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edward
 Posted:
Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:35 pm |
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BOGOTA, Colombia - Fighting between the army and leftist guerrillas in western Colombia has forced hundreds of civilians from their homes and trapped others in their villages, the United Nations said Tuesday.
In Narino province, near the southern border with Ecuador, more than 1,300 people have fled since fighting broke out last week between the army and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's oldest and best-equipped guerrilla force.
"With combat ongoing, thousands more people could be at risk of forced displacement in the next few days," the U.N. High Commission for Refugees said in a statement.
Most of the displaced are being sheltered and given medical treatment by the Roman Catholic Church and local authorities in Ricuarte, 340 miles southwest of Bogota.
The U.N. agency said it was "very concerned" about the fate of 92 Awa Indians who have been stuck in a village school with little food for days for fear of being caught in the exchange of gunfire.
In the jungle province of Choco near the border with Panama, an incursion by a FARC column last week also placed civilians at risk, including 137 Embera Indians whose community is being blockaded.
The U.N. said the remoteness of the area, which is accessible only by boat, made it difficult to verify reports that several civilians had been killed while working at plantations along the Trunado River.
The U.N. estimates that about 3 million Colombians have been displaced by the four-decade conflict between leftist rebels, the government and far-right paramilitaries — more than any other country except Sudan. The government puts their number at fewer than 2 million.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060719/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_violence_1
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| edward
Posted:
Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:55 pm |
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UNITED NATIONS - The United States is lobbying hard to block Venezuela's bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council, fearful that Hugo Chavez, its fiercely anti-American president, will disrupt the body as it confronts hot issues such as Iran and Sudan.
But interviews with some 15 diplomats of member states reveal substantial wariness about the U.S. effort, with the critics warning it could boomerang against the U.S. choice, Guatemala, when the General Assembly votes in October.
A European diplomat, refusing to be identified further saying he didn't want to anger the Americans, said lobbying against Venezuela would only gain it votes.
Venezuela's U.N. ambassador, Francisco Arias Cardenas, agrees. "We're a smaller nation but nonetheless this campaign that the U.S. has been taking against us works in our favor," he said in an interview. "We now are all over the news."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060719/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/blocking_venezuela_1
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:47 pm |
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Kidnappers have demanded $100,000 for the release of two U.S. missionaries seized on their way to church in Haiti's capital, a U.N. official said Thursday. The captors initially sought $500,000 but lowered the ransom demand during negotiations with the FBI, said Leslie Dallemand, chief of the U.N. peacekeeping mission's anti-kidnapping unit.
An FBI spokeswoman in Miami, Judy Orihuela, declined to comment on the demand, saying the U.S. law enforcement agency doesn't discuss ransom details.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_americans_kidnapped_1
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:49 pm |
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CARACAS, Venezuela - A U.S.-based press freedom group said Wednesday that President Hugo Chavez is using the courts and legal reforms to weaken journalists critical of his leftist government.
Wrapping up a three-day visit to Venezuela, delegates from the Inter American Press Association expressed concern that threats to press freedom under Chavez could increase as Venezuela prepares for presidential elections in December.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_press_freedom_3
Additional News flash..
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Two North Carolina missionaries kidnapped on their way to church in Haiti's capital were freed Thursday after a ransom was paid, the FBI said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_americans_kidnapped_3
OK I am pissed off..
What the hell is going on here...Our government pays this chicken shit ransom ..But they let 3 Americans sit in captivity with the FARC military group in Venezuela/Colombia for 3 years now..??
The U.S. government told the FARC leader we will not negotiate with terrorists..???
It is Bull Shit in my opinion.
Last edited by edward on Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:35 pm; edited 2 times in total
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| edward
Posted:
Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:52 pm |
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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - A woman crushed in her car in Boston's Big Dig was buried in her hometown in Costa Rica on Wednesday, nine days after an accident that her husband told mourners, "will never be erased from my mind."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_press_freedom_3
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
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| edward
Posted:
Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:57 pm |
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A recent open hearing held by the House Committee on International Relations of the U.S. Congress analyzed the attitude of the Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez regarding terrorism. The witnesses were Frank C. Urbancic, Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State and Charles Shapiro, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs, at the Department of State.
