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Judge Dredd, Peru version http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2010/02/judge-dredd-peru-version.html

Any time a journalist gets a gun pulled on them during the course of their work, it's a serious situation. But in Peru the gunslinging isn't confined to the guys carrying sacks labelled "swag" on their backs. In Peru high court judges bully journalists with guns.Meet Justice Raul Rosales, who decided to threaten photographer for Peru's Caretas magazine Carlos Saavedra with a gun last week (Feb 12th at 11:36am, to be exact) and also had the following conversation with the snapper (translated):CS: Don't you realize what you're doing, pointing a gun at me?"RR: "And you should also be careful with what you're doing."

There are other reasons why Judge Raul Rosales is a polemic character in Peru at the moment, as he recently overturned a suspension order on one of his fellow judges that allowed him to go back to work, even though the whole episode that led to the suspension reeks of the normal corrupt stench that hangs around Peru's judiciary.Just so you know how the legal system is working in this model democracy.

comment-This is the reality,washingtons so called allies in south america,are precisely the very same regimes committing gross human rigths violations against the indigneous communities, journalists,trade union leaders,activists,who denounce the relationships between the neoliberal promoting regime and their  biggest supporters(the DEVELOPED NATIONS GOVERNMENTS(wich represent its corporate ,financial,and business interests..Peru is a main trade partner with US Government,in fact it receives funding thru USAID http://www.usaid.gov/pe/

wich is in fact nothing more then a CIA front organization by wich washington funnels money for counter progressive destabilization policies wether in Peru,Columbia,Panama,Cuba,Venezuela,Bolivia,Pakistan,etc...see...Bolivia: US intervention exposed http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/773/39852

Inside the CIA's Pakistan Tricks - From USAID to Xe http://primarysources.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/14/3262271-inside-the-cias-pakistan-tricks-from-usaid-to-xe

CIA / USAID Linked to Supporting Iranian Dissent http://usanewsthatmatters.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9118791428895678!920.entry

The CIA Is More Active Than Ever In Venezuela http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/CIA_Active_Venezuela.html

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Iran and Pakistan: Terrorism states or victims of terrorism? http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5594.shtml

Iran has been accused by the United States of giving weapons and support to the Iraqi insurgency. Despite these claims, no supportive evidence has ever been shown to the public, and while in the past US officials made the claim that the evidence was held in Iraq’s possession and it would be up to them to decide whether to reveal it or not, Iraqi officials have claimed on various occasions that no such evidence exists. Nouri Maliki, Iraqi’s prime minister has praised Iran for its positive and constructive stance on Iraq, including providing security and fighting terrorism.

The US and British officials have accused Iran of giving weapons and support to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The US Time Magazine described Iran as “implacably hostile to the Taliban over that movement’s extremist theology and over its killing of Afghan Shiite Muslims. In 1999, Iran almost went to war against the Taliban after its militia killed eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist after capturing a predominantly Shiite town, and has worked together with Russia to support anti-Taliban opposition forces.” The Islamic government of Iran has a hard-line policy against drugs. This has often brought the government of Iran into direct conflict with the Taliban, which controls the drug trade in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Iran now has a leading manufacturing industry in the Middle East including, car manufacturing and transportation, construction materials, home appliances, food and agricultural goods, armaments, pharmaceuticals, information technology, power and petrochemicals. Iran holds 10 percent of the worlds proven oil reserves and 15 percent of its gas. It is OPEC’s (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) second largest exporter and the world’s fourth largest oil producer. Iran ranks seventh among countries in the world with the most archeological architectural ruins and attractions from antiquity as recognized by UNESCO.

Iran is an example of a country that has made considerable advances through education and training, despite international sanctions in almost all aspects of research during the past few decades. Despite the limitations in funds, facilities, and international collaboration, Iranian scientists remain highly productive in several experimental fields such as pharmacology, pharmaceutical chemistry, organic chemistry, and polymer chemistry.On January 12, Tehran University professor and particle physics scientist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was killed in a remote control bomb explosion in the Iranian capital and at least two people were slightly wounded in the explosion. No organization has yet reliably claimed responsibility.

