Colombia paramilitary scandal widens

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia paramilitary scandal widens
Electoral fraud charges are filed against a governor as Interpol discloses that it has issued a warrant for a former congressman.
By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer
March 13, 2007


BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — The scandal tying political supporters of President Alvaro Uribe with outlawed paramilitary leaders widened Monday as prosecutors filed electoral fraud charges against Trino Luna, the governor of the influential coastal state of Magdalena.

Also, Interpol disclosed that it had issued an international arrest warrant on kidnapping charges for Alvaro Araujo Noguera, a former congressman and minister who is the father of former Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo. She resigned last month after her brother, Sen. Alvaro Araujo, was jailed on suspicion of conspiring with paramilitaries to kidnap a political rival.

The theme of paramilitaries' infiltration of the Colombian government came up Sunday during President Bush's visit to Bogota.

At a news conference, Bush professed his confidence in Uribe's government to lead a thorough and impartial investigation that so far has resulted in the arrests of eight congressmen, all Uribe backers. Uribe has not been accused of illegal dealings.
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-colombia13mar13,1,7584123.story?coll=la-news-a_section



Trino Luna (dark shirt) , and former Congressman Alvarao Araujo, with his daughter, the resigned Foreign Minister, Maria Consuelo Araujo.

[Javaman]

1. wasn't moron* just down there to visit his buddy? nt

[Judi Lynn]

2. Oh, yeah! They had to wait until Bush was on the way out of there before they could

get the ball running on Gov. Luna, as it would have been politically embarrassing to do anything the press could grill Uribe about during _Bush's visit.

This situation seems to be blowing up in _Bush's puppet's face! More from the article:

Luna is the first Colombian governor to face arrest in the scandal, which is the fallout of probes by the Supreme Court and the attorney general's office into paramilitary influence and infiltration. Luna was the only candidate in the 2003 Magdalena gubernatorial election and prosecutors suspect him of colluding with paramilitaries to intimidate any would-be opponents.

The prosecutor's office also disclosed that Mayor Jose Francisco Zuniga of Santa Marta, a major port city in Magdalena, was under investigation in connection with Luna's case.

An arrest order for Luna is pending but will not be executed until Uribe appoints a replacement, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said Monday.

Luna's whereabouts were unknown Monday night, and his office told reporters that he had left over the weekend on vacation.

The senior Araujo is believed to be at his ranch in Venezuela.

In a video released by Luna's office and broadcast over news channels here, Luna was seen denying the charges and asserting that he was the solo candidate as a result of an agreement made with several political parties in the region. He called the investigation a "witch hunt."
(snip)

_Bush stands a very realistic chance of seeing his pal take some major beatings in the near future. They may need to manufacture some incident to distract everyone.

Already the Colombian paramilitary has been found dressing the bodies of peasants they slaughtered to look as if they had actually been rebel soldiers, so they could claim the slaughter was in self-defense.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Colombian political boss target of Interpol search

Colombian political boss target of Interpol search
13 Mar 2007 18:09:16 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA, March 13 (Reuters) - Interpol has launched an international manhunt for the patriarch of a conservative political clan that ran northern Colombia before it crumbled under charges of collusion with drug-running paramilitaries.

The move underscores the gravity of the "para-political" scandal in which eight of President Alvaro Uribe's congressional allies and his former intelligence chief have been arrested for suspected links to right-wing militias guilty of some of the worst atrocities of Colombia's four-decade-old guerrilla war.

Alvaro Araujo Noguera, a former congressman and agriculture minister, fled to neighboring Venezuela after his arrest was ordered this month, a spokesman for Colombia's intelligence agency, known by its Spanish initials DAS, said on Tuesday.

He is wanted on suspicion of helping the paramilitaries kidnap an opponent of his son, Sen. Alvaro Araujo Castro, in 2002.
(snip)

From its home base in the city of Valledupar, Cesar province, the family still wields some influence. The governor of the province is a family member.

President Uribe's former intelligence chief Jorge Noguera was charged last month with providing paramilitaries with a death list of union leaders and human rights workers.
(snip/...)

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13470953.htm

[Judi Lynn]

4. Paramilitaries re-emerge in pockets of Colombia

Paramilitaries re-emerge in pockets of Colombia

By Caleb Harris, The Christian Science Monitor
BARRANCABERMEJA, Colombia — Sandra Gutierrez Torres has a dangerous job. She helps run a grass-roots human rights organization in Colombia's oil capital, Barrancabermeja, and last month her work may have cost the life of her sister.
Katherine Gonzalez Torres disappeared days after a new right-wing paramilitary group calling itself the "Black Eagles" e-mailed a death threat to more than 70 rights groups nationwide: "We will finish with you by means of your families ... your families will pay dearly."

Nothing has been seen or heard of Katherine since. Her family thinks that she's become a victim of a rising tide of organized violence in pockets of the country. The spike in attacks attributed to supposedly demobilized paramilitaries coincides with a growing scandal linking them to some of Colombia's top politicians.

It's unfortunate timing for conservative president Alvaro Uribe, who hosted President Bush Sunday and is hoping a Democrat-controlled Congress will approve the Bush administration's request for $3.9 billion in new aid, mostly to help Colombia fight the drug trade over the next seven years.

The "para-politics" scandal has seen eight pro-Uribe senators jailed for links with paramilitaries. In late February, Foreign Secretary Marma Consuelo Arazjo resigned after her brother, a senator, was jailed for paramilitary involvement, and her father and cousin, also pro-Uribe politicians, were similarly accused.

The same week, Uribe's former intelligence chief Jorge Noguera was arrested for allegedly supplying the names of human rights workers to paramilitaries.
(snip/...)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-12-colombia_N.htm

[Joanne98]

5. Why doesn't Uribe just resign!

:grr: