US approves extradition of Colombia's former agriculture minister

[Judi Lynn]

by Adriaan Alsema February 22, 2019

The United States government has approved the extradition of Colombia’s fugitive agriculture minister who fled the country ahead of a 17-year corruption sentence.

The State Department rejected the objection of former Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias, who had argued he could be submitted to torture if he were to be sent to prison in Colombia.

The former protege of former President Alvaro Uribe was initially arrested in Florida and has since been engaged in a fierce legal battle to prevent serving time for funneling at least $25 million in state subsidies that were meant for poor farmers to friends and allies.

The decision is a setback for both Arias and President Ivan Duque, whose ambassador to Washington DC controversially came out in defense of his political ally last year.

Multiple of Uribe’s political allies fled Colombia after the country’s judicial system began investigating the mass corruption and crimes against humanity carried out under the watch of Uribe, a former associate of the Medellin Cartel who was granted a Medal of Freedom by former US President George W Bush.

Uribe himself is investigated by the Supreme Court for allegedly tampering witnesses who have testified that the controversial politician formed a death squad when he was governor of his home Antioquia province in the 1990s.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/us-approves-extradition-of-colombias-former-agriculture-minister/






COLOMBIA: Farm Subsidy Scandal Exposes Corrupt Policies
By Helda Martínez

Helda Martínez interviews Senator JORGE ROBLEDO

BOGOTA, Dec 30 2009 (IPS) - The Attorney General’s Office of Colombia is keeping a tight lid on developments in its investigation of 113 million dollars in farm subsidies handed out over the last three years to wealthy families, many of whom have no involvement in the agricultural sector whatsoever.

A total of 87 individuals have been questioned so far, including Ministry of Agriculture officials and recipients of the non-repayable, tax-free subsidies under the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) programme.
Many of these beneficiaries have made sizeable campaign contributions for the re-election of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe to a third term in office – pending the necessary amendment of the country’s constitution – and include model/actress and former Miss Colombia Válery Domínguez.

The scandal of the bogus subsidies, which is also being investigated by the Procuraduría General de la Nación (Office of the Inspector General), broke in September after the publication of an exposé in Cambio magazine.

According to repeated denunciations by peasant and indigenous communities, lawmakers, academics and non-governmental organisations, the magazine revealed, AIS funds have not only been disbursed to wealthy families with close ties to Uribe, but also to right-wing paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.

. . .

Q: Has Colombia, a country rich in natural resources, ever had an appropriate agricultural policy? A: No. One of the problems that has played a role in the country’s economic backwardness is that agriculture has basically been used as an instrument for real estate speculation, with no policies to provide land to peasant farmers.

Be that as it may, however, the country’s agricultural policies since the 1990s have been worse than ever. Before then, at least, there was the belief that Colombia could produce its own food. Today, an ever greater amount of food is imported.

Q: How would you describe Colombia’s agricultural policy during Uribe’s seven years in office? A: I would say that it has never been so reactionary. In the Fifth Senate Committee’s debates, we have determined that the current policy is at the service of transnational corporations.

When Uribe took office as president (in 2002), Colombia was importing six million tons of food annually. Today it imports 10 million tons, when the free trade agreement with the United States has yet to enter into force, or the agreement with Europe, and there is talk of an agreement with Australia, a major agricultural power.

Domestically, policy is geared to a plutocratic model; in other words, resources have become increasingly concentrated in a very few, very powerful hands.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/12/colombia-farm-subsidy-scandal-exposes-corrupt-policies/