From the presentation by Mr. Urbancic I could gather ten main reasons why the current Venezuelan regime could be defined as being in the threshold of terrorism:
A near complete lack of cooperation with the U.S. government in efforts to fight terrorism;
The refusal by the Chávez regime to condemn narcoterrorist organizations based in Colombia;
The existence of arms derived from Venezuelan stocks in the hands of the Colombian narcoterrorists;
The Venezuelan regime opposition to the validity of U.N. resolutions 1373 and 1540, basic elements of the international legal foundation against terrorism;
The alignment of the Venezuelan regime with Iran, Cuba, Syria and North Korea;
The provision of a safe heaven for leaders of the Colombian guerrillas and narcoterrorists, like Rodrigo Granda, who were given Venezuelan documents and lived unmolested in Venezuela;
The military training of Ecuadorian extremists;
The large scale availability of Venezuelan identity documents, being sold to smugglers, terrorists and generally ineligible individuals;
The existence of Islamic extremist cells in areas of Venezuela, such as Margarita Island;
The close and increasing political dependence of Hugo Chávez on Fidel Castro.
http://www.venezuelatoday.net/gustavocoronel.html
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
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| edward
Posted:
Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:15 pm |
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Venezuela today in the eyes of a supporter of socialism...
idealistic thinking and outright stupidity as nothing is ever fair.
SOCIALISM FAILS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT, HUMAN NATURE AND MINDSET OF ITS PEOPLE..
In other words Socialism may work with an extremly educated and mature population..
Hugo does not have that..either does Cuba and North Korea.
Look at Castro..
One of the richest men in the world while 90 percent of his population lives in poverty..
All crap but here it is. 
A mentality of “me” to one of “we”.
The issue of how the leadership of this revolution is organized and how it is developing a coherent theory to lead is complex and challenging. It is clear that the role of Chavez is significant. His popularity is rising. His image is seen often. He has a regular 5 hour television variety show called “Alo Presidente” that is used to educate the country about the challenges and prospects of the political process.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=7862
This is not just a cult of personality around a strong man/caudillo in the model of Juan Peron. There are thousands of dedicated politically revolutionary activists who are advancing the ideas and organization of the revolution throughout all sectors of society (except the wealthy). The organizational forms are diverse. There are “Bolivarian Circles” which are loose groupings of activist with modest organizational success. There are activists in the missions doing community organizing day in and day out. There are students who have their organizations. There are two other left parties that support Chavez that do not appear to have much of a mass base. There are activists in the workplace, the best of which have built a whole new pro-revolutionary national union federation. So when one asks, where do people go for political organization and discussion, the answer is most often that they go to work organizing.
The opposition held a rally to commemorate the coup on April 13th. There were fewer than a thousand present. By all reports the opposition appears demoralized. They have played their strongest cards and lost. Chavez predicts they will attempt to distort next years’ election. For that reason he is campaigning for 10 million votes as a goal to gain a mandate to continue the revolution.
There are a number of features of the revolution in Venezuela that can work to enhance the potential for this revolution to survive both internally and against what will be rising pressure from the United States:
1) This is a deep thorough ongoing revolution that is in progress. This is not simply the election of another left populist government. There is a mobilization of a significant part of the population to fight for its class interest. It could be defined as a “Workers and Farmers Government”.
2) The Chavez leadership is a break from the models of Social Democracy and Stalinism that could set an example of a revolutionary direction for the rest of the continent. It is typical to see posters of Chavez flanked by Bolivar on one side and Che on the other. Because of the position of Venezuela geographically and economically Chavez can play a role in the region that is more significant that that of Fidel and the Cubans.