On May 28, 2009, an explosion at a prominent Shi’ite Muslim mosque in the southeast Iranian city of Zahedan killed 25 people and wounded 80. On June 20, 2009, a suicide bomb reportedly exploded at the shrine of former Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leaving one dead and two injured. In October 2009, 42 people died in a suicide attack in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, and dozens more were injured.On April 12, 2008, a bomb exploded inside the Shohada Hosseiniyeh mosque, leaving 13 dead and over 200 injured. The same year, a suicide bomber belonging to the Sunni militant group Jundallah killed four and wounded 12 civilians.

On June 12, 2005, bombs exploded in the cities of Ahvaz and Tehran, leaving 10 dead and 80 wounded days before the Iranian presidential election. On October 15, the same year, two bombs exploded at a shopping mall in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, leaving six dead and over 100 injured. The list goes on.Numerous civilians, including women, children, government officials, activists, intellectuals and clerics have been victims of terrorism over the course of modern Iranian history.Therefore, the questions are: Does Iran really present a threat to the world? Is Iran a victim of political or deadly terror, or both?

comment-also see..CIA funds Jundullah in Balochistan to attack Iran http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxlmHabxfXA

Press TV News] Iran Seeks Extradition of Terrorist Group Kingdom Assembly of Iran Members http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vwoBAVWIHM&videos=USubnOn3n9U

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Remembering Safiya Bukhari Interview with Laura Whitehorn http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/remembering-safiya-bukhari/

Angola 3 News: When did you first meet Safiya Bukhari?Laura Whitehorn: I met Safiya in the visiting room of the Federal Correctional Institution (for women) in Dublin, California, in 1997—but when we embraced, it felt as if I’d known her all my life. At the time, Safiya was traveling to various prisons, visiting political prisoners to talk with us about Jericho ’98, the national campaign, beginning with a march rally to the White House, that she was organizing (with Herman and Iyaluua Ferguson, political prisoner Jalil Muntaqim, and others).

I was in Dublin, along with six other women political prisoners—Puerto Rican Independentistas Lucy and Alicia Rodriguez, Carmen Valentin and Dylcia Pagan, and my codefendants Marilyn Buck and Linda Evans. Another North American comrade who had been in Dublin with us, Donna Willmott, had recently been released. Safiya’s heart was so deeply involved in the cause of supporting political prisoners—and fighting for their recognition and release—that she immediately felt like an old friend with whom I’d been on the barricades, so to speak.

comment-see...Safiya Bukhari interview 1992 - autobiography http://www.prisonactivist.org/archive/jericho_sfbay/Safiya_Bukhari/Safiya_Bukhari_interview.html

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MNN: Mohawks, Get Ready For Martial Law http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/02/mnn-mohawks-get-ready-for-martial-law.html

The Indian Act is Canada’s policy. The goal is assimilation until there are no Indigenous left. When we object to this, we are called racist.Who stands to gain from this forced removal of non-natives from Kahnawake by the band council, followed by the forced removal of us?These evictions are initiated by the government. Why is the media blaming Indigenous for creating the Indian Act and calling us racist?Certain colonial political parties are making major deals with the US. Quebec has sold our water rights to the US under NAFTA.

To ship our water south they must go through Mohawk communities. We will oppose this.Quebec-Canada-New York State-Washington DC are trying to cut off Mohawk initiatives, economic self-sufficiency and the viability of our communities. They are threatening people who do business with us.The band council and Canadian government launched a smear and disinformation campaign to turn off the public. The band council is alienated from the Great Law. They are getting the public mad at us. Then the military can come in and occupy us. The public is being conditioned to think we had it coming!

