugs, to build its economy, and to deepen democracy."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Clinton administration seeks not peace but rather a military solution to the 40-year old civil war in Colombia. About three-quarters of its record-breaking aid package to Colombia is for the military and police. Like Presidents Kennedy and Johnson in Vietnam, Mr. Clinton is convinced
that superior firepower can destroy a deeply entrenched, armed insurgency.

If this requires the continuing murder of 3000 civilians each year, or creating 300,000 refugees annually, that is a price that Mr. Clinton is willing to pay.

<snip>

Meanwhile, 37 human rights and other non-governmental organizations in Colombia have stated that they will not accept any funds from "Plan Colombia," the program that our massive aid package-- $1.3 billion, with $860 million for Colombia-- is partially funding. And neighboring states-- including Ecuador and Peru-- are beginning to worry that continued escalation of the war will spill over into their
territories.

<snip>
http://www.cepr.net/columns/weisbrot/clinton_in_columbia.htm

[bemildred]

2. Yeah, the VietNam analogy is very apt in many ways.

Some differences are is it's in the back yard and they have
not tried to send 500,000 draftees in there. But the "success"
of the effort has been just a bad. You would think they would
learn, but apparently arrogance interferes with brain function
somehow.

[Judi Lynn]

3. So sad

From your article:

The term "human rights abuse" is a euphemism-- let's be honest about what our tax dollars are paying for in Colombia. "They drank and danced and cheered as they butchered us like hogs," reports a survivor of a recent massacre described in the New York Times. He was describing the slaughter of 36 people in the town of El Salado, by 300 paramilitary troops in February. The troops began bringing
their victims to the town square on a Friday, and according to the Times, "ordered liquor and music, and then embarked on a calculated rampage of torture, rape and killing" that lasted until Sunday. The victims included a 6-year old girl and an elderly woman.

The Colombian army stood by a few miles away, setting up roadblocks that prevented human rights and rescue workers from trying to help the villagers.

Last month another mass killing of six people took place in northwest Colombia while an army helicopter hovered overhead and soldiers were on patrol nearby.

Just unbearable.

I post at a small message board with a man from Colombia. He said recently our money has been spent on things like gas powered chain saws they have used to butcher the citizens of villages. I don't know what keeps them from simply dying of heartbreak.

[mobuto]

4. I suppose this is good news

in the sense that while Colombia does have an approximation of democracy, the various factions have not trusted voters. Instead of fighting, the Communists and the far-right and everybody in between need to feel confident enough in the system to settle their differences at the ballot box. That may mean extremists get elected (although I can't say I know anything about this guy), but the means is as important if not more so than the end.

[Mairead]

5. The extremists have evidently been elected rather steadily

Terrorising people, hunting them down, and killing them extra-judicially is about as extreme as it gets, in my book.

[mobuto]

6. And where are the moderates?

Are there any sides that don't regularly commit attrocities? Not as far as I can tell. Its sad.