3) The presence of oil at such a price has resulted in the immediate rise in living standards. The size of the nationalized industries inherited by the revolution means that they have the economic base to fund social programs and build broader support for the revolution. This power allowed them to withstand a massive capitalist strike in 2002 (similar to the strike that sank Allende in Chile). The government can also set up parallel economic institutions that undercut the capitalists such as the state owned food stores.
4) This economic base means that there is the potential to buy time desperately needed to develop a new revolutionary layer of society capable of administration of the state. There is less of a need to prematurely nationalize industries or collectivize land that outpaces the ability of the new society to effectively build a new administration of the economy.
5) The defeat of the coup provided the opportunity to purge the army of a substantial amount of its counterrevolutionary currents. The fact that the army can now be expanded to defend the revolution and at the same time help in social and economic development makes this a radically different road than Chile where the army led the counterrevolution. Plans are to increase the reserves from 200,000 to 500,000.
6) This revolution is embedded in a rising tide of left political movement from Chile to the Rio Grande. This is its most powerful defense and major impediment to imperialist intervention as the Bush administration openly bemoans.
7) This revolution has happened without a bloodbath, without mass public executions, without the need for a repressive state that curbs civil liberties and with massive democratic election victories. This robs the opposition and the Bush administration of cannon fodder in the propaganda war against the revolution. Many spurious charges have and will be invented by the opposition of course.
 There are sectors that want to push the revolution forward at a faster pace. This is true among farmers wanting land frustrated by the slow pace of land reform. It is true among workers in the fight for workers control in a variety of industries. But the frustration appears to be correctly focused on the obstacles of the old state apparatus and the rich. This avoids the problem of a rise of ultra-left pressure that can then provoke a crack down from the new state.
9) The popularity of Chavez within the unique history of the Venezuelan left appears to be a gravitational force for political unity that is holding down splits and sectarian battles that can hamper leadership development (as in Nicaragua).
10) The oil wealth is allowing Venezuela to do what Che advocated which is trade based on human need rather than the market. Chavez has signed a trade agreement favorable to Cuba. He is trading oil for pregnant cows with Argentina, etc. This along with efforts to build a Pan-American trading bloc is building a regional political and economic bulwark against future U.S. intervention.
11) For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union a new model of socialism is emerging that has the potential to be an example and an inspiration for all of the Americas.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=7862
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
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| edward
Posted:
Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:30 pm |
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Venezuela..
Jouneralists being arrested by Hugo for saying things against his form of government.
http://www.albacom.no/images/stories/video/azocar_all_tekstet.wmv
And a message to President George Bush from President Hugo Chavez.
http://www.albacom.no/images/stories/video/chavez_english.wmv
Last edited by edward on Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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| edward
Posted:
Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:08 am |
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LA UNION, Mexico — Mexican police on Thursday were investigating the shooting death of a man whose dismembered body was found stuffed into four plastic bags dumped along a highway leading to the Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo.
Authorities said they recovered a note written on a piece of cardboard among the body parts, according to the attorney general's office in Guerrero, where Zihuatanejo is located. It was signed by "The Shadow," and appeared to threaten a group of men linked to drug smuggling.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,204813,00.html
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| pax
Posted:
Fri Jul 21, 2006 2:08 am |
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Note to VC and Joynow: if some dude named "Hugo" calls, don't give them Edward's information!!!!!!
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Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16036
Location: Wish You Were Here
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| edward
Posted:
Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:25 am |
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| pax wrote: |
Note to VC and Joynow: if some dude named "Hugo" calls, don't give them Edward's information!!!!!! |
 Just the Facts, We just want the facts..Here let me post some Greece from Argentina..Guess who showed up for dinner?
CORDOBA, Argentina - A rare guest appearance by Cuban leader Fidel Castro has turned a routine trade summit into a politically charged gathering of Washington's greatest Latin American foes.
Castro's surprise visit to Argentina honors the induction of Venezuela into Mercosur, the highlight of talks that start Friday. The addition gives the South American trade bloc a decidedly leftist tilt a decade after it emerged during a wave of pro-U.S. free trade sentiment.