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National Indigenous Organization AIDESEP Rejects Impending Auction of New Oil Blocks in Amazonian Territory http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=2008

Perupetro, the oil and gas-licensing arm of the Peruvian government, confirmed plans yesterday to auction another 19 hydrocarbon concessions in the Amazon rainforest. With these new concessions, two-thirds of the Peruvian Amazon are now earmarked for oil and gas drilling. In the wake of the announcement, Peru's national Amazonian indigenous organization, AIDESEP, issued a statement rejecting the new bidding round while ongoing social conflicts remain unresolved: "We condemn the government of Peru for not fulfilling its obligations and failing to protect indigenous territories…

We believe these concessions will damage the Amazon rainforest irreversibly, hurting the indigenous peoples that live in it, as well as the rest of the world.""Companies considering investing in Peru should beware that the opening of the Amazon to extractive resource projects without the free prior and informed consent of indigenous communities prompted major protests last year which closed rivers, airports and roads across the Amazon and interrupted oil production,"All the new concessions overlap titled indigenous lands and over half of all indigenous territories across the Amazon now lie within an oil or gas concession.

New laws that facilitated the entry of extractive industries in the Amazon while weakening indigenous land rights caused some of the strongest protests the Amazon region has seen, disrupting pipelines, blockading river transport and closing down airports.The government responded to protests with a violent clampdown that left police officers and 10 protesters dead and over 200 injured. President Alan García has called on police to act with a "mano dura" (heavy hand) and severity in the face of future unrest. 

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Inter-American Development Bank Governors Challenged to Account for Capital Increase Request http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=2011

This week, more than 100 civil society organizations from 18 countries stepped up pressure on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), sending a letter urging its governors to explain how the Bank's failing grades in transparency, sustainability, and accountability will be repaired before approving management's request for a significant capital increase. The public letter was directed at a number of IDB governors, who are usually the finance and planning ministers from member countries and who are reviewing the 9th General Capital Increase (GCI-9) proposal in advance of the vote expected at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors slated for March 19-23 in Cancun, Mexico.

Initially touted by the IDB to be over $180 billion, heavy criticism has reportedly pushed the Bank's GCI request much lower. In the letter, civil society organizations (CSOs) continue to question the IDB's eligibility for a capital increase. Pointing to a failed consultation process around the replenishment, CSOs challenged the bank's refusal to provide civil society adequate evidence that greater public debt is merited to recapitalize the IDB. The IDB has long refused to share a current draft of its recapitalization proposal or to provide responses to recommended reform.

Civil society groups urged the Bank's governors to require concrete prior actions for implementing a set of recommendations that insist on stronger commitments to sustainability, and to results instead of just rubber stamping management's GCI request. "During the replenishment process, IDB management has consistently shown a lack of candor and seriousness about learning from the past or about incorporating valid civil society concerns," said Vince McElhinny of Bank Information Center, a Washington D.C. based non-governmental organization

"Before they vote on the replenishment, we are asking the governors to tell us where they stand on our proposals for reform and how they are representing the interests of member countries." Given that legislatures in each country would have to eventually approve their share of the capital increase commitment as public debt, the coalition of civil society groups has sounded the alarm on the Bank's glaring lack of accountability within member countries to boost leverage for crucial reforms.

Proposed reforms include a more comprehensive climate change strategy that recognizes the differential responsibilities codified by the UNFCCC; one that phases out of fossil fuel lending, and reduces deforestation and protects indigenous rights, and verifiable linkage of staff compensation to evidence-based development outcome, among others. "Despite its 'better bank' rhetoric, the IDB ranks lowest among multilateral banks, lower even than the World Bank, on issues of sustainability, poverty alleviation, and accountability," said Valeria Enriquez of Mexican NGO, FUNDAR. "The governors should account for this sad reality before they indebt their societies further to recapitalize the IDB."

comment-also see...Groups Protest Inter-American Development Bank http://ran.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=4743

Indigenous leaders, NGOs plan IDB protest over Camisea - Peru http://www.bnamericas.com/news/oilandgas/Indigenous_leaders,_NGOs_plan_IDB_protest_over_Camisea

Caña Brava dam protest: More than 300 take over IDB's Brazil office http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2132.aspx

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Honduras Ruled out in Latin American Summit http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/february/18/centam-10021802.htm

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, elected under the rupture of institutional order, was not invited to the Summit of Unity of Latin America and the Caribbean to be held in Mexico, local media reported on Wednesday."Mexico is preparing a summit with Latin America without Honduras, says a headline in The Tribune, which recalls the country was expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS) after the coup of June 28.

