Friday, February 16, 2007

Colombia: scandal worsens with arrests of five congressmen

The links between paramilitaries and politicians in Colombia has become more well-known with the arrests yesterday of five congressmen. One of those arrested was Alvaro Araujo (image)- the brother of Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo - which has heightened calls for her resignation and further investigation of corruption by allies of President Alvaro Uribe.


The links between right-wing paramilitary groups and high-ranking politicians has become increasingly public since Uribe was reelected in May 2006. Opposition groups and human rights activists have denounced president Uribe’s peace process with the paramilitaries, and some want him to be investigated for paramilitary expansion in Antioquia province a decade ago when he was that area’s governor. Three congressmen were arrested in November for their supposed ties to paramilitaries, and confessions by former senior paramilitary leaders have implicated politicians as well as military officers.


Links- Guardian UK, Reuters AlertNet, Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, Plan Colombia and Beyond Blog, Angus Reid Consultants

Image- BBC News

2 comments:

redwood said...

Hi Erwin,

i notice that you use the plural 'paramilitaries.' if memory serves, other journalists on Columbia will say 'paramilitary forces.' are you implying something about the level of unity among the commands? or maybe how Columbians experience them?

Erwin C. said...

You bring up a very interesting point, redwood. The articles that I've read on Colombia in English and Spanish tend to use the terms 'paramilitaries' and 'paramilitary forces' interchangeably.

My own use of 'paramilitaries' is done for two reasons- it's shorter to write than 'paramilitary forces' but for the time being it seems like relations between politicians and paramilitary troops/leaders are on an individual level. Please write back if this explanation makes sense.

The sensation that many Colombians have of this is that this is all the tip of the iceberg and more charges of corruption willbe revealed. Yet at the same time people know that there politicians are corrupt and tacitly accept it. (Which partially helps explain why the President's approval rating is 70%+ inasmuch as the 'para-politica' scandal is affecting is closest allies).