The communist leader, wearing his usual olive green military fatigues, slowly descended the airplane Thursday to cries of "Fidel! Fidel!" from well-wishers behind police cordons at the airport in the central city of Cordoba. Castro — whose trip was announced after he was airborne — made no public comments but saluted the crowd with a raised hand before heading to a dinner of the visiting presidents.
The summit gives Latin America's staunchest free trade critics — Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's socialist President Evo Morales — a chance to meet with the region's more mainstream leftist leaders far beyond the influence of the White House.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/south_america_trade_1
My humours comment ..which is all in gest..
Every thing was going just fine for Hugo and Castro..Kinda feel touchy relationship..but then again that is just my opinion.. 
Then one day she showed up
Hugo falls in love with Cindy..Evens offers to stay in her tent
Daddy Castro and Hugo check out the new babe!!
..Wow Castro tells him a Blondie too...wow!
I don't know says Hugo..American feminist woman..hmm
She steps on everyone to make her point..hmm
Could she be a spy sent to rescue that Natalee girl we took ?
Last edited by edward on Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:17 pm; edited 2 times in total
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| edward
Posted:
Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:39 pm |
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OAXACA, Mexico - Protesters have taken over the center of folkloric Oaxaca, making tourists show identification at makeshift checkpoints, smashing the windows of quaint hotels and spray-painting revolutionary slogans. Police are nowhere in sight.
It's not the tranquil cultural gem beloved by tourists from the United States and Europe. A month of protests to try to oust the governor have forced authorities to cancel many events, including the Guelaguetza dance festival.
Most tourists are staying away, costing the city millions of dollars.
The protests follow other eruptions of civil unrest and class conflict that have plagued President Vicente Fox as his term winds to a close.
Supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are holding nationwide demonstrations to demand a ballot-by-ballot recount in the disputed July 2 presidential election. Federal and state police clashed with striking miners in April and farm protesters in May, leaving four people dead.
But the clashes in Oaxaca have paralyzed one of Mexico's top cultural tourist attractions, where visitors normally browse traditional markets for Indian handicrafts, hike ancient pyramids and stroll along cobblestone streets to sample mole dishes.
The protests have reduced tourism by 75 percent, costing the city more than $45 million, according to the Mexican Employers Federation, a business lobby.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_oaxaca_unrest_1
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
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| edward
Posted:
Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:42 pm |
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CORDOBA, Argentina - Venezuela formally entered Mercosur Friday, increasing the South American trade bloc's economic might and vowing to transform the once-sleepy policy organization into a force for profound social change.
President Nestor Kirchner welcomed the "historic" addition of oil-rich Venezuela, the continent's No. 3 economy after Brazil and Argentina, launching a round of speeches by Latin America's leading leftists, who asserted the region's independence from a Washington model many of their citizens see as a failure.
Anti-U.S. crusader Hugo Chavez immediately urged Mercosur to put aside internal squabbles and stand against the U.S.-backed free-market policies he says "enslaved" the region in debt to the International Monetary Fund.
"Latin America has all it needs to become a great world power. Let's not put any limits on our dreams. Let's make them reality," the Venezuelan leader declared.
The addition of Venezuela gives Mercosur a combined market of 250 million people and a combined output of $1 trillion in goods and services annually, said Brazil's president, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/argentina_mercosur_summit_2
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| edward
Posted:
Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:18 pm |
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LA PAZ, Bolivia - Summoning President Evo Morales at dawn to the great hall of the presidential palace, two poncho-clad Indian shamans pour alcohol on coca leaves, candies and a dried llama fetus, and set them on fire. Eyes closed, Morales meditates as the offerings burn and asks Pachamama, the earth goddess of his ancestors, to aid Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera on his mission to Washington, where he's been trying to persuade the U.S. Congress this week to prolong a preferential trade pact.
Such rituals are nothing unusual for Morales, Bolivia's highly unorthodox president, who marks six months in office this weekend.
