Canadian Embassy in Colombia threatened: report

[Judi Lynn]

Canadian Embassy in Colombia threatened: report
Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, June 16, 2008

The Canadian Embassy in Bogota has received threats from a paramilitary group over Canada's recent decision to grant asylum to a key witness in ongoing Colombian investigations into links between politicians and paramilitaries, a Colombian newspaper reported Sunday.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs said Ottawa was aware of the reports, but would not confirm or deny them. The spokeswoman would also not say whether security measures had been tightened.

"We are aware of a news report about threats against the Canadian Embassy in Bogota, Colombia," said Silvia Genereux, in an e-mailed statement to Canwest News Service. "We have an established security infrastructure to protect Canadian government employees, information and assets. We do not comment on security matters."

El Tiempo said the e-mailed threats may have been the result of a security breach at the embassy. The newspaper, quoting an anonymous source, said the decision to grant asylum was made recently and known only to a small number of high level Canadian officials.

More:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=f336bfb9-4f16-4625-b7bc-385f0a0f0a5e

[Judi Lynn]

1. Previous story on the witness trying to hide in Canada:

Plot to Kill Colombian Witness Exposed
By Juan Forero
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 26, 2008; Page A14

BOGOTA, Colombia, April 25 -- The Colombian attorney general's office confirmed Friday that it had uncovered a plot to assassinate a key witness whose testimony has linked several Colombian congressmen, including President Álvaro Uribe's cousin, to death squads.

Authorities on Monday warned Jairo Castillo, 40, a former member of an ultra-right paramilitary group who now lives in Canada, that investigators had determined that two hit men posing as tourists would try to kill him. The attorney general's office then faxed him a warning Tuesday, and Castillo reported the threat to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

"I fear for my life," Castillo said by telephone from Canada, saying he believed that those he has testified against, members of the death squads, want him dead. "I know all about the network they use for murdering people," he said.

Police officials in Canada did not return phone calls seeking comment. Officials in the attorney general's office in Bogota confirmed that authorities learned of the plot against Castillo through an analysis of intelligence. José Gilberto Martínez of the witness protection program then alerted Castillo, who lives in Quebec province and has been granted political asylum in Canada.

The plot was uncovered the same week that the attorney general's office arrested former senator Mario Uribe, a political ally of the president. Castillo had accused the politician of having participated in meetings with paramilitary groups in which land grabs were orchestrated.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503238.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Canadian embassy in Bogota targeted

Canadian embassy in Bogota targeted
Leak suspected as paramilitary group e-mails threats to mission
Craig Offman, National Post, with files from Stewart Bell and Natalie Alcoba
Published: Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A Colombian paramilitary group has sent threatening e-mails to Canada's embassy in Bogota because it provides asylum for former members, a leading newspaper says.

El Tiempo reported on Sunday that for the past 12 days, the Black Eagles have sent intimidating correspondence to the embassy, criticizing Canada for giving exile to former paramilitary members who have become state witnesses. The e-mails also suggest there might be a leak in the Bogota mission.

The report comes 10 days after Canada signed a much-noted free-trade agreement with the embattled South American country, and more than a month after the National Post revealed that a hit squad had planned to enter Canada on tourist visas and assassinate a former paramilitary member who had implicated a cousin of president Alvaro Uribe Velez for his role in various death squads.

Dozens of congressional members have already been scrutinized for their connection to paramilitary groups in Colombia, an investigation that has undercut the legitimacy of Mr. Uribe.

~snip~
Colombian Senator Gustavo Petro said paramilitary forces have infiltrated various sectors of Colombian society, from the police to the justice department, and often threaten people who oppose them.

More:
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=592163