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Colombian cities should stop taking care of the displaced'  http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/interviews/8090-colombian-cities-should-stop-taking-care-of-the-displaced.html

As long as the Colombian government doesn’t properly address the causes behind the country’s huge internal displacement problem, big cities like Bogota and Medellin should refuse to take care of the victims, says former mayor of the peace community of Apartado and candidate for the Colombian Senate, Gloria Cuartas.

According to the leftist senate hopeful, Colombia is not ready for a Justice and Peace law, because there is sufficient evidence that paramilitary structures have been left intact. “Furthermore, the government should recognize there is a conflict, not just soldiers fighting terrorists. Before people start accusing me of siding with the guerrilla, I do believe we have to finish with the FARC,” says Cuartas, who has been linked to the guerrilla more than once by political opponents in the past. “But not by bombarding them. Instead, they should wither in a political negotiation out of the Colombian conflict.”

The prospects of re-opening negotiations with the guerrilla are limited under present conditions, admits Cuartas. “After all, the failure of the peace process was a carefully thought out decision. Of course the FARC is to blame as well, but this war completely fits the U.S.-backed strategy to re-found the country on a neo-liberal basis. While the general public may be unaware of it, Colombia is experiencing an enormous economical rearrangement based on concentration of land and natural resources in the name of development.”

In this "systematic effort," as the politician and social worker calls it, the government wouldn’t care too much about defeating the FARC or not. “There is a big inequality between the fighting actors anyway, with the relatively low tech guerrilla on one side and the Colombian army supported by US and Israeli technology on the other.” What really matters is what happens when the guerrilla has left a certain region, Cuartas says. “With people displaced because of crop fumigation and turmoil, multinational mining companies move in to exploit coal, gold and emeralds, or agro-industrial corporations take over the land to plant oil palm, like in Uraba.”

Cuartas says she witnessed this strategy first-hand as mayor of Apartado in the north of Antioquia, the department which Alvaro Uribe governed until he became president in 2002. “As governor, Uribe already learned how successful the rifle could be in spreading his neo-liberal economic model. He offered Colombians hope by eliminating, but not solving the conflict. In Apartado alone, it resulted in 1,200 deaths at the hands of the army and paramilitaries. And yes, I do blame Uribe for those atrocities, he is an asesino, a murderer!”

The reason for the attacks on Apartado’s credibility are very clear to Cuartas. “The community is hindering development of one of the region’s biggest finding places of coal, and we’re not moving away.” Furthermore, she argues, the idea of a peace community without any ties to the guerrilla is considered by the government as a direct threat to its legitimacy. “Which again is a completely logical response of a government seeking to eradicate any leftist opposition, eliminating labor leaders and silencing social movements.”

The international community should be more critical towards Mr. Uribe’s policies, but instead it is his willing accomplice, maintains Cuartas. By granting dissidents asylum, for instance. “Asylum is a gift to authoritarian governments, neutralizing critical voices while strengthening their capacity to negotiate economic treaties. It’s like saying: ‘You will let us invest in Colombia, to explore for coal, oil and minerals, and we will nurture the men and women who might be a danger because they think differently’.”

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Arias' election campaign funded by AIS beneficiaries: Semana http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8092-arias-election-campaign-funded-by-ais-beneficiaries-semana.html

Former Agricultural Minister and pre-election candidate Andres Felipe Arias is receiving election campaign funding from businesses that benefited from agricultural subsidies under the AIS scheme, Semana reported Saturday.http://www.semana.com/noticias-opinion/mal-camino/134609.aspx

Semana investigative journalist Daniel Coronell revealed evidence that Arias is receiving campaign funding that he is not declaring, which is illegal under Colombian law.According to Coronell, Arias is "receiving donations through a foundation, created for the purpose [of hiding the source of funds]". The source of the funds contributed to the foundation is unclear.

Coronell also alleges that Arias is receiving personal checks from businesses funded by AIS subsidies.The journalist cites as evidence personal checks made out to Arias by Claudia Martínez Valecilla, director of the the Mayagüez Group, which allegedly received 3 billion pesos from the AIS scheme while Arias was minister.

Arias is currently under investigation for corruption in the granting of agriculture subsidies under the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) program.http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/7849-prosecutor-general-opens-criminal-investigation-against-arias.html

Former Minister Arias as well as the current Agricultural Minister Andres Fernandez allegedly granted government agricultural funds to certain companies and affluent Colombian families,http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/6397-uribe-demands-full-report-on-subsidy-scandal.html

while the money was intended for poor farmers. This new evidence supports remarks made to Colombia Reports by 'uribista' senator, Armando Benedetti last October.http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/interviews/6428-uribe-is-surrounded-by-fools-benedetti.html

comment-also see...media shut down for exposing this scandal...see...Reforms at leading news magazine believed to be political http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8076-reforms-at-leading-news-magazine-believed-to-be-political.html

El Espectador: The closing of the magazine was a sudden decision that you were told about on the spot or were you informed before? Rodrigo Pardo: Over the past year I learned that the board was evaluating the so-called business model and that there were concerns about it. On the other hand, rumors came to me about the discomfort caused by the reporting and analysis we did. Cambio in 2009 revealed, among other thing, the links between Guillermo Valencia Cossio with the mafia, the deal between Colombia and the U.S. about the military bases and the agricultural subsidies scandal

A Scandal Brews as Colombia Subsidizes Millionaire Farmers https://nacla.org/node/6308

COLOMBIA: Farm Subsidy Scandal Exposes Corrupt Policies http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49854

see below moodys rating on colombia today and some backround on moodys exposing whos behind that corporate rating agency!!!