Morales never wears a tie and rarely gives prepared speeches. Rather than sitting down to sumptuous banquets with the well-heeled, prefers hosting traditional lunches where peasants eat communally, with their hands, on the marble floor of the palace's great hall.
A stoutly built Aymara Indian who was raised in severe poverty and rose to power as a scrappy agitator for Bolivia's coca growers, Morales is unusually approachable for his constituents, but avoids the lifestyle of the European-descended elites who long ruled South America's poorest country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060723/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/bolivia_folksy_president_1
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| edward
Posted:
Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:19 pm |
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OAXACA, Mexico - Gunmen attacked Oaxaca's university radio station, authorities said Sunday, the latest incident in a wave of confrontations and protests that have driven many tourists out of this historic Mexican city.
Assailants fired rounds of ammunition into the station's windows while it was broadcasting late Saturday, the Oaxaca state government said. Nobody was hurt in the attack.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by at least 10 assailants wearing ski masks.
The university radio station has supported a wave of protests aimed at ousting Oaxaca state governor Ulises Ruiz, who is accused of rigging the 2004 election to win office and of violently repressing dissent.
Teachers Union leader Enrique Rueda, one of the protest leaders, accused Ruiz of being behind the shooting. "(Ruiz) has always responded to popular protests with aggression, threats, repression, and authoritarianism," Rueda said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060723/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/oaxaca_unrest_1
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| edward
Posted:
Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:33 pm |
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Mexico
In the course of researching a book about black magic and human sacrifice, I traveled to Brazil, Haiti, and New Orleans, interviewing people and actually witnessing ceremonies. In April 1991 when Mexican police discovered a group in Matamoras, Mexico, that were abducting and sacrificing human beings—headed by Adolfo Constanzo—I immediately flew down to Matamoras, and was able to interview 7 of the people who were responsible for the abductions and murders, 14 in all. Rarely, if ever, do these people, I knew, get caught, let alone with their alter still in tact. This was a unique opportunity to see up close and personal what human sacrifice was all about, and I jumped at the chance. When I first arrived at the Santa Elena Ranch, 22 miles from the border, I slowly walked the area, looking in the graves, seeing body parts and pieces of skin, studied the Kanaga, which was the center of Constanzo's alter, and as I stood there I could feel anger, as if a tropical fever, began to rise inside me. Anger that human beings were tortured and butchered in the name of Satan. Anger that there was no one to stop it.
http://www.philipcarlo.com/humansacrifices.shtml
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| edward
Posted:
Sun Jul 23, 2006 10:20 pm |
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BOGOTA, Colombia - Nine environmentalists were released Sunday by their rebel captors after they disappeared mysteriously days earlier while conducting research in northern Colombia, the military said.
The researchers work for Corpocesar, an environmental office in the government of the province of Cesar, which has partnerships with Conservation International. They had been researching in the Sierra de Perija, some 375 miles north of the capital of Bogota and did not return Thursday as expected.
Cesar province is home to leftist rebels and far-right paramilitaries locked in a four-decade civil war.
Given that Colombia has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the world, there were fears they had been abducted but no confirmation. Authorities announced the group's disappearance Sunday, but held off from confirming it was a kidnapping before they heard from the abductors.
The military said rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, kidnapped the nine on Friday morning.
"We are doing major operations in the area, closing off the escape routes and because of this pressure, they were forced to free the hostages," said Gen. Jairo Pena, who is overseeing the army in the area.
The army said some guerrillas surrendered under pressure from the military operations. The rebels told the army they kidnapped the nine for propaganda purposes and to raise revenue by ransom, Pena said.
The army estimates some 35 rebels were involved.
"We are chasing them now," said Pena.
A resident in the area alerted the army Saturday evening of the abduction and the military immediately began searching for the hostages.
