NotiSur - 08/17/01 - Colombia, Chile, Bolivia Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [reminder: Not for Redistribution -- NYTransfer] ------------------------------------------------------------ L A T I N A M E R I C A D A T A B A S E NotiSur - South American Political & Economic Affairs ISSN 1060-4189 Volume 11, Number 31 August 17, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001, Latin America Data Base (LADB), Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico Director: Rebecca Reynolds Bannister Editor: Patricia Hynds Staff writers: Carlos Navarro, Robert Sandels LADB ARCHIVES: Back issues are referenced to provide historical background relevant to the articles in this newsletter. These can be accessed with a subscription to the LADB searchable on-line archives at http://ladb.unm.edu/ by clicking on Search Archive. For subscription information, e-mail info@ladb.unm.edu or call 1-800-472-0888. In This Issue: COLOMBIA: PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA BREAKS OFF TALKS WITH REBEL EJERCITO DE LIBERACION NACIONAL * Pastrana's position reflects influence of paramilitaries * ELN says it will wait for Pastrana's successor * Military supports Pastrana's position CHILE: MAPUCHE INDIANS DENOUNCE GOVERNMENT BEFORE U.N. AFTER VIOLENT PROTESTS * Mapuche protest use of national security law * Indigenous leaders promise 50-year struggle BOLIVIA: NEW PRESIDENT JORGE QUIROGA FACES TOUGH YEAR * Banzer returns to US for treatment * Quiroga must move quickly to solve problems * New president put on notice by Indians * Quiroga has US and IMF support * Quiroga names Cabinet ____________________________________________________________ ********************* COLOMBIA ********************* COLOMBIA: PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA BREAKS OFF TALKS WITH REBEL EJERCITO DE LIBERACION NACIONAL Colombian President Andres Pastrana broke off talks with the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) on Aug. 7, saying the rebels showed no real interest in pursuing peace. Meanwhile, Pastrana began his last year in office with a 75% disapproval rating, and his decision has dimmed hopes that he can forge peace with either of Colombia's two main guerrilla groups before the end of his term. On Aug. 5, the daily El Tiempo reported that negotiators had almost finalized the timetable for initiating the peace process that included a meeting between Pastrana and the head of the ELN, Nicolas Rodriguez Bautista, known as Gabino. Thus, Pastrana's announcement, made the day he began his last year in office, came as a surprise and seemed to dim any prospect for a deal with the 3,500-member ELN, once seen as the rebel group most interested in a cease-fire. Talks with the larger Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), which began in 1998, have also produced no major breakthroughs. To initiate the process with the FARC, Pastrana pulled the military out of a 42,000-sq km area in southern Colombia. He had agreed to provide a smaller area to the ELN, but the plan stalled amid opposition. Residents opposed to the demilitarized zone say that, in southern Colombia, the FARC has taken advantage of the army's withdrawal to rebuild its military strength, violate human rights, engage in dealings with drug traffickers, and have a staging area for its attacks. On Aug. 1, legislators of the opposition Partido Liberal questioned the government's peace effort with the FARC and the purpose of the demilitarized zone. In a lengthy debate, Liberal lawmakers said the administration had given too much national territory to the rebels with few results beyond drawing up a 10-point agenda and working out a humanitarian agreement that led to the release of 300 police and military held by the FARC and 14 rebels held in Colombian jails. Pastrana's position reflects influence of paramilitaries Announcing the suspension of talks, Pastrana called the ELN "obstinate," but tacitly admitted that the rightist paramilitary Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) had blocked an agreement. "In the face of the ELN's obstinate intent to keep the process frozen, I have decided to suspend the talks," said Pastrana in a speech to the armed forces. Pastrana said negotiators, meeting in Venezuela, were close to an agreement when the ELN made new demands and rejected several new proposals by the government to change the Havana accord. That accord called for demilitarizing areas in Bolivar and Antioquia departments so the ELN could host a national convention with civil groups as a step toward official peace negotiations with the government. Pastrana said the government proposed reducing the size of the demilitarized zone, "modifying" its location, and starting the national convention in a foreign country "with a view to moving it later to Colombia." Pastrana's explanation made it clear that the changes were to accommodate opposition by the AUC and residents of the area who oppose the demilitarized zone. The talks in Venezuela were aimed at breaking the deadlock in place since April when the ELN walked away from the process accusing the government of doing nothing to remove the AUC from the region slated for the demilitarized zone. Government peace commissioner Camilo Gomez Alzate blamed contradictions within the leadership of the ELN for the collapse of the talks. "It is evident that internal division exists in the central command of the ELN, since one of the