NotiSur - 10/05/01 - Colombia & Chile/Kissinger Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Reminder: This is a private reading copy for your personal use only. Our subscription with LADB does not prermit redistribution.] ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 37 October 5, 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: FARC ACTIONS JEOPARDIZE PEACE PROCESS * Presidential candidate thwarted in march to enclave * Former culture minister kidnapped and killed * Situation in Colombia is deteriorating CHILE: VICTIMS OF STATE TERRORISM FILE LAWSUITS IN CHILE AND U.S. AGAINST HENRY KISSINGER * Lawsuit filed by family of Chilean general * Television program questions Kissinger's role * Several countries want to question Kissinger ____________________________________________________________ ********************* COLOMBIA ********************* COLOMBIA: FARC ACTIONS JEOPARDIZE PEACE PROCESS Colombian President Andres Pastrana had been expected to again extend the demilitarized zone controlled by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). However, the FARC's refusal to allow a presidential candidate to enter the rebel enclave, followed by the brutal murder of a former minister of culture, has jeopardized the entire peace process. On Sept. 5, Interior Minister Armando Estrada said that Pastrana planned to extend the demilitarized zone for at least six more months to pursue peace negotiations. "The alternative is all-out war," Estrada told Congress. The enclave has been extended several times since its creation in 1998. The last authorization was set to expire Oct. 6, but Pastrana moved the deadline back to midnight Oct. 9. Another six-month extension would put the next deadline at the height of the campaign for presidential elections scheduled for May 2002. Public sentiment has been turning against continuing the enclave because little progress toward peace has been made. Opponents in the US and in Colombia accuse the FARC of using the area to hold kidnap victims, to train recruits, and to engage in drug trafficking. Pastrana countered complaints by pointing to three accomplishments of his administration--bringing the rebels to the peace table, attracting international support for the peace effort, and strengthening the military. "Andres Pastrana was elected with one big objective, to use all legal and constitutional mechanisms to consolidate the peace process, and for the first time we are sitting at the table," Pastrana said. On September 6, representatives from the support countries--ten countries working to encourage the negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC--backed extending the neutral zone. They met for five hours with FARC leaders in Los Pozos, a village in the department of Caqueta within the rebel zone. The support countries include Canada, Cuba, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Venezuela. But, as opposing voices clamored for Pastrana to send the military back into the enclave, FARC leader Manuel "Tirofijo" Marulanda, in a letter posted on the FARC's Web site, said peace talks "will be over and not even the next president will have an open door" should Pastrana send troops into the zone. Presidential candidate thwarted in march to enclave Leading presidential hopeful Horacio Serpa of the Partido Liberal announced in mid-September that he would lead a caravan of supporters into San Vicente de Caguan, in the heart of the FARC-controlled zone. He said his purpose was to urge the FARC to sign a peace agreement and to stop abuses in the zone. Despite government misgivings regarding the march, Serpa said his purpose was "democratic and constructive." Serpa and hundreds of supporters set off Sept. 28. The FARC had said it would not guarantee Serpa's safety if he made the trip. Marulanda accused the candidate of trying to gain votes in next May's elections by appearing to take a hard line with the rebels. Late on Sept. 29, the FARC blocked the caravan from entering the demilitarized zone. Pastrana strongly condemned the FARC action and called an emergency meeting of top political leaders in San Vicente. "Today's incidents are, without doubt, serious for the peace process," he said in a communique. "This incident will undoubtedly hurt the peace process," said former government peace envoy Daniel Garcia-Pena. He said that, despite the incident, Pastrana should extend the zone, but "this will raise the political cost of doing so." Serpa agreed that Pastrana should continue the peace process with the FARC by renewing the zone. "But, I hope he uses the talks to underscore that the safe haven is meant to be a zone for peace," Serpa