Ortega recalled the existence of several resolutions of the Central American Integration System, the Rio Group, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America and the OAS repudiating the rupture of the institutional order. During a special meeting held in 2009 in Managua, the Rio Group vigorously condemned the coup in Honduras and expressed support to the then constitutional president Manuel Zelaya.In his final statement, the coordination mechanism described as unacceptable the use of force to overthrow a legally constituted government.

comment-also see...ISS - Key leaders of Honduras military coup trained in U.S. http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/06/key-leaders-of-honduras-military-coup-trained-in-us.html

Washington behind the Honduras coup: Here is the evidence http://links.org.au/node/1147

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Chile’s President-Elect Starts Cashing In http://upsidedownworld.org/main/chile-archives-34/2367-chiles-president-elect-starts-cashing-in

Concerns over potential conflicts of interest will likely follow the new government well after it takes office next month. Like Piñera, the members of his recently named cabinet almost all hail from business backgrounds linking them to many of the nation’s largest corporations and economic groups.

Chile’s new foreign affairs minister, Alfredo Moreno, was a director with retail giant Falabella prior to his cabinet nomination. The soon-to-be education minister, Joaquin Lavin, is a founder and – until recently – part owner of the private Universidad del Desarrollo. And prior to his appointment as health minister, Jaime Manalich worked as a director of Clinica Las Condes – the same private hospital that just earned Piñera close to US$40 million.

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Extractive industries Again Guatemala: social activists persecuted in Huehuetenango http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/Again?lang=es

The relationship between social organizations and Guatemalan President, Alvaro Colom, is becoming more and more complicated. Environmentalist groups denounce criminalization and persecution, and murders of leaders haven`t been solved.The Coordination for the Defense of Natural Resources of Huehuetenango warned this week about the persecution suffered by their main leaders. They blame the government for violating the national constitution and the laws that protect the “natural heritage” of the peoples.

“This Administration is authorizing the presence of front men and representatives from transnational corporations who enter the communities with the only aim of increasing their profit on behalf of a project that is not at all beneficial for the peoples”, according to a statement by the organizations.Four days ago, Spanish company Hidro Santa Cruz filed a legal complaint against four local activists (Ruben Herrera, Rony Nicolas, Mauro Mendes and Saul Mendez).

The company aims to build a hydroelectric dam to the north of Huehuetenango, affecting El Paraje Poza Verde, a community located in Barillas municipality. Real World Radio talked to Francisco Mateo, general coordinator of the organization, who stated that the representatives of the company established themselves in the community without the authorization of the population. “People do not know anything about this project. The representatives of the company came with guns and acted arrogantly”, he said.

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NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION AGENTS EVICTED http://indigenist.blogspot.com/

Australian Federal Government agents not welcome at Ampilatwatja protest Walk-off camp, Arurrnga Soak, Ampilatwatja, Alyawarr Country NT.Richard Downs instructs 'GBM' Government Business Manager, Peter Van Heusen and FHCSIA (Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs) bureaucrat to leave the protest Walk-off camp during preparations for the initial opening of Protest House constructed to current stage in two days by community members and supporters.In contrast, the Australian Government claims to have completed two houses for Aboriginal communities in two years at the cost of $45 million dollars with a total budget of $675 million ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freemasons keen to open office in EU capital http://euobserver.com/9/29500

A French freemason has said that part of the movement is keen to open a bureau in Brussels to lobby against the rising influence of religious organisations in the EU institutions.

comment-apart from all the empty rethoric fact is the founders of the EU itself were freemasonic and there is evidence of  masons caugth in scandals at EU level.see...Freemasonry and mafia in EU institutional corruption: an exclusive JUST Response report from the Dougal Watt Dossier http://www.justresponse.net/DougalWatt3Sep02.html

