Córdoba interrogated by U.S. immigration authorities

[struggle4progress]

June 28th, 2008

Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba was held by U.S. immigration authorities on JFK airport in New York, to be interrogated about her alleged ties to the FARC, she told Caracol Radio ...

“When I left customs, I was retained for two and a half hours. I think they wanted to send me back to Colombia. All my papers were photocopied. I had brought denunciations to deliver to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. They photocopied everything, my phones and personal belongings too,” the controversial senator said.

Córdoba said that she wasn’t allowed to leave until she had had contact with U.S. assistant Secretary of State, Thommas Shannon and U.S. governor Bill Richardson.

She thinks the official objection of Colombian consul in New York, Fransisco Noguera, to her speaking at the Venezuelan consul about a humanitarian agreement with the FARC about releasing hostages, triggered the arrest ...

http://colombiareports.com/2008/06/28/cordoba-interrogated-by-us-immigration-authorities/

[Judi Lynn]

1. That's dirty pool. It's not as if she hasn't been to Washington before.

Here she is visiting with Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Jim McGovern:



I hope she does make sufficient noise. She's a very brave woman, considering the filth she has been opposing in Colombia. I hope Uribe won't find a way to kill her. You know he will if he can. That's why she has a bunch of bodyguards.

Great photo attached to the article:


Thanks for the information.

On edit, god! I just remembered one of her bodyguards was killed in an assassination attempt on her. Sonofagun, I had forgotten about that.

Uh, oh! I just looked up "assassination attempt" to get more information, and found something unexpected in Wikipedia:

In 1999 Carlos Castaño, leader of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), kidnapped Senator Córdoba. After several weeks she was freed and exiled with her family in Canada. After one year and 2 months in exile and reports by Colombian authorities that security had improved, Cordoba returned to Colombia, leaving her family back and continue her political duties. She has been victim of two assassination attempts.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedad_C%C3%B3rdoba

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Can you believe some P.O.S. claimed the FARCs are the only ones who kidnap people? Oh, well!

As a Colombian para (death squad) protestor said last April, death squads don't take prisoners usually, as they just cut them up into little pieces, instead. (This was spoken to a reporter on the day of the protest, after which SIX PROTEST ORGANIZERS WERE ASSASSINATED after receiving death threats.)

[Judi Lynn]

2. So Piedad Cordoba had been kidnapped by Carlos Castano's forces,

the same ones who killed a Colombian comedian, all in response to an arrangement made by a Colombian deputy director of their D.A.S.:

“Former DAS deputy director involved in abduction Córdoba”
June 17th, 2008 ·

A demobilized paramilitary leader testified Tuesday that former deputy director of Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS was involved in the abduction of senator Piedad Córdoba and the murder of journalist and comedian Jaime Garzón, both in 1999.

Jorge Iván ‘El Iguano’ Laverde Zapata, former commander of the AUC’s Catacumbo bloc, said deputy director José Miguel Narváez instigated AUC leader Carlos Castaño Gil to murder Garzón and ordered the kidnapping of senator Piedad Córdoba.

The demobilized paramilitary testified that Narváez regularly visited AUC camps in Córdoba and Bolivar to talk with paramilitaries.

The former warlord testified before the Prosecutor as part of Colombia’s Justice and Peaclaw. Military leaders get a reduced sentence in exchange for cooperation with justice and compensation for their victims.

http://colombiareports.com/2008/06/17/former-das-deputy-director-involved-in-abduction-cordoba/

~~~~~~~~~~~
I've heard about the comedian's assassination long ago. He stepped on political toes. Have also read that the deputy director personally told death squad personel that it's legal to kill communists in Colombia.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Look at what the State Department says about Piedad Cordoba:

Paramilitary groups were also responsible for kidnapings. The NGO Pais Libre attributed 103 kidnapings during the year to paramilitary groups. On May 21, AUC paramilitary forces kidnaped Liberal Senator Piedad Cordoba, a renowned human rights advocate, from a doctor's office in Medellin. She was released unharmed on June 4. AUC leader Carlos Castano personally claimed responsibility for the kidnaping in a telephone call to a national radio network, and on September 17, the human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office formally implicated him in its investigation. According to Human Rights Watch, in February the ACCU paramilitary group briefly held seven agents of the CTI; it also threatened the investigators with death.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/1999/380.htm

This report was made public in 1999. The _Bush administration only had to check its own public records to get a clue about who she is!