leaders, Antonio Garcia, disavowed the positions of the representatives who met with me in Venezuela," said Gomez. At a press conference in the Palacio de Narino, Gomez said the door remained open for a resumption of talks if ELN leaders could agree among themselves. ELN says it will wait for Pastrana's successor The ELN accused Pastrana of "wasting" his opportunity to make peace and said it hoped "Colombia's next leader will take advantage of this historic moment." Presidential elections are scheduled for May 2002. Garcia, the ELN second in command, said it was unlikely that any agreement with the government would be reached while Pastrana is in power. He said in the past year it has become obvious that the president has not had a peace policy but rather a stalling policy that he uses for public relations. Garcia said the government had not met the conditions for resuming conversations, including compensating people for damages caused by massive aerial spraying in southern Bolivar province, seriously going after the paramilitary forces, and fulfilling the agreements established in Havana. In an 11-point communique titled "Don't Lie, President," read by Garcia, the group accused Pastrana of repeatedly going back on agreements after they were made. "In April 2000, the president publicly announced he would clear three municipalities to hold a national convention. He did not fulfill that commitment and later demanded that what had already been agreed to be renegotiated," said the document. At the talks in Havana, the administration then reaffirmed the commitment to the demilitarized zone, but the promise has not been kept because of pressure from right-wing paramilitaries that control much of the area. "With the promise that the Havana accords would be fulfilled, the ELN agreed to holding the exploratory meeting in Venezuela. In that meeting, the government once again arrived with a proposal to modify what it had agreed to eight months earlier in Cuba," the communique said. Military supports Pastrana's position The Colombian military and some civic groups supported Pastrana's decision. Armed forces commander Gen. Fernando Tapias said the government did everything possible to arrive at negotiations with the ELN. "Despite multiple proposals and the good will of the national government, all the proposals were rejected without any justification, and I believe, given this intransigent attitude of the ELN, there was no alternative but to suspend the dialogue that had become sterile," said Tapias. The same day, the armed forces were put on alert because of the increased risk of rebel attacks. The army said it had sent 2,000 soldiers and armed helicopters to the area where the ELN has had its center of operations. Air force commander Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco said his troops were ready for any eventuality. "We are with the president unconditionally, and the air force is ready, 100%, to ensure the national integrity and to thwart any terrorist acts that the ELN might commit as a response to the decision of the national government," said Velasco. Celso Martinez, president of the Asociacion Civil para la Paz (ASOCIPAZ), said Pastrana made the right decision. "The conditions are not there for an encounter zone because the area is controlled not just by one party but by three armed actors operating outside the law," said Martinez. But, the Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz, which includes about 100 civil groups, called on the government and the rebels to re-establish the talks. "Every importance should be given the Havana accord, considering that it had the backing and verification of the Support Countries and the facilitation committee, made up of representatives of civil society," the statement said. "It concerns us that the conversations are not advancing, and we propose convoking the international community and civil society to guarantee this process and not allow the dialogue with the ELN to be suspended." Another mediator, Maria Emma Mejia, said, "Substantive advances had been made, and I am surprised [by the government's action], because getting past the remaining difficulties was possible." Alejo Vargas, a member of the Comision Facilitadora de la Sociedad Civil, which promotes negotiations between the government and the rebels, said the parties involved must pursue dialogue as the most viable option for resolving the armed conflict. He said the talks suffered from a "lack of political will by the government." On its Web site, the AUC taunted the ELN, saying it should negotiate with the paramilitary group rather than the government. "Your military surrender, coordinated with the government and with us, is your last option to survive physically and politically," said the statement by the AUC joint command. It said rebel leaders should "accept that the state cannot pull out of a territory where it is not present, where the war is waged between the ELN and the AUC." [Sources: El Nuevo Herald (Miami), 08/06/01; Inter Press Service, 08/07/01, 08/08/01; CNN, La Opinion (Los Angeles), The Miami Herald, The New York Times, 08/08/01; Notimex, 08/01/01, 08/05/01, 08/07-09/01; Spanish news service EFE, 08/07/01, 08/09/01; Reuters, 08/10/01; Associated Press, 08/07/01, 08/08/01, 08/13/01] ********************* CHILE ********************* CHILE: MAPUCHE INDIANS DENOUNCE GOVERNMENT BEFORE U.N. AFTER VIOLENT PROTESTS By Eric P. Martin [The author is a