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Kent Police Maidstone Chief Constable Mike Fuller QPM "Embroiled" Theft of US Irish National Treasures http://current.com/items/92161344_kent-police-maidstone-chief-constable-mike-fuller-qpm-embroiled-theft-of-us-irish-national-treasures.htm

It is thought that the UK National Security Agency MI5 is providing a support matrix perimeter for Gerald Carroll "in concert" with the Metropolitan Police Scotland Yard Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) elite law enforcement officers following the theft of Ministry of Defence Gerald Carroll State Papers and UK Government Security Services classified documents.

The Carroll Foundation Trust Criminal Case is Britain's longest running largest organised criminal conspiracy and corruption scandal in modern economic history. The complete case dossiers in the one billion dollars embezzlement of funds liquidation of assets on a world wide basis are held within a complete "lockdown" at the FBI Washington DC field office and the Metropolitan Police Scotland Yard within a cross-border US HM Crown National Security and Public Interests Case.

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1984 in 2010: Hijacking Democracy to Spy on Americans http://www.truthout.org/1984-2010-hijacking-democracy-spy-americans56974

Nearly a decade ago, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) stood alone as the Senate's constitutional conscience. Casting the only dissenting vote against passage of the Patriot Act in 2001, he was powerless to stop an opportunistic power grab by neoconservatives who had long sought, well before the tragedy of 9-11, to expand our government's reach into the lives of law-abiding Americans.

Today, the draconian authorities foisted on an unsuspecting public by the Patriot Act once again place the Constitution in the crosshairs of a complacent Congress, acquiescing to another administration whose political agenda lies at conspicuous odds with its leader's oath to defend the Constitution.

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VIDEO-The Silent War: Israel's Blockade of Gaza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDcZ57UaGUg

"Israels blockade of Gaza has been in place for almost three years.Building on existing closures and restrictions, the blockade means the delay or denial of a broad range of items food, industrial, educational, medical deemed 'non-essential' for a population largely unable to be self-sufficient at the end of decades of occupation.

The blockade prevents access by sea, land and air, effectively closing off a population of 1.5 million Palestinians from the outside world.This short film examines what the blockade means for the people of Gaza, as they struggle to rebuild their lives over a year after Operation Cast Lead."

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Has The American Dream Been Outsourced?http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/has-the-american-dream-been-outsourced

For decades, politicians in Washington D.C. insisted that "globalism" and "free trade" would be good for us. Well, it turns out that "globalism" and "free trade" were good for the wealthy because they could pay someone in a foreign nation 1 dollar an hour when they used to have to pay an American 20 dollars an hour to do the same job.

But "globalism" and "free trade" have turned out to be an absolute disaster for hard working middle class Americans. Tens of millions of really good jobs have been sent overseas and they are simply not going to come back. This is causing many Americans to start asking this question: Has the American Dream been outsourced?Well, yes, it has.

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Activist's case will test U.S. anti-terrorism law http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-court-terrorism18-2010feb18,0,7176938.story

Ralph Fertig hardly resembles a terrorist, but the soft-spoken 79-year-old pacifist and human rights activist from Los Angeles might well qualify as one under the government's strong anti-terrorism law.

He is the lead plaintiff in a Supreme Court case to be heard next week that will test whether speaking out on behalf of an oppressed foreign minority -- represented by a group that's been deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. -- can result in a long prison term.

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SPINWATCH-A Snapshot of Latin America Today By Susan Kaufman Purcell http://www.fpri.org/enotes/201002.purcell.snapshotlatinamerica.html

''The elected authoritarians are Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua. Others, such as Cristina Kirchner in Argentina, seem to straddle the democratic-authoritarian divide. In Ecuador, President Rafael Correa is more ambiguous in his authoritarianism than Morales or Chávez. What the authoritarians have in common, however, is their efforts to centralize both political and economic power in their own hands, to the detriment of their countries’ democratic institutions'' Susan Kaufman Purcell is Director of the Center for Hemispheric Policy at the University of Miami. This essay is an updated version of Dr. Purcell’s remarks at FPRI’s Symposium on the U.S. and Latin America, held on October 28, 2009.