The nine included five researchers from a local government environment office, a cameraman, two guides and a driver.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060724/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_missing_environmentalists_2
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| edward
Posted:
Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:16 pm |
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BOGOTA, Colombia - The army was searching Tuesday for 13 doctors who were kidnapped by Colombia's largest rebel group as they carried out a medical mission in the south of the country. The doctors had been on a 10-day mission to remote communities and Indian tribes amid the jungles and rivers of Putumayo province, near the border with Ecuador, when they were abducted Monday by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, authorities said.
"This group is breaking the protocol of the Geneva Convention which forbids ... targeting doctors and paramedics," the Ministry of Social Protection announced in a statement.
Before the abduction, the doctors had been scheduled to finish the mission and return to their hospital in Putumayo's capital Tuesday.
Putumayo is one of Colombia's more lawless zones, home to coca-growers, far-right paramilitaries and leftist rebels.
Colombia has one of the world's highest kidnapping rates, as leftist rebels and common criminals abduct people for ransom or to pressure the government.
The army reported over the weekend the kidnapping and release of nine environmental researchers by the FARC in the north of the country
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| edward
Posted:
Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:29 pm |
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MONTERREY, Mexico - Federal officials have quietly closed a three-year inquiry into the rape-strangulation of 14 women and teenagers in the border city of Juarez, leaving relatives with little hope the killings will ever be solved.
The federal Attorney General's Office intervened in 2003, promising it would try to solve cases plagued for years by allegations of state police corruption and incompetence.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060725/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_border_slayings_1
What a bunch of corrupt ass holes!!
Some of these people are American girls...
They forgot to tell you that part.. 
Close the damn boarders until they can become civilized...
The cops are probably guilty of this crime. 
jmho
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| edward
Posted:
Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:33 pm |
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Colombia is the epicenter of the world's cocaine industry, providing up to 80 percent of all cocaine.
COCA LEAVES
The indigenous people of South America have cultivated this densely leafed plant for centuries.
Coca has played various roles in religious and social ceremonies of Andean indigenous civilizations, including the Aymara Indians of Bolivia who originally named the plant "kuka," which means "food for workers and travelers." Many of the native tribes also chewed the leaves to improve blood oxygen circulation and counter the effects the high altitudes.
The plants thrive on the eastern side of the Andes mountains, where the climate is warm and moist. Typically, the plants are most successful in areas 1,500 and 6,000 meters above sea level. The plants can grow as high as eight feet, and their leaves are rich in vitamins, protein, calcium, iron and fiber. The amount of cocaine in the leaves varies between .1 and 1 percent, and increases with the altitude.
CULTIVATION
While Colombia still imports the majority of coca leaves from Bolivia and Peru, domestic cultivation has steadily increased by nearly 20 percent over the past three years.
The majority of Colombia's coca leaves are cultivated on large plantations, or "fincas," in southern and central regions. The fincas utilize sophisticated agricultural technology to enhance harvest yields. According to the U.S. State Department, drug cartels bought most of the plantations in the 1980s. Recently, drug growers have destroyed nearly 2.4 million hectares of tropical forests to increase areas for coca cultivation.
Most of Colombia's opium poppies are grown within the country on small family-owned farms. Despite the relatively large harvests, the poppy's affect on Colombian culture and the state has not been as profound as cocaine.
Poor peasants, or "campesinos," are recruited to work the land and harvest illicit crops as their major source of income. In other cases, according to the Colombian government, the FARC forces farmers to pick coca fields.
To date, illicit crops yield the most lucrative revenue of all Colombian agricultural goods. The Colombian government has implemented a counter-narcotics strategy of offering stipends to families that agree to substitute their coca and poppy harvests with legal crop alternatives, such as yucca and maize.
PRODUCTION
Though cocaine processing began early in the century, demand for cocaine exploded in the mid-1970s. To meet the demand, production took on industrial-like efficiency.
Harvested coca leaves undergo a complex transformation in clandestine processing laboratories to become the fine, white powder (just one of its many byproducts) that is then exported. In order to process cocaine, drug traffickers must import several chemicals, such as potassium permanganate.