free-lance journalist in Santiago, Chile] Following protests July 25 and 26 in the Chilean city of Temuco, 660 km south of Santiago, that resulted in violent clashes between Mapuche Indians and police, a delegation of Mapuche leaders denounced the Chilean government for human rights abuses before the UN Human Rights Commission. Mapuche representatives accused Chilean authorities of facilitating the theft and exploitation of ancestral lands, persecuting the Mapuche community, and denying legal protection to the Mapuches. The Mapuche, the original inhabitants of Chile's southern lakes district and parts of neighboring Argentina, have been at odds with the government and forestry companies since Chile's former military government ceded 48,000 hectares of Mapuche land to local and transnational corporations. The return of these lands is a principal demand of Mapuche organizations. Two Mapuche organizations presented the indigenous group's case July 27 in Geneva, Switzerland: the London-based Mapuche International Link (MIL) and the Consejo de Todas las Tierras, Chile's largest Mapuche organization. Todas las Tierras delegate Nilo Cayuqueo accused Chile's government of violating the rights of all of the country's indigenous groups. "Since democracy returned in 1990, succeeding administrations have failed to recognize the rights of indigenous nations such as the Mapuche, Aymara, Atacameno, and the Rapa Nui of Easter Island," Cayuqueo said. A key issue in the meeting with UN officials was what Mapuche leaders say is a campaign of persecution of the Mapuche movement by Chilean authorities. MIL representative Reynaldo Mariqueo said Chilean police carry out arbitrary raids and arrests of Mapuches, including women, children, and the elderly, and subject detained Mapuches to "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment." The escalation of searches and arrests has been at the root of recent clashes between Mapuche activists and police. Todas las Tierras Werken Aucan Huilcaman said his organization took to the streets on July 25 to protest a raid of Todas las Tierras offices July 20. "Werken" means spokesperson in Mapudungun, the native Mapuche language. Huilcaman--a Todas las Tierras founder who has worked on human and indigenous rights commissions for the Organization of American States (OAS) and UN--called the raid illegal because "police showed no warrant and because the judges who participated in the raid were involved in the usurpation of Mapuche lands." The warrant Mapuche leaders later saw was signed by judges whose families are connected to forestry companies on the disputed ancestral lands, Huilcaman said. He added that police even raided private homes in the Mapuche community. Mapuche protest use of national security law An estimated 1,000 activists participated the first day of protests in the largely indigenous city of Temuco, making it the largest Mapuche demonstration in nine years. Todas las Tierras organized the event and another nine Mapuche groups participated. Though it started as a peaceful march, the protest turned violent when about 500 activists took over the office of Region IX Gov. Berta Belmar. Protesters also blocked the doors of City Hall, where some Mapuche activists engaged in direct confrontation with Carabineros (militarized police). When 300 riot police arrived at the scene, demonstrators spread throughout the downtown area, converting the protest into a small-scale riot. Belmar condemned the disturbances and pledged that the government would take legal action against instigators, including Huilcaman. Police arrested 125 demonstrators during the protests. Police retaliated against protesters by again raiding the Todas las Tierras headquarters and arresting 20 people who had taken refuge inside. Huilcaman criticized the arrests, saying they were "clearly meant to intimidate and threaten." During the second day of protests, activists said that six Mapuche leaders had been handed over to the military prosecutor's office for assaulting police officers the day before. The crime falls within the jurisdiction of the military courts since the Carabineros, Chile's national police force, is a branch of the armed forces. Authorities threatened to prosecute the activists under the national security law (Ley de Seguridad de Estado), a law that Huilcaman said the Carabineros have used as an instrument for their persecution of the Mapuche movement. Introduced by the military government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), it is the same law that gave security forces the power to arrest political opponents during the dictatorship. Another six Mapuche leaders charged under the national security law requested asylum in the Swedish Embassy in Santiago on Aug. 8. In a letter to Swedish Ambassador Arne Rodin, the Mapuches said they were subject to "massive human rights violations in which Mapuche leaders have been persecuted by police, judicial, and political figures." By using the national security law to prosecute the Mapuche, Huilcaman said, the government is infringing upon at least six universally recognized human rights. "The constitutionally recognized freedom of expression is being violated, as well as the right of free association recognized by the international community and the Chilean Constitution," he said. Since international law is clear on these issues, Mapuche leaders have turned to the international community. The Mapuche leaders who took refuge in the Swedish Embassy said government penal reforms applied in a handful of regions prejudice them. The new penal code was a key point in the Todas las Tierras declaration before the UN Human Rights Commission. Huilcaman said that it discriminates against the Mapuches because it is established "according to the premise that there are only Chileans and there is only one language and one culture in Chile." At the UN meeting, Cayuqueo also demanded a review of the property titles of disputed forestry lands. Mapuche leaders say that the land ceded to transnational forestry companies during the Pinochet regime was taken illegally. During the two governments preceding Chile's 1973 military coup, Presidents Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964-1970) and Salvador Allende (1970-1973) gave Mapuche communities ownership of some 48,000 ha of their ancestral lands. The military government later annulled the titles and handed the property over to forestry companies, among them the Swiss-Chilean conglomerate Migalemu, US-based Simpson Paper Company, and Japan's Mitsubishi. Huilcaman said the governments following the transition to democracy made only weak attempts at returning these lands. President Patricio Aylwin (1990-1994), the first elected president after Pinochet stepped down, gave the Mapuche the opportunity to purchase the disputed lands. "The grave problem with this," Huilcaman said, "is that it is based on market criteria and not the community's rights." Indigenous leaders promise 50-year struggle Mapuche activists have taken highly criticized measures to reclaim these lands, drawing media attention in takeovers of company-owned fundos or estates. On July 25, several Chilean legislators proposed a law that would increase penalties for takeovers of lands and buildings to five years in prison. Still, the more radical Mapuche organization Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco took over the Porvenir fundo near Chol Chol on Aug. 6. Huilcaman said the land conflict is at an important moment because the 20-year-old trees on the disputed lands are nearing their harvest time. He outlined a program for the Mapuche movement that corresponds to the phases of the lumber harvest. The Mapuche communities, he said, would interfere with cultivation of ancestral lands when the companies try to harvest and transport lumber and again if they later try to plant new trees. "Therefore, we have a struggle planned that could last 50 years," Huilcaman said. "The question is, are these businesses willing to fight with the Mapuche community for the next 50 years?" ********************* BOLIVIA ********************* BOLIVIA: NEW PRESIDENT JORGE QUIROGA FACES TOUGH YEAR Jorge Quiroga assumed the presidency of Bolivia Aug. 7, one day after former President Hugo Banzer presented his resignation to Congress. Quiroga, who had been vice president, will serve the remainder of Banzer's term, which would have ended Aug. 7, 2002. He is barred by term limits from running in next year's presidential election. Quiroga takes office with the expectation that he fix the economy, reduce social discontent, and end political corruption--in just one year. Banzer returns to US for treatment The 75-year-old Banzer, who had been in the US undergoing treatment for lung cancer that has spread to his liver, flew to Bolivia on a US Air Force jet Aug. 4. He chose to resign during the opening session of Congress Aug. 6 in the historic capital of Sucre. The next day, he returned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, for further treatment (see NotiSur, 2001-08-03). "I ask all Bolivians to offer [Quiroga] their solid support so that he can respond to the challenges that lie ahead and that will affect the future of the republic," said Banzer. Despite those challenges, Banzer said he was optimistic that the development of the country's rich natural- gas fields would guarantee the country's future and bring a reduction in poverty. Bolivia is working on a US$5 billion project to export natural gas to California, which could bring up to US$1 billion a year to South America's poorest nation. Despite words of praise for the ailing Banzer from Quiroga and other politicians, many Bolivians were critical of his performance. "We are worse off now than in 1997, both politically and economically," said Bolivian analyst Carlos Toranzo. He said that, from 1987 until about 1998, Bolivia's economy was growing by about 4% per year, but it has been stalled for more than three years. Unemployment went from 3.5% in 1997 to 9% in 2000, and the minimum wage is only US$65 per month. Toranzo said that what Banzer did accomplish was to eradicate most illegal coca in the Chapare, once one of the world's largest coca-growing areas. "President Banzer will be remembered for having fulfilled his promise to the US to eradicate coca," said Toranzo. "But the paradox is that even what he did well caused major economic turbulence." Quiroga must move quickly to solve problems The 41-year-old Quiroga, a US-educated industrial engineer, worked for seven years with IBM in Austin, Texas. His wife, Virginia, is from the US. He returned to Bolivia and worked for more than a decade in the financial sector and in government before being elected on the ticket with Banzer. "I am assuming the presidency in unheard-of and dramatic circumstances," said Quiroga in his inauguration speech, which he began by praising Banzer as a "statesman who left deep footprints on our history." Quiroga said generating employment and spreading the nation's wealth more evenly were within reach. He also called for transparency in government and a clampdown on corruption. "In any country, corruption is unacceptable," he said. "But in a poor country, it is even more offensive." The new president urged adoption of a new constitution to minimize the domination of mainstream political parties and open up politics to average Bolivians. Quiroga set four economic objectives for the year: to reverse the negative growth, to create employment, to reduce the incidence of poverty, and to get rid of corruption. New president put on notice by Indians Quiroga must quickly prove himself to Bolivia's eight million people, 60% of whom live in poverty, and few of whom have any faith in politicians. To earn the public's confidence, analysts say Quiroga must generate jobs and placate the militant campesino and indigenous population. Although Quiroga has asked the campesinos and Indians to refrain from protests until the end of the year to give the government a chance to act, Aymara leader Felipe Quispe has threatened to relaunch road blockades if the new president fails to respond to their needs within the next month. The Confederacion Sindical Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB) gave the government a 71-point petition reiterating their demands. They center on land rights, rural development, free water use, a biodiversity and forestry-development law that would ban genetically altered crops, education, social security, human rights, and a demand that coca be recognized as a traditional native plant. The key demand by the CSUTCB is for the government to invest US$100 million in productive rural development for campesinos. Quispe said that would include buying tractors, setting up indigenous universities "run by us," developing irrigation, and installing electric plants. Quiroga has US and IMF support Quiroga's supporters within the Accion Democratica Nacionalista (ADN) have pressed for economic reforms and for closer business ties with the US. Quiroga has a very close relationship with the US Embassy, which is expected to pressure the new government to eliminate the remaining illegal coca fields by August next year. The coca-eradication effort has been very costly, both socially and economically. Quiroga will likely seek additional aid to offset some of those costs. On Aug. 9, Gerardo Peraza, the representative in Bolivia of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the international community should invest more in the nation, given its success in stamping out illegal coca. "The ideal would be for more international investment and cooperation to compensate for the coca eradication," Peraza said. "Wiping out coca and the fight against trafficking have huge costs in terms of growth." Peraza said the IMF will have to revise its estimate of 2001 growth for Bolivia, in part because of the crisis in neighboring Argentina. He now sees Bolivia growing 1.5% or less this year compared to the 4% first forecast, and he urged the government to consider new reforms. "There will have to be a revision of the targets," Peraza said. "Reaching 1.5% growth will be possible if hydrocarbon exports remain as they are." But that also means Bolivia must see 3% growth in the second half of the year to make up for zero growth in the first half, then "growth could be a bit less than 1.5 percent." The IMF has been voicing concern about delays to economic reforms in Bolivia, and it has called for "significant tax reforms" to help slash the budget deficit. Such reforms, including moves to stop tax evasion, could open the door to more aid for Bolivia. But it will be very difficult for Quiroga to push the reforms the IMF is calling for while also addressing the demands of the Indians, the dire poverty, and the rising unemployment. Quiroga names Cabinet Quiroga named his Cabinet on Aug. 8, keeping just four of the 16 ministers who served under Banzer. He maintained the balance of Banzer's political coalition, which includes his ADN, the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), and the Union Civica Solidaridad (UCS). The new Cabinet includes: * Gustavo Fernandez Saavedro - Foreign Relations and Religion. * Jose Luis Lupo Flores - Presidency. * Leopoldo Fernandez Ferreira - Government. * Oscar Guilarte Lujan - Defense. * Jacques Trigo Loubiere - Finance. * Mario Serrate Ruiz - Justice and Human Rights. * Carlos Kempff Bruno - Economic Development. * Amalia Anaya Jaldin - Education, Culture, and Sports. * Enrique Paz Argandona - Public Health and Social Welfare. * Jorge Pacheco Franco - Labor and Microbusiness. * Walter Nunez Rodriguez - Agriculture, Cattle Raising, and Rural Development. * Ramiro Cavero Uriona - Sustainable Development and Planning. * Claudio Mansilla Pena - Foreign Trade and Investment. * Javier Nogales Iturri - Housing and Basic Services. * Mauro Bertero Gutierrez - Government Information. * Wigberto Rivero Pinto - Campesino Affairs and Indigenous Peoples. [Sources: La Opinion (Los Angeles), The New York Times, 08/06/01; The Miami Herald, 08/07/01; Associated Press, 08/04/01, 08/07/01, 08/08/01; Spanish news service EFE, 08/07/01, 08/08/01; Reuters, 08/06/01, 08/09/01; The Financial Times (London), 08/09/01; Notimex, 08/06/01, 08/12-14/01] ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= pvtsa-08.16.01-19:37:48-31446