COMMENT-WHO IS MS KAUFFMAN?Susan Kaufman Purcell http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Susan_Kaufman_Purcell

"Prior to joining the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society, Dr. Purcell was a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (1981-88).Former Secretary (1992), National Endowment for Democracy 

Susan Kaufman Purcell http://people.forbes.com/profile/susan-kaufman-purcell/83618

Susan Kaufman Purcell Director Valero Energy Corporation San Antonio , TX Sector: BASIC MATERIALS / Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing Dr. Purcell previously served as Vice President of the Council of the Americas, a non-profit business organization of Fortune 500 companies with investments in Latin America, and of the Americas Society, a non-profit educational institution, both in New York City. Dr. Purcell has been a director of Valero or its former parent company since 1994.

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“Truth Behind Bars”: extradition should not shield paramilitary leaders http://www.cipcol.org/?p=1371

The extraditions have effectively blocked other judicial investigations aiming to dismantle paramilitarism and punish collaborators, including the “para-politics” investigations. U.S. officials aren’t even responding to information requests coming from Colombian prosecutors and even Supreme Court justices. Those who helped the paramilitaries now have little reason to fear that the extradited leaders might reveal their identities.Colombian investigations outside the Justice and Peace process have been stymied by the extradition of Defendants. At the direction of the United States, Colombia has forwarded all requests for judicial cooperation to the justice attaché at the U.S. Embassy. However, Colombian judges and prosecutors report that U.S. officials have not been sufficiently responsive.

Transmission of information has been delayed and cancellations of exchanges are frequent. In a May 21, 2009 letter to a Colombian non-governmental organization, the Colombian Human Rights Unit identified fifty-four unanswered requests for judicial assistance. … Colombia’s Supreme Court has encountered similar difficulties. For instance, since late 2008, the Supreme Court has made multiple requests to take statements from Defendants, including AUC leaders Carlos Jiménez Naranjo, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, and Diego Murillo Bejarano. However, as of October 28, 2009, U.S. authorities had not responded.

Initiate investigations for torture committed by extradited paramilitary leaders. [P]ursuant to the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which the U.S. has ratified, the State Party in whose territory an alleged torturer is found has a duty to either extradite that individual, or to “submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution.” This duty is also supported by U.S. domestic anti-torture legislation. … The United States should hold extradited leaders accountable for all their crimes under federal law, including torture, and promote justice for Colombian victims.

comment-whats going on is quite clear.the etxraditions of these rigthwing paramilitary leaders to the united states are two fold.one reason is to keep them from testifying in colombia against the president(uribe)and his appointments(army commanders,cabinet members)for their role in ordering the massacre of thousands of innocent civilians,extra judicial killings,targeting union trade leaders,forcibly displacing communities off their lands by killing them then claiming they are guerrilas(false positives),

and secondly by hampering national investigations that threaten to bring down washington's client regime(uribe)in colombiaWahington requests extradition on charges of narco trafficking,meanwhile the crimes against humanity just mentioned go unpunished and it blankets wash puppet from prosecutions for crimes of state against humanity,for its own role in it.This way wash can continue sending aid,selling military hardware and sending military advisors,in order to maintain the status quo.

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No Cambio: Little to celebrate on Colombia's Day of the Journalist http://colombiareports.com/opinion/cantonese-arepas/8261-drastic-cambio-in-colombian-press-freedom.html

February 9 was the Day of the Journalist in Colombia. But after recent bad news, such as the closure of news-weekly Cambio, and reports of journalists being terrorized and intimidated by Colombia's security agencies, this was not a day for celebration.Newsweekly Cambio was founded 16 years ago by a Spanish publisher and soon after was bought by a group of Colombian journalists who were convinced that democracy would be viable only when accompanied by a free and independent press. Despite being plagued by economic problems, the magazine remained afloat and exposed many of Colombia's major scandals.

