New Colombian President's plan for militia

[Rick Johnson]

Newly-elected President Uribe plans to establish a one million+ civilian militia. These people will be given radios and instructed to report any suspiciously "subversive" activity to the government. It looks like it's going to be patterned after Cuba's old "Committees For the Defense of the Revolution" model. These were neighborhood watch groups who gathered intelligence on all members of the neighborhood, keeping tabs on what everyone was up to and doing.

Guys going over there might want to learn about the politics of those they get involved with. You can be assured that some of these militia will be targets from both the left and the right. They are going to be unarmed which raises the spectre that they will be easy targets.

Maybe good advice would be to keep your politics to yourself. Colombia is widely acknowledged to have one of the worst human rights records on the planet. Uribe is far-right so this may well only worsen as time goes on. Moral of the story: Be careful what you say as you could be endangering yourself and those you're around.

[Pete E]

... in response to New Colombian President's plan for milit..., posted by Rick Johnson on Aug 6, 2002

Uribe takes office tommorow.Probably a good day to lay low.
Uribe is far right?I guess compared to communist rebels he is.I think he is just what Colombia needs right now,and the majority of Colombians agree.My wife drove 100 miles to cast her vote for him.They have let 20,000-30,000 rebels screw up the country for way too long.And as Pastrana so ineptly demonstated,negotiation is useless.Even he finaly figured that one out.
As with muslim terrorists,the solution is a dead terrorist.At least the Colombian rebels are not totally fu--ing crazy suicide bombers.A person who wants to survive can learn a lesson.When Uribe finally goes after them I think there are  going to be alot more ex rebels doing something else.

Pete

[colombian]

... in response to Re: New Colombian President's plan for m..., posted by Pete E on Aug 6, 2002

yo soy colombiana.
y la verdad estoy muy contenta con el nuevo presidente de mi pais,el es un buen hombre y yo se que el sacara ami pais adelante,y ara todo lo que hasta ahora todos los presidentes pasados no han podido hacer ,echar mi pais para adelante,de eso si estoy segura cuando el fue,el gobernador en medellin fue muy buen gobernador,por eso la gente lo quiere y ademas el no tiene la corrupcion que han tenido los otros,de lo que ahora puedo estar casi segura un 99%es que mi pais se echara para adelante,y habran muchisismos cambios espero Dios asi sea,y esperemos que el tiempo lo defina mi pais es muy hermoso y ahora con el nuevo presidente sera mas seguro ,bueno un beso y un abrazo y que dios los bendiga:la colombiana

[jim c]

... in response to Re: Re: New Colombian President's plan f..., posted by colombian on Aug 7, 2002

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

[Rick Johnson]

... in response to Re: New Colombian President's plan for m..., posted by Pete E on Aug 6, 2002

Pete: We'll see what happens with this new Uribe regime. He does have a checkered past. His connections with the Medellin drug cartel while mayor of the city in the 1980's and his creation of 69 civilian defense groups who later provided information to "death squads" for assassinations, makes alot of people uneasy.

These current day "death squads", i.e., paramilitary groups like (AUC), don't just target leftist guerrillas like (FARC). They go after anyone only suspected of having sympathies with the FARC or who want to disrupt the narco-traffickers. This includes labor, clergy, journalists, etc. So far the Colombian government has colluded with these thugs because they have a common enemy in the FARC.

Until the AUC is immobilized, solutions can't be reached with the FARC. Now you have a new president with strong authoritarian tendencies coming in who may be unwittingly or not, only strengthening AUC.

We'll see what happens. The Colombian people certainly deserve better.

Rick

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Re: New Colombian President's plan f..., posted by Rick Johnson on Aug 7, 2002

Rick,
I think elements of the military and government support the AUC because they were the only ones really opposing FARC.The government was doing little or seemed to have its hands tied so support that couldn't get the government to act went to AUC.If the government was really doing its job AUC would probably not have much reason to exist.
"Strong authoritarian tendencies".Yup,thats what they need and have been lacking with gutless inefective leaders.
Again,20,000-30,000 rebels causing so much trouble?What nonsense.What a lack of resolve.It seems so stupid looking in from the outside to not just face the issue.
I have heard FARC has almost no support amoung the people,maybe less than 5%.They are recognised as the bandits
they are.

Pete

[Rick Johnson]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: New Colombian President's pl..., posted by Pete E on Aug 7, 2002

Pete: One final comment from me on this subject. We obviously disagree about who the "worst" of the bad guys are; FARC vs. AUC. At least the FARC had an ideology and vision before it got preverted by their indiscriminate violence and reliance on narco-money. Furthermore, AUC has never been much more than a band of thugs condoned by Colombian authority to protect the narco-traffickers and to terrorize anybody who gets in their way. So while we may disagree on how Colombia should solve its problems, to the extent changes do occur we would probably agree that the following needs to happen: 1. Fairer distribution of the wealth. The wealth of Colombia is concentrated in very few people and institutions. I believe it has one of the most significant gaps between rich and poor in the entire Western Hemisphere. Simply doing away with FARC or AUC for that matter, won't change this fundamental inequality. This is rooted in the social, political, and economic history of the country. 2. Pattern opportunity after the U.S. model. While far from perfect, bloodlines or inherited status is minimized and practically anybody can make it if the opportunity is there. From what I gather about Colombia, It's ALL ABOUT your family status and background. They still use the model of their Colonial invaders. 3. Root out the corruption and figure out an economic model that will replace coca and marijuana with other cash crops. Surely far easier said than done with the huge demand for drugs. 4. Embrace a true democracy where all can participate in the governing process. The U.S. model again isn't perfect but at least a starting point. Allow representation from all political factions based on what the voters want.

Other than that, I don't have a clue.(grin)

Regards,

Rick

[pack]

... in response to Re: New Colombian President's plan for m..., posted by Pete E on Aug 6, 2002

ooooo..far right

[Wasp]

... in response to Re: New Colombian President's plan for m..., posted by Pete E on Aug 6, 2002

They have to arm that militia, or it's useless.