The majority of narcotics labs are located in remote southern and central regions, away from the coca plantations. Colombia processes three-quarters of the world's cocaine hydrochloride (HCL).
Cocaine production involves a three-step process:
1. Leaf to Paste:
The leaves are first soaked in an alkaline solution (sodium bicarbonate). Water and a water immersible solvent (kerosene or gasoline) are added. After the solution has separated, the leaves are removed.
Cocaine alkaloids are then extracted from the solution and put into another hydrochloride solution. More sodium bicarbonate is added, and the coca paste precipitate is filtered off and dried.
2. Paste to Base:
The paste is dissolved into a weak solution of acid (sulfuric or hydrochloric) and a potassium permanganate-water solution is added, which removes alkaloids from previous steps. The solution is then filtered through paper to remove the precipitate.
Ammonia is added, and another precipitate is formed - which, after separation and drying, serves as the cocaine base.
3. Base to cocaine hydrochloride (HCL), or 99 percent pure cocaine
Acetone or ether is then added to remove any undesired materials. Hydrochloric acid is added to the solution, which causes the cocaine to crystallize. It is then dried under heat lamps or in microwave ovens.
At each step in the process, significant quantities of various toxic chemicals are used and subsequently dumped, causing serious detriment to the environment.
To meet rising consumer demand, drug producers created "crack cocaine" -- an amalgamation of cocaine HCL and baking powder -- as an inexpensive product-replacement for cocaine. The name "crack" denotes the sound the drug makes when burned. The adulterated substance, however, is significantly more lethal.
THE BUSINESS OF NARCOTICS:
Trafficking
With its convenient access to the Caribbean Sea, the Isthmus of Panama, and the Pacific Ocean, Colombia is well equipped to serve as a major exporter of illicit drugs north towards the U.S.
Highly organized smuggling cartels based in cities, like Cali, Medellin, and Bogota, arrange for the export of narcotics by the bulk, primarily to the United States. Europe and Brazil, however, are increasingly another destination for cocaine.
Narcotics can be shipped from ports along South America's coastal regions or transported via ground routes running through Colombia and its neighbors Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Traffickers utilize fishing vessels, commercial cargo ships, and stealthier speed boats to smuggle massive amounts of cocaine from Colombia to Central America, Mexico, and several Caribbean countries. The shipments move from there to the U.S. mainland. Cargo ships will often travel directly from Colombia to the United States or Europe, with the illegal goods hidden in secret compartments and containers built into the ships, and will then unload narcotics right on the destination port or arrange a transfer to boats before reaching the port.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reported in 2001 the most popular method of transport was through concealment in clothes or luggage carried by special couriers.
Corruption
Colombia's narcotic industry employs around 200,000 people and generates between $2.2 and $5 billion annually, roughly three percent of the country's gross domestic product. Most of this money returns to Colombia through complicated money laundering schemes.
Colombia, ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, has worked to combat the egregious money laundering flows by drug cartels. But, the corrosive effects of drug money appeared to reach Colombia's highest government offices. In 1998, former president Ernesto Samper was accused of receiving several million in campaign donations from drug cartels. The U.S. consequently revoked travel visas for Samper and several members of his Cabinet members. An investigation by the Colombian Attorney General into the alleged links between the government and drug cartels indicted Samper's defense minister and several others, though Samper was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
The drug trade has also taken a profound toll on the integrity of Colombia's judicial system, which is already challenged by the 38-year old war between illegal armed groups. With an enfeebled law enforcement system, drug cartels can do business with near impunity.
In general, drug abuse in Colombia has consistently remained low, although a rising number of Colombians are using marijuana and basuco, a highly addictive cocaine paste derivative.
Eradication
A controversial project implemented by the Colombian police to eradicate coca production involves crop spraying, or aerial herbicide fumigation. Officials argue since the scale of Colombia's production is so vast and complicated by guerilla warfare, spraying is the only way to safely eradicate the crops.