Even after being purchased in 2006 by publisher Casa Editorial El Tiempo (CEET) the magazine had its most successful year in 2009. Its investigative journalism exposed: the links between a Medellin prosecutor, Guillermo Valencia Cossio (brother of Colombia's interior and justice minister), and the paramilitaries; the agreement giving the U.S. army access to at least seven Colombia military bases; and the fact that the government's Agro Ingreso Seguro subsidies were being given to wealthy land owners.

There are other instances where the government's actions are even more disturbing. On February 9, two independent journalists, Hollman Morris (director of TV program Contravia) and Claudia Julieta Duque said that Colombian journalists live in a state of terror. Both have received constant threats and were prominent targets of the DAS (Colombia's security agency) illegal wiretapping division.

Moreover, The Foundation for the Liberty of the Press released yesterday a report titled "Surveillance and illegal wiretapping: Serious intimidation of Colombia's journalists." The press release revealed that there were 157 violations of press freedom with 258 victims in 2009, a 22% increase from 2008. The most grave violations were conducted by the DAS.

The DAS responds directly to the President's Office. Since the scandal was revealed by the remaining independent newsweekly Semana in early 2009, Uribe has denied any links to or knowledge of the illegal wiretapping. But recent revelations in the trial of a former head of the agency suggest otherwise.

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U.S. foreign policy in perspective: clients, enemies and empire By David Sylvan, Stephen Majeski http://tiny.cc/1dllc

What is the nature of United States foreign policy? This book refutes the claim that US foreign policy has varied considerably across time and space, and argues the long-term policy goals and underlying ideological and political factors have not significantly changed over the last hundred years. This book explains the features of US foreign policy, past and present, and draws on a wealth of historical and contemporary cases to demonstrate that the US has had a client state empire for a century.

The authors illustrate how much of American policy revolves around acquiring clients, maintaining clients and engaging in hostile policies against countries deemed to threaten U. S. clients, representing a peculiarly American form of imperialism. They also explain how this empire informs apparently disparate activities in different geographical regions and operates via a broad range of policy instruments, showing predictable volatility in the use of these instruments.

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Colombian VP voices concern over rejected extradition request http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8276-colombian-vp-voices-concern-over-rejected-extradition-request.html

Colombia's Vice President Francisco Santos has voiced concerns over the Supreme Court's decision to reject a U.S. request for the extradition of demobilized paramilitary boss Edwar "Diego Vecino" Tellez Cobos, on the grounds of its potential repercussions for U.S.-Colombian relations.Santos said that although he respects the decisions of the Court, he hopes its rulings will coincide with the best interests of the Colombian government and its agreement to co-operate with the United States.

El Tiempo reports that U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield has also responded to the Supreme Court's decision, saying "We are going to study the decision and learn from it so as to ensure that future requests are approved."The court said that its denial of the extradition request was based on concerns that extraditing paramilitary leaders prevents their versions of the truth on atrocities committed by Colombian paramilitary groups from being heard.

Ex-paramilitary leader Diego Vecino is wanted by a New York district court on drug trafficking charges.There are ongoing concerns that Colombia's Justice and Peace process - in which former paramilitaries are given reduced sentences in exchange for collaborating with justice - is too slow.A report published on Tuesday by Berkeley University was the latest in a series of criticisms that paramilitary extraditions are leading to extradited paramilitaries enjoying impunity for human rights abuses they committed while in Colombia.

comment-uribe and his closest appointments are all implicated in huge scandals,spying ,murder,ties to paramilitaries,money laundering,extra judicial killings.targeted assasinations and they are very worried by the judiciary moves to stop the extraditing of key witnesses to their crimes over to the US.washingtons main ally in South America is now fully exposed but still receiving aid and military hardware from D.C. its no secret that uribes policies always been sanctioned by us gov,but if the US GOV ratifies the free trade agreement,under all these scandals,then by law washington is every bit accountable as its client regime for crimes of the state perpetuated against colombians and region.