Just start doing research on Colombia's government and ties to paramilitaries. You are going to be very busy reading for a LONG time.
On edit, here's a f'r starters:
31Jul04
En Español
Em Português
Salvatore Mancuso's appearance before the Colombian Parliament is a milestone in the control of the state by organized crime.
The history of organized crime contains chapters which in many instances exceed any screenplays by the best cinema scriptwriters.
On the 28th July 2004 an incident took place which could easily be one of those film scripts but which also constitutes another chapter in the universal history of infamy.
On that date three paramilitary leaders took preferential seats in the Colombian parliament and, although formally accused by the justice system as drug trafficking capos, the three delivered their speeches to the further discredit of civil liberties, justice and popular power of which a parliament should be an expression.
Meyer Lansky, mafia boss and master financial strategist who tried without success to be buried on the heroes hill in Israel and who, along with many other operations, financed the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, would have been proud of the spectacle; one which also bears comparison with his actions in the Cuba of Fulgencio Batista.
~snip~
Alvaro Uribe Vélez, the President of Colombia, and his Vice-President, Pacho Santos, are in charge of the largest operation to legitimize a criminal mafia organization to have taken place in recent years.
To understand exactly what that means, we describe here the profile of five of the negotiators of the so-called AUC (United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia). In the case of every one of them there are formal charges pending involving the running of drug-dealing organizations.
These organizations are responsible for the production of over 90% of the cocaine sold world-wide.
They are also responsible for 65% of the heroin sent to the United States.
More:
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/narcoseng.html~~~~~ Colombia: Stop Abuses by Paramilitaries’ Successor Groups
Government must Protect Civilians, Prosecute Groups’ Members and Accomplices
February 3, 2010
(Bogotá) - Colombia needs to respond effectively to the violent groups committing human rights abuses that have emerged around the country in the aftermath of the flawed demobilization of paramilitary groups, Human Rights Watch says in a report released today.
The 122-page report, "Paramilitaries' Heirs: The New Face of Violence in Colombia," documents widespread and serious abuses by successor groups to the paramilitary coalition known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC). The successor groups regularly commit massacres, killings, forced displacement, rape, and extortion, and create a threatening atmosphere in the communities they control. Often, they target human rights defenders, trade unionists, victims of the paramilitaries who are seeking justice, and community members who do not follow their orders. The report is accompanied by a multimedia presentation that includes photos and audio of some of the Colombians targeted by the successor groups.
"Whatever you call these groups - whether paramilitaries, gangs, or some other name - their impact on human rights in Colombia today should not be minimized," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "Like the paramilitaries, these successor groups are committing horrific atrocities, and they need to be stopped."
~snip~
The emergence of the successor groups was predictable, Human Rights Watch said, largely due to the Colombian government's failure to dismantle the paramilitary coalition's criminal networks during the demobilization process, between 2003 and 2006. The government's inadequate implementation of the demobilizations also allowed paramilitaries to recruit civilians to pose as paramilitaries for the demobilization, while keeping portions of their membership active. The report describes, for example, the North Block demobilization, where there is substantial evidence of fraud ordered by AUC leader Rodrigo Tovar (known as "Jorge 40").
The report also expresses concern over alleged toleration of successor groups' activities by some state officials and government security forces. Both prosecutors and senior members of the police said that such toleration was a real obstacle to their work. And in each of the cities and regions Human Rights Watch visited it heard repeated allegations of toleration of successor groups by security forces.
In Nariño, for example, one man complained that "the Black Eagles interrogate us, with the police 20 meters away... (Y)ou can't trust the army or police because they're practically with the guys." In Urabá, a former official said the police in one town appeared to work with the successor groups: "It's all very evident... The police control the entry and exit (of town) and ... they share intelligence." In Meta, an official said he received "constant complaints that the army threatens people, talking about how ‘the Cuchillos' (the main successor group in the region) are coming... In some cases, the army leaves and the Cuchillos come in."
More:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/02/02/colombia-stop-abuses-paramilitaries-successor-groups
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