Those Colombians and their Drug Problems

I didn’t have the stomach to watch ‘Maria Full of Grace’. I saw the poster and was instinctively repulsed. So I wasn’t surprised to see this review of it by a Colombian writer. In the review, the writer notes how all the Colombian characters are unsympathetic and the only decent characters in the film are some American agents. How corrosive the Colombian drug trade is, how it corrupts the innocent youths of America. Even the movie ‘Traffic’, which I liked, presented this same image. The reality is rather different.

A story from the AP. A number of US Army personnel who had been stationed in Colombia might be extradited to Colombia to face charges. Five US soldiers were arrested after 35 pounds of cocaine was found on a US military plane heading to Texas from Colombia. One of them has already been released. As usual, the story is replete with anonymous sources from the US military and Attorney General’s office. One such official noted that the troops remain under the jurisdiction of the US regardless of where they’re stationed (that’s a page out of 19th century colonialism in case anyone was wondering, and is called ‘extraterritoriality’).

A Colombian friend noted the irony. The troops are there to fight the drug war. The troops are smuggling the drugs. The drug smuggling justifies the troops being there.

And all the while, the peasants and unionists are liquidated, the territories taken over, the multinationals moving in.

Speaking of the liquidations, another Colombian reader specifically asked that I address this most recent massacre in Colombia, which I alluded to in the anniversary email but have yet to report on in detail (I apologize). There is an open letter signed by Aviva Chomsky, Leonardo Boff, and others about the massacre in the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado, to Alvaro Uribe Velez, and a piece by Javier Giraldo, Colombia’s best known human rights activist with a long history and connection to Apartado. Both are in Spanish. I will, as I’ve said, try to produce something in english soon.

Getting back on

Sorry for the week+ absence. Will be back this week, but intermittent over the next two weeks in general. Explanations then.

Abbas Shaken Up as Dissent Grows

Signs are increasing that attempts to legitimate an orderly transfer of power in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Mahmoud Abbas’ collaborationist regime are failing. Last Friday, clashes rocked Nablus as members of the Al-Awda Brigades clashed with Palestinian police and ‘army’ units brought in from Jericho after one of the resistance groups’ fighters was beaten by police. According to eyewitnesses the only people firing for most of the day were the newly assertive Palestinian ‘security’ forces. “I’ve never seen this police or so-called army during this Intifada. Four years they are invisible and now they come to fight those who sacrificed for the people?” “I’ve never seen something like this, the police is out of control” “The Police think they control everything,” were some commonly heard refrains from friends. Others – more established Fathawis in Nablus that I spoke with – claimed that the measures were important in order to bring ‘order’ to the chaos of multiple armed militias.

The clashes in Nablus came on the heels of similar incidents in Jenin, where Palestinian security officials were forced to back down on a statement that they wanted to arrest popular local Brigade leader Zacharia Zubeidi. This week in Ramallah, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades gunmen stormed a meeting of Fatah officials, stating that the mandate of the people will not allow a small and corrupt elite to compromise on the Intifada’s goals. “The incident which took place today by our military wing was aimed at preserving this movement, which we inherited from Yasser Arafat, and was also a final message to those who are corrupt because they don’t have any legitimacy” said a leader in Fatah’s military wing. The latest incidents highlight the growing tensions within the dominant Fatah movement that pit younger and more militant activists against the older guard of the Palestinian national liberation movement.


Class antagonisms are also sharpening, with many perceiving the current re-assertion of central PA authority as an attempt to disarm the armed resistance groups whose recruitment base is largely centered in poorer areas and refugee camps. On Saturday, roughly 2500 unemployed workers in GazaCity demonstrated in front of the Parliament – banging pots and pans and waving bread – demanding jobs and unemployment benefits. They were met with a line of riot police, highlighting the projected role of the new Palestinian ‘security’ forces. A friend recently confided in me that most of those recruited from the security forces were people with criminal pasts or that were mistrusted in the community (mirroring the Canadian government’s practice of recruiting similar elements within the native community in order to police Canada’s own apartheid system on indigenous reservations).


And while tensions within Fatah are percolating, there are signs that the broader antagonism between the Islamic resistance movement in Palestine and Fatah is also on the rise. In fact, much of the pressure from the younger wing of Fatah on the movement’s leadership is coming from those who see the recent gains of Hamas – in local municipal elections in the West Bank and Gaza – as a clear rejection of Mahmoud Abbas’ pliant line with respect to American and Israeli foreign policy prerogatives. The recent decision of Hamas to contest the upcoming Parliamentary elections highlights this point. The recent sizeable Islamic Jihad rally in Gaza against US and Israeli attempts to “create cracks in the solid rock of Palestinian unity” and today’s clashes at Hebron University between Fatah and Hamas students underscored the growing tensions in the region and Abbas’ tenuous grasp on the situation.

The… um… empire strikes back

So about Bolivia.

It seems Mesa was a tougher nut to crack after all. The Bolivian Congress refused to accept his resignation. Another wave of protests have followed. Evo Morales from the Movimiento Al Socialismo has had some meetings with Mesa today. Mesa’s supporters are rallying in the streets to support him. Things are moving very fast – one way to keep up is to visit NarcoNews, where Luis Gomez has been reporting a couple of times a day.

Continue reading “The… um… empire strikes back”

More on democracy flowering (Bolivia & Colombia)

First of all, readers probably know by now that Bolivia’s President (Mesa) has resigned. Readers probably remember that Mesa was not elected, but put in power in an agreement after the previous president, Sanchez de Lozada, was ousted. Mesa was ousted for doing the same sorts of things Sanchez de Lozada did – giving the country’s poorly distributed resources away to multinationals with little benefit to the country’s majority. Mesa was ousted in much the same way – people power. For some good context, see this article by Webber and Spronk.

Now on Colombia’s flowering of democracy, which readers are less likely to know about already. Again the communities of Northern Cauca in Colombia have shown the way. They organized a clean, people’s plebescite in 5 municipalities in Northern Cauca. These municipalities are characterized by their structures of participatory democracy, ecologically sane development, and cultural and political autonomy. With those disclaimers, it is still an impressive showing. Of a total population in these 5 communities of 171942 people, and an electoral population of 68448, 51330 people voted. Of those, 50305 voted no to the FTA with the US, and 691 voted yes.

The people’s plebescite on FTAA in 2002 in Brazil had 10 million people voting and had a major impact on Brazil’s stance in negotiations. If Northern Cauca’s example ignites a national process, something could change in Colombia. All this is happening in the midst of major massacres and assassinations, like the one in San Jose de Apartado, which was done by the Colombian army itself, with impunity, just weeks ago. The media could have had a field day – spinning this the exact same way as they spun the Lebanon, Ukraine, or Iraq elections. Courage in the midst of terror. Assertion of democratic will in spite of the worst kinds of abuses. But… no.

Come to think of it, about Lebanon, how are they spinning the pro-Syria rally in Lebanon, organized by Hizbollah?

MAS DEL 98% DIJO NO AL TLC EN LA CONSULTA POPULAR DEL
CAUCA
[ 03/07/2005] [ Fuente: COORDINACION CONSULTA ] [
Autor: COORDINACION GENERAL CONSULTA POPULAR TLC]

Hablan los hechos y caminamos la palabra. El pueblo de los 5 municipios del Cauca, acudió masivamente a las urnas y en una elección sin precedentes por su transparencia, organización impecable, contenido y participación, decidió que rechaza la negociación y firma del tratado de libre comercio entre Colombia y los Estados Unidos. Presentamos un resúmen de los datos con el 98% del escrutinio.

De la excepcional jornada del domingo 6 de marzo, convocada por las organizaciones populares que conforman el Congreso Itinerante de los Pueblos en el Oriente Caucano debe resaltase:

1. Votaron 51,330 personas en los municipios de Inzá, Páez, Silvia, Caldono, Jambaló y Toribío. Sobre la base de una población electoral máxima registrada de 68,448 personas en los 6 municipios, se esperaba, en los cálculos más optimistas, que votaran unas 40,000, lo cual habría estado por encima de la participación electoral histórica en estos municipios. La votación en las elecciones para los actuales alcaldes municipales fué de 39,900 personas después de costosas y largas campañas.