said. But even as the tide in support of extending the zone seemed to be swelling, the death of a former minister put the entire peace process at risk. Former culture minister kidnapped and killed On Sept. 24, former culture minister Consuelo Araujo Noguera and 20 other people were kidnapped at a roadblock near the provincial capital of Valledupar, 650 km north of Bogota. Thirteen of the victims were released the following day. Six days later, on Sept. 30, soldiers found Araujo's body in a mountain ravine. The army said the FARC killed Araujo as soldiers began closing in on the group. The FARC did not deny kidnapping Araujo, but blamed the "infinitely irresponsible" actions of the military for her death. Araujo, wife of Colombia's attorney general Edgardo Maya Villazon, was minister of culture between July 2000 and January 2001. She resigned when her husband became attorney general. Her death brought calls from many sectors for the government to end the peace talks. Presidential candidate Noemi Sanin called for an immediate suspension of the peace process. Pastrana called an emergency Cabinet meeting and canceled the meeting in the demilitarized zone with the Frente Comun por la Paz y Contra la Violencia. They met instead at the presidential palace. Pastrana condemned the killing, saying it was a "vile and cowardly act," but he did not announce any definitive policy changes, despite calls for action from Araujo's family and leading politicians. In a short message on Sept. 30, Pastrana said that "the nation is tired of the kidnapping, of the systematic attacks on the civilian population, and of the recurring violations of International Humanitarian Law." Following the meetings with the Cabinet and the Frente Comun, Pastrana said the entire peace process would be re- evaluated. He said the FARC's recent actions threatened a political solution to the conflict. Peace Commissioner Camilo Gomez Alzate told reporters that "the FARC has put the peace process in danger." He said the situation was "critical" and said the government was weighing all suggestions, including the call for suspending the negotiations. Gomez went to the FARC enclave for an urgent meeting with the FARC on Oct. 2. That same day, Congressman Otavio Sarmiento of the opposition Partido Liberal was killed in the department of Arauca. He is the third member of Congress killed this year. Paramilitary forces are suspected in Sarmiento's death. Situation in Colombia is deteriorating Araujo's death came only a few days after the Frente Comun urged a cease-fire, including a halt to rebel kidnappings. Colombia is the world leader in kidnappings, mainly committed by leftist guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups. The number has increased this year, and 165 victims have died in captivity since January. From January to September, 2,462 kidnappings were reported, 9.2% more than in the same period last year, according to the Pais Libre foundation. The organization said ransom was demanded in 1,067 of the cases, while 246 were politically motivated. The motives behind the rest of the cases were unknown. Should the peace process be scrapped, the already untenable level of violence would certainly escalate. On Aug. 31, Kofi Asomani, UN special coordinator on internal displacement, said the situation in Colombia is becoming progressively worse. Hope for peace is diminishing, while the guerrillas, paramilitaries, and the Colombian military seem to believe that weapons are the only answer, Asomani said in Geneva. The UN official had just returned from leading an inter- agency mission to Colombia to evaluate the condition of the people displaced internally by the civil war. Currently, approximately 700,000 Colombians remain in the country but were forced out of their homes as a result of the violence. Insecurity in Colombia is accompanied by impunity, said Asomani, pointing out that less than 10% of human rights crimes are ever brought to trial. "These populations--particularly those coming from rural areas--are in urgent need of protection and assistance in almost every sector," said Asomani. But the UN agencies have a combined total of only US$15 million to spend this year on relief activities in Colombia. The displaced receive very limited assistance, and that is limited to just three months. The UN mission recommends that emergency assistance should only be lifted "when the displaced have been provided with adequate means to recreate a sustainable livelihood." [Sources: Inter Press Service, 08/31/01, 09/07/01, 09/26/01; The New York Times, 09/02/01, 09/07/01; Notimex, 09/03/01, 09/13/01, 09/15/01; Associated Press, 09/05/01, 09/17/01, 