Lost Password? No account yet? Register
  • Narrow screen resolution
  • Wide screen resolution
  • Auto width resolution
  • Increase font size
  • Decrease font size
  • Default font size
  • default color
  • red color
  • green color
Member Area

¡Presente!

Tuesday
Feb 09th
¡Presente! Home
SOA Graduate Cited in Parapolitica Scandal PDF Print E-mail
The government of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe continues to be plagued by the parapolítica ("parapolitics") scandal, in which some 60 members of Congress have been linked to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a rightwing paramilitary group that is now officially demobilized. The majority of these politicians are in Uribe's governing coalition, and some are in the president's extended family. On August 12, 2008, a former paramilitary, Luis Adrián Palacio ("Diomedes"), gave testimony to the Attorney General's Office linking SOA graduate and instructor: Gen. Mario Montoya UribeGen. Mario Montoya, the head of the Colombian military and a graduate and former instructor at the School of the Americas, to the AUC. Diomedes said that in April 2002 Montoya, who then commanded the Army's Fourth Brigade, personally delivered a "present" of six AK-47 rifles and an M-16 rifle to the AUC's Bloque Mineros. Montoya denies the charge.

An agreement between Uribe and the administration of US president George Bush has helped diffuse the scandal. Some paramilitary leaders are now being extradited to the US to stand trial for drug trafficking, and many analysts think this will keep Colombian investigators from getting valuable information about paramilitary links to politicians. Ever Veloza ("H.H."), former leader of the Bloques Calima and Bananero  paramilitary units, has begun to talk about these ties, and Senator Gustavo Petro (himself threatened with investigation in the farcpolítica scandal) is urging Uribe to hold up Veloza's extradition until he has told his story. SOA Watch along with 25 other international organizations denounced the extraditions as a ploy by the US and Colombian governments to deny justice to the victims of crimes in Colombia.

Source: Weekly News Update on the Americas, (212)674-9499, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Hits: 4805
Comments (0)Add Comment

Write comment
smaller | bigger

security code
Write the displayed characters


busy
 
< Prev   Next >
Featured Article
  • Pause
  • Previous
  • Next
1/2
Video: U.S. Colombia Bases Agreement

U.S. Colombia Bases Agreement In the fall 2009, U.S. and Colombian officials signed an agreement granting the U.S. military access to seven Colombian bases for ten years.

Click here to watch the Faultlines documentary about the agreement online.

Click here to read the article Seven Bases by Diane Lefer and Hector Aristizábal, in which they take a look at the history of each of these bases as well as conditions in the surrounding communities and Colombia as a whole.

Read more...
 
SOA Violence
Image Military Coup in Honduras The School of Coups is at it again: In June 2009, SOA graduates overthrew the government of Honduras.
The Americas
Image Seven Bases U.S. and Colombian officials signed an agreement granting the U.S. military access to seven Colombian bases for ten years.
 
Survivors
Image Interview with H.I.J.O.S.

¡Presente! talked with Cecilia Gonzales of H.I.J.O.S. about their activism, re-militarization and the School of the Americas.

 
Direct Action
Image Moving the Vigil to DC? Ad your opinion about the proposal to move the 2010 November Vigil from Fort Benning, Georgia to Washington, DC.
Legislation
Image It's time to turn hope into reality Obama's first 100 days in the White House - an article by SOA Watch Communications Coordinator Pablo Ruiz.
   
Artists
Dan Archer Dan Archer

Dan Archer and Nikil Saval created the two-page, full-color comic about the history of the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC).

 
Advertisement
 
  • SOA Watch
    SOA Watch webpage
  • SOAW Latina
    SOAW Latinoamericana
  • Submissions
     Presente is always looking for drawings and cartoons for its print edition. Please send us your artwork.

    Due to the space constraints, we usually solicit articles on specific topics, but we also encourage activists to submit queries.

    For more information, go to Submissions.

Video

 

Quote

You can't teach democracy through the barrel of a gun.
 

Search

Book Tip

Disturbing the Peace book cover
 

Syndicate

Reviews

On the Line

On the Line  

A challenging new documentary has quickly become one of the widest-reaching films to encapsulate the history of the SOA Watch movement.

Taxi to the Dark SideTaxi to the Dark Side

An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.

MORE REVIEWS...

Poll

Which part of the campaign to close the SOA are you most interested in?
 

Who's Online

We have 18 guests online

Subscribe

Newspaper Dog
Receive ¡Presente! three times a year.

Distribute

Newspaper Delivery
Educate your community. 

Advertise

Advertise
Place your ad in ¡Presente! 

Donate

Piggy Bank
We rely on donations from supporters like you.

Contact Us

Contact Us
Complaints, suggestions, feedback or ideas?