2. El 89,51% de quienes votaron eran mayores de 18 años, para un total de 45,943 votos. 5,387 jóvenes entre 14 y 17 años votaron en urnas separadas, es decir un 10,49% de participación.

3. A nivel de cada municipio, este rotundo NO AL TLC quedó discriminado así:

PAEZ:
Población Total: 29385, Población Electoral: 14000,
Votos NO: 8871, Votos SI: 146. TOTAL: 9194.

INZÁ:
Población Total: 22000, Población Electoral: 10000 ,
Votos NO: 7399, Votos SI: 213. TOTAL: 7705

CALDONO
Población Total: 32500, Población Electoral: 11000 ,
Votos NO: 7555, Votos SI: 46. TOTAL: 7667

SILVIA
Población Total: 41236, Población Electoral:15281,
Votos NO: 8809, Votos SI:79. TOTAL:8907

JAMBALO
Población Total:14148, Población Electoral: 7000,
Votos NO:6028, Votos SI: 66. TOTAL: 6121

TORIBIO
Población Total: 32673, Población Electoral: 11167,
Votos NO: 11721, Votos SI: 141, TOTAL: 11913

CONSOLIDADO:
Población Total: 171942, Población Electoral: 68448,
Votos NO: 50305, Votos SI: 691. Total: 51330.

4. La transparencia y legitimidad de este proceso de consulta diseñado por las organizaciones campesinas e indígenas fue verificada por veedores y veedoras nacionales e internacionales de los más diversos sectores incluyendo representantes de la iglesia, partidos políticos, organizaciones no gubernamentales y de derechos humanos, movimientos sociales, organizaciones de mujeres y ambientalistas, sindicatos, académicos e investigadores, periodistas, senadores y representantes a la cámara. Además de verificar todo el proceso de votación y escrutinio, los veedores y veedoras firmaron las actas finales certificando la veracidad y transparencia de los resultados.

LOS HECHOS HAN HABLADO Y EL PUEBLO DEL ORIENTE CAUCANO HA DECIDIDO QUE NO QUIERE LAS NEGOCIACIONES Y FIRMA DEL TRATADO DEL LIBRE COMERCIO PARA COLOMBIA, COMO SE VIENEN REALIZANDO CON LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS.

QUEDA PLANTEADA DESDE ESTA PALABRA DE LOS PUEBLOS DEL CAUCA LA CONVOCATORIA DE CONSULTA AL RESTO DEL PUEBLO COLOMBIANO PARA QUE DECIDA SI ESTÁ DE ACUERDO O NO CON LA NEGOCIACION Y FIRMA DEL TLC.

In case you didn’t think this blog celebrates democracy…

If you’re a regular visitor you know that this blog does not share in the general celebrations around the flowering of ‘democracy’ in the Israel-Occupied Palestinian Territories, nor in Lebanon, nor in Iraq, nor in Haiti, nor even in the Ukraine. Nor is this a place where the US is held up as the model of democracy.

Continue reading “In case you didn’t think this blog celebrates democracy…”

5 people killed in Alberta

The Canadian media are full of reports of 5 people killed in a shootout at a marijuana ‘grow-op’. 4 police officers conducting a raid were killed by a gunman, who himself was killed by return fire.

All deaths are tragedies. Murders are particularly horrible. Preventable murders are still worse. People affected, the families, should have time to mourn. And yet the deaths are already being used to justify policies that will produce more such deaths and compound the tragedies.

Continue reading “5 people killed in Alberta”

Democracy in Lebanon!

There seems to be an orgy of self-congratulation in the media about the arrival of democracy in Lebanon. How wonderful. It’s like the Ukraine.

Readers of this blog know the Ukraine situation was more complex than the people’s movement beating the Russian-backed authoritarian regime story declared in the West.

The situation in Lebanon seems to me to be more complex still.

I want to call your attention to a piece by Ghassan Makarem that you might have seen. That supplies some needed context.

Continue reading “Democracy in Lebanon!”