09/24/01, 09/28/01, 09/30/01, 10/01/01; Reuters, 09/05/01, 09/30/01; La Opinion (Los Angeles), 09/06/01, 09/22/01, 09/25/01, 10/01/01; Spanish news service EFE, 09/06/01, 09/13/01, 09/24/01, 09/29/01; CNN, 09/30/01; The Miami Herald (10/01/01) ********************* CHILE ********************* CHILE: VICTIMS OF STATE TERRORISM FILE LAWSUITS IN CHILE AND U.S. AGAINST HENRY KISSINGER Sept. 11 has become a day of infamy in the US, following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC. For many in Chile, Sept. 11 has long been associated with violence and tragedy, since that was the date in 1973 when Gen. Augusto Pinochet led a coup that toppled the elected government of President Salvador Allende (1970-1973). As Chileans prepared to mark the anniversary this year, families of US and Chilean victims were filing lawsuits against former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger for his involvement in those events. Recently declassified US documents have increased calls for questioning Kissinger about US backing of terrorist activities while he was national security advisor and later secretary of state under President Richard Nixon (1968-1973). In his book The Trial of Henry Kissinger, US author Christopher Hitchens says that Kissinger, as head of the Forty Committee that ran US covert operations during the Nixon years, planned and personally oversaw the bombing of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in which untold numbers of civilians were killed. Hitchens says Kissinger was also key to the 1973 coup in Chile that installed the brutal Pinochet regime. Hitchens says the US cannot lecture the rest of the world that war criminals will have nowhere to hide while sheltering "a prime offender within its own frontiers." Lawsuit filed by family of Chilean general On Sept. 10, the family of former Chilean armed forces chief of staff Gen. Rene Schneider, killed during a kidnapping attempt in 1970, filed a lawsuit seeking more than US$3 million in damages from Kissinger and other officials of the Nixon administration (see NotiSur, 2000-09-29). The Washington Post quoted attorneys for the family as saying the suit, filed in Federal Court in Washington, DC, was based on recently declassified CIA documents and sought damages from Kissinger, former CIA director Richard Helms, and the US government for Schneider's "summary execution," assault, and civil rights violations. The suit alleges that Schneider was targeted because he stood in the way of a US- backed military coup to prevent Allende from taking office following his 1970 election. Gen. Schneider's son, also named Rene, said documents released during the past two years "made me realize that my father's death is perhaps the one crime perpetrated outside the US that most clearly links back to the US government, the CIA, and Kissinger in particular." On Sept. 11, US and Chilean human rights lawyers also filed a suit against Kissinger in Chile for his role in creating Operation Condor, a coordinated effort among Southern Cone military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s to eliminate political opponents (see NotiSur, 2001-06-01). Television program questions Kissinger's role On Sept. 10, the CBS television program 60 Minutes cited recently declassified material to show that the US and Kissinger were deeply involved in the 1970 plot to prevent Allende from becoming Chile's president. The program interviewed researcher Peter Kornbluh of the private National Security Archives who said that the CIA sent a cable to its agents in Chile instructing them to continue fomenting a military takeover. The cable came following a conversation with Kissinger, who was then Nixon's national security adviser. Kornbluh said the order came a day after Kissinger has said he cut off any attempt to undermine Chile's democratic government. The plot did not prevent Allende, who had won a September 1970 presidential election, from taking office the next month. But the right-wing plotters killed Gen. Schneider, an opponent of the Chilean military's involvement in politics. Schneider's son said on 60 Minutes that his father insisted that the military must never assume political power, and he said that, if it did, it would mean the end of democracy. The CBS program also indicated that after Schneider's assassination, CIA headquarters sent a cable to agents in Chile congratulating them for their excellent work. Kissinger declined to appear on the 60 Minutes program, CBS said. However, the program included his testimony during a 1975 Senate investigation saying he ordered all contacts with the coup plotters cut off on Oct. 15, 1970. Kornbluh