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Are Colombia, Ecuador & Venezuela Ready to Get Their War On?

12:42 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Ecuador| Politics| US Presidential Race 2008| Venezuela · Comments Off

4 Mar 2008

The media is all over the story that Ecuador and Venezuela are ready to declare war on Colombia. Ecuador and Venezuela have cut diplomatic ties with Colombia and sent troops to their respective borders with the nation run by Alvaro Uribe. Alvaro Uribe can indeed be seen as the cause of the war talk thanks to him allowing (some say officially ordering) his troops into Ecuadorian land to capture and kill FARC leader Raúl Reyes. In the raid laptops were captured, starting a war of documents on laptops as well. Colombia says that documents recovered reveal Hugo Chavez’s support of the FARC in terms of money. Venezuela later displayed the laptop of a slain drug trafficker, which it said contained information implicating Colombia’s national police chief in the cocaine trade.

Liberated FARC Hostages Thank Chavez, Pray for Betancourt

4:51 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Controversia| Justice| Latin America| Politics · Comments Off

29 Feb 2008

6 hostages held by the FARC for over 5 years have been released, and they are thanking Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez for “giving them back their lives”. However, the hostages report that Ingrid Betancourt, the FARC’s “prized” hostage is in grave health, and that she may only have months to live if she isn’t taken to a hospital. Spain’s Europa Press has footage (below) of the hostages’ first moments of freedom, as well Hugo Chávez’s personal plea to the FARC to, at the very least, move Betancourt to a location “closer to him”:

The FARC says they won’t liberate any other hostages unless President Álvaro Uribe demilitarizes an area in southwest Colombia, a petition which Uribe rejected today.

Via / Europa Press and Prensa

Colombians Wait for Release of Four FARC Hostages

8:15 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Politics| Venezuela · 1 Comment

27 Feb 2008

Thanks to Hugo Chavez (don’t you hate when he does something right?), four Colombian hostages held by the FARC for 6 years are set to be released. According to news reports this morning, Venezuelan helicopters are set to go deep into the Colombian jungle to get Senator Jorge Eduardo Gechem, Congresswoman Gloria Polanco de Losada, Lawmakers Orlando Beltran Cuellar and Luis Eladio Perez. One of the hostages is said to be in grave health. Colombia is said to be cooperating, by stopping military maneuvers in the release area.

Via / Bloomberg.com

Worldwide Marches Against FARC Today

10:50 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Colombia| Politics| World · Comments Off

4 Feb 2008

All over the world today, millions of Colombians are expected to gather, not just demanding peace, as they have been for sometime, but specifically against the FARC. The call is that at noon, whatever time zone you are in, to demand an end to the FARC and their attacks against the community. The movement was begun over the internet, according to the official press release, on Facebook. For about a month now (that’s when I myself began getting emails) people have been organizing to stop what some are calling a reign of terror against the Colombian populace, carried out by the FARC via kidnappings and violence. But not everyone is with the program, some family members of hostages held by the FARC are concerned that such an action will incur more violence against their loved ones.

“Maybe neither the hostages not the humanitarian exchange or peace will benefit,” the mother of Ingrid Betancourt, a high-profile hostage, is quoted as saying in Semana magazine

Via / BBC and Colombia Soy Yo

Betancourt’s Family to Put the Pressure on FARC

6:47 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Latin America| Politics · Comments Off

21 Jan 2008

Members of FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt’s family say they will not let up on pressuring the Colombian government and the international community to push for more liberations.

Lorenzo Delloye [pictured above with his sister], son of the ex-politician kidnapped 6 years ago told Radio Caracol that the family has hope that FARC will facilitate a new humanitarian agreement which would open up the possibility of the return of those being held.

“We are going to seek out all of the international pressure necessary to support the European emissaries and the Church, and to ask FARC to accept a dialogue. We need for them to say where they want to negotiate,” he said.

Delloye made the statement after the FARC denied the Colombian government’s offer to provide the hostages with medical services. FARC leaders said they denied the visit because it would put the lives of the hostages at risk.

Via / Crónica

Colombian Clergy to Negotiate with FARC

8:04 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Politics · Comments Off

17 Jan 2008

Members of the Catholic Church in Colombia are claiming to be in contact with the FARC and attempting to negotiate the release of more hostages.

Roman Catholic leader Monsignor Luis Augusto Castro said the Church was in discreet contact with the rebels in a bid to secure a Red Cross visit.It is hoped that the Red Cross will be allowed to see more than 40 high-profile hostages in the jungle.

I don’t know about how discreet the negotiations are if the news is in the international media, but here’s to hoping something positive comes out of it.

Via / BBC

Chavez: FARC Aren’t Terrorists

5:30 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Latin America| Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off

11 Jan 2008

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said today that he doesn’t consider the FARC a terrorist group and therefore should be removed from the list of international terrorist organizations:

“The FARC and the ELN are not terrorist groups, they are armies, real armies that occupy a space in Colombia. The FARC and the ELN must be given recognition. They are insurgent forces that have a political and Bolivarian project, and that is respected here.”

That was the message Chavez was sending to other Latin American governments in hopes that it wouldn’t fall on deaf ears, especially in Colombia. No such luck, as the Colombian government didn’t waste time in responding via its press secretary:

“The government of Colombia, will not for any reason accept that the title of terrorists be lifted…the government of Colombia with its army and its constitution will continue the struggle until we defeat these groups which have received the most generous offers of peace.”

Press Secretary César Mauricio Velásquez said the FARC’s actions go against basic human rights, and that they are terrorists because “they kidnap, indiscriminately place bombs, recruit and murder children, murder pregnant women, the elderly and utilize land mines, leaving thousands of victims in their wake.”

Via / El Universal

Two FARC Hostages Freed, First Images In

3:40 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Venezuela| society · Comments Off

10 Jan 2008

The FARC has released two hostages, Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez, who were later picked up by helicopters in the Colombian jungle and brought back to Caracas. Above is one of the first pictures of the freed hostages, distributed by AFP, who captured the images from Venezuelan television.

Venezuela’s El Universal reports that U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey was quoted as saying that he “celebrates” the freeing of the hostages, but made no mention of Hugo Chavez’s involvement in the process. However, Casey did thank Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.

That is NOT going to go over well at Miraflores.

Via / AFP and El Universal

Colombia Just Says No to Foreign Rescue Missions

8:33 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Controversia| Politics| Venezuela · 3 Comments

8 Jan 2008

Citing President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela’s failed FARC hostage release operation, the Colombian government said it will not accept any more international commissions.

As much as I dislike the Uribe government, you really can’t blame them. They are trying to save face and appear in control of a situation that is really out of control. They weren’t able to negotiate any hostage release either, and ruse or not, Venezuela seemed to get farther than Colombia ever had.

Liars, Liars : FARCS Pants on Fire

8:28 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Controversia| Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off

7 Jan 2008

It seems that the world is closer to figuring out who is the liar in the whole FARC/ Nene Emmanuel fiasco. On Saturday, the FARC admitted that the three year old boy being held by Colombian authorities in Bogota, the capital, is the same boy, known as Emmanuel, that was part of the failed hostage release deal set to take place at the end of December of last year (really just a week ago).

DNA tests indicated a complete match between mitochondria in the blood of the boy – who has been given the name Juan David Gomez – and Ms Rojas’ mother, Attorney General Mario Iguaran said, quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

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