The Colombian government initiated this eradication strategy in 1984, but with over $1.3 billion in U.S. aid, the counter-narcotics technique has grown into a massive operation.
Assisted by U.S. equipment and training, Colombian agents spray fine mists of glyphosphate-based Roundup weedkiller, primarily over the southern region of Putumayo. The spray shrivels the coca crops, and any other crops in the vicinity.
Opponents argue that risks associated with this method outweigh the benefits. While Roundup is widely used in the U.S., there have been no studies on effects when applied from air in concentrated forms in the tropics. The herbicide contains Polyoxyethyleneamines, which irritate the respiratory tract, eyes, and skin. A byproduct of Roundup is Dioxin, which is a carcinogen.
Though Roundup is ostensibly effective in eradicating illicit crops, a major disadvantage is that it also eliminates food crops. Many small farmers in southern Colombian lose their legal crops due to the aerial fumigation counter-narcotics sprays -- even after they agree to participate in the Colombian government's alternative development program.
The United Nations Drug Control Program has requested an independent international monitoring of counter-narcotics fumigation methods in Colombia.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/colombia/trade.html
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Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:57 pm |
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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - The joint military and police patrols deployed on the streets of the Dominican Republic to fight crime are having the desired effect and will remain there indefinitely, the nation's police chief said Friday.
Thousands of soldiers — who are normally not involved in anti-crime work — and police officers set up checkpoints and enforce new alcohol regulations for a third night Friday in Santo Domingo and 16 other cities across the Caribbean nation, said National Police Chief Gen. Bernardo Santana Paez.
Roughly 6,000 soldiers and police were deployed Wednesday in response to a public outcry over rising crime, said Cpl. Carlos Tejada Rodriguez, an army spokesman.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060729/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/dominican_crime_1
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:59 pm |
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CARACAS, Venezuela - He became a household name in Venezuela as a standup comedian who aims his wit — rapid-fire, irreverent and loaded with vulgarities — at everyone from his family to the Roman Catholic Church.
So it's little wonder that few in Venezuela are taking him seriously now that he says he will run against Hugo Chavez in December's presidential election.
Benjamin Rausseo, better known as the "Count of Guacharo," announced his presidential bid in the capital of Caracas on Friday as he registered his new party, PIEDRA, which means "rock" in Spanish.
The jovial 45-year-old says he's not intimidated by polls that show Chavez heavily favored for re-election.
"I'm the candidate of all of Venezuela," Rausseo said in an interview with Union Radio earlier this week as he compared himself to Chavez, with whom he shares humble roots and a husky build.
"He's ugly, I'm ugly ... I talk, he talks. But the difference is I live in Venezuela," he quipped, in a gibe at the frequent overseas travels of the Venezuelan leader, who has been on a three-continent tour since last week.
Rausseo, who is also a successful businessman with hotels and other enterprises, grew up poor and left school at 11 to support his family as a shoeshine boy, street vendor and taxi driver
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060729/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_comedian_candidate_1
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:41 pm |
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana - An American-born woman who has served as a lawmaker, cabinet minister, and president of this South American nation is not running for office for the first time in 60 years.
Janet Jagan, 85, is too frail to face another political campaign and has asked not to appear on ballots for the governing People's Progressive Party in Aug. 28 general elections, presidential spokesman Robert Persaud said Friday.
"You can't go on forever. The woman is 80-something and asked not to be on the list (but) she is fully behind us," Persaud said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060729/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guyana_political_veteran_1
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:45 pm |
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The presidents of Iran and Venezuela, leading U.S. critics, pledged Saturday to support one another in disputes with Washington, with the Iranian calling Hugo Chavez "a brother and trench mate." As Chavez arrived for a two-day visit. Iran faced renewed international criticism for its nuclear program and for backing Hezbollah guerrillas in its war with Israel.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0706/348572.html
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 928
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| edward
Posted:
Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:51 pm |
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I know he plays the fool in all of this hugo nonsense..
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Posts: 928
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