said, "The very next day, the CIA sent a cable to the station in the Chilean capital of Santiago, based on its conversation with Kissinger, which is referred to in the very first line. This cable was absolutely explicit: 'It is the continuing policy of the US government to foment a coup in Chile.'" Edward Korry, then US ambassador to Chile, said he warned Kissinger that a coup would fail and hurt Nixon. He said he had already ordered all contacts cut off with the coup plotters in the Chilean military. But the CBS program cited minutes of an Oct. 7 meeting of the covert-action committee in which Kissinger allegedly said that Korry's orders "should be rescinded forthwith." Several countries want to question Kissinger Judges in three countries want to question Kissinger for his role in Latin American atrocities in the 1970s. In late May, French Judge Roger Le Loire tried unsuccessfully to question Kissinger regarding the death of five French citizens in Chile during the coup. Kissinger quickly left the country rather than respond to the summons. In Argentina, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral wants to question Kissinger regarding CIA involvement in Latin America. In August, Judge Canicoba Corral sent 55 questions to Kissinger regarding Operation Condor. Chilean Judge Juan Guzman wants to question Kissinger about the death of journalist Charles Horman, a US citizen who was executed by Pinochet's military in the days following the coup. Horman was detained on Sept. 17, 1973, by security agents and later taken to the Estadio Nacional, where he was executed. Guzman also wants to question Kissinger about the CIA's role in the 1973 coup. On July 31, the Corte Suprema de Chile approved Guzman's request to question Kissinger and forwarded the questions to the Foreign Ministry to give to US State Department authorities. The judge also asked for responses to questions from other US diplomats in Chile at the time of the coup, including then US ambassador Nathaniel Davis. Guzman is responding to a suit filed by Joyce Horman, widow of the slain journalist. She has filed the lawsuit in Chile against Pinochet and several other army officers in connection with the killing, naming Kissinger as a witness. Her lawyers contend that Horman was killed because he had uncovered evidence of CIA involvement in the coup. They say the US Embassy knew Horman was being held at the stadium but did nothing to help him. In the late 1970s, she had filed a civil suit in the US against Kissinger, which was dismissed for lack of evidence. The more recently declassified papers could allow the case to be reopened. State Department reports declassified last year show that US intelligence officials may have tacitly helped in Horman's abduction. "Based on what we have, we are persuaded that the government of Chile sought Horman and felt threatened enough to order his immediate execution," said a State Department memo dated Aug. 25, 1976. "US intelligence may have played an unfortunate part in Horman's death." "What could be a state secret about this unless they were heavily involved?" said Joyce Horman. "For 20 years, they kept that opinion from us, that they thought it should be investigated. That drives me wild." Joyce Horman's lawsuit could complicate the otherwise smooth relations between the US and Chilean governments as they negotiate a bilateral free-trade pact and a US$700 million arms deal. Meanwhile, on Sept. 29, Paraguayan human rights lawyer Martin Almada said in Santiago that Kissinger should accept his responsibility for the terror unleashed in Latin America during the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. "We Latin Americans--Chileans, Paraguayans--want to know the truth, for that reason Kissinger ought to come testify in Chilean courts as he has been asked to do," said Almada, who in 1992 uncovered documents in Paraguay confirming the existence of Operation Condor (see NotiSur, 1998-10-30). Almada, a political prisoner during the dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, found the "horror files" during investigations into human rights abuses in Paraguay (see NotiSur, 1993-02-16, 1993-09-03). [Sources: Inter Press Service, 06/22/01; CNN, 08/10/01; Associated Press, 07/18/01, 09/10/01; La Opinion (Los Angeles), 06/21/01, 09/11/01; Spanish news service EFE, 06/03/01, 06/23/01, 07/16/01, 07/30/01, 08/09/01, 09/01/01, 09/09/01, 09/14/01; Notimex, 07/05/01, 09/10/01, 09/12/01, 09/29/01; Reuters, 06/28/01, 07/30/01, 09/11/01, 10/02/01] ================================================================= 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-10.05.01-06:45:50-9773