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New US Ambassador in Brazil tells Chavez that dialogue is best strategy http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/82-february-2010/11824-new-us-ambassador-in-brazil-tells-chavez-dialogue-is-the-best-strategy.html

Thomas Shannon, the new United States ambassador to Brazil, presented his credentials to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Thursday morning and later in the afternoon spoke to the media

As for Venezuela, without any direct criticism, he pointed out that the country was going through a difficult time and that the best way to deal with the situation was by dialogue. "Rather than repression, make room for the voice of the people to be heard," he said. The Caracas government has already responded to that calling it "gross interference" in their domestic affairs.

With regard to Honduras, Shannon explained that it was the hope in Washington that Brazil would participate in the effort to reintegrate that country into the Organization of American States and normalize relations. "We see acceptance of the Porfirio Lobo administration as a way out of the crisis..." the US diplomat said.

comment-some backround on thomas shannon...Thomas A. Shannon http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas_A._Shannon  Thomas A. Shannon, "a career Foreign Service Officer, is assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. He was special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council where he had been director for Inter-American affairs.

Director, Inter-American Foundation http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Inter-American_Foundation

The IAF "enjoys a fat income, officially supplied by the Cuban-American lobby created 15 years ago by Ronald Reagan, president at the time," Gabriel Molina wrote May 22, 2001, for Digital Granma Internacional (Cuba).http://www.granma.cu/INGLES/mayo4/21helmes-i.html

Also, on August 6, 2004, Public Citizen noted that two IAF officers were large contributors to Bush's re-election campaign who had been placed on the Board in recess appointments, thus avoiding Senate oversight (as stated).http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1763

Advisory Council

Rita DiMartino - Vice President, Congressional Relations, AT&T , Washington, D.C. John C. Duncan - Director, South American Gold & Copper Ltd, New York, New York Charles Gargano - Chairman, Empire State Development Corporation, New York, New York James R. Jones - Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, Washington, D.C.

also see...Honduran Coup: The U.S. Connection http://www.fpif.org/articles/honduran_coup_the_us_connection

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COPEI and opposition leaders in trouble as loners pitch their candidacies regardless http://www.pr-inside.com/venezuelan-opposition-leaders-in-trouble-r1710571.htm

Yesterday, President Chavez called on the opposition to organize a recall referendum against him. Since January, Chavez has not lost a public occasion to ram home the recall challenge.

The opposition is definitely nervous and some individuals have already jumped   the gun by announcing their candidacies and ignoring the unity round table meetings that mainstream opposition political parties and movements have been promoting in an attempt to set up timetables and methods for choosing unitary candidates.

The students have also for the most part ignored the political parties by staging their own marches, rallies and protests with or without leaders, such as Antonio Ledezma. Former student leader and winner of a Cato Institute award, Yon Goicoechea has launched his own candidacy to the National Assembly, announcing his campaign command and foraying into Altos de Miranda for publicity shots.

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President Chavez confirms 184 nascent communes implementing 709 social projects http://www.pr-inside.com/venezuela-s-president-chavez-confirms-r1710576.htm

 During his Sunday radio address from Caracas Plaza Bolivar, President Chavez announced that there are currently 184 communes in the formative stage and they have received more than (Bs.F) 100 million bolivares and are implementing 709 socio-productive projects. Each commune, Chavez said, has a "social battle" room where the projects are discussed and analyzed.The concept of the commune is a fundamental part of the 21st century Socialism Chavez wants to inspire and see taking shape. The communal councils are seen as the nucleus of the new participatory and organized people (pueblo)  

and the union of community councils will constitute the commune as a territorial power once the Federal Council of Government bill is re-debated and approved by the National Assembly.However, the President was at pains to challenge his supporters that Socialism can only be built from the bottom upwards and that while the government does its bit in facilitating the process, it is the people's task to carry the projects through and make them work.

One such project is the Paraiso del Tuy commune in Miranda State. Commune & Social Participation Ministry state director, Ricardo Sanchez told Chavez during a TV link-up that the budding commune consists of more than 30 communal councils running 62 productive "patios."In other words, he continued, the councils have organized home and communal gardens to grow vegetables and medicinal plants and learn self-sufficiency.

comment-also see...Naomi Campbell visits Comuna Villa del Sol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmO5D3uaYr4

Venezuelan Communal Councils http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_Communal_Councils

Planning in Venezuela's Communal Councils http://www.planetizen.com/node/30471

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"We Better Be Ready" 2010 resistance anticipates a rough ride http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2915

The cost of security for the 2010 Games will be around $1 billion, and may be more, when the final tally comes due. A billion dollars could feed, clothe and house 20,000 homeless people for a year, or provide clean drinking water to dozens of remote communities. Instead, the government is funding 16,000 police, soldiers, and security personnel. The Games will include helicopters overhead, military vessels offshore, large-scale road closures, miles of security fences, and almost 1,000 closed-circuit television cameras. Two key figures in the RCMP's Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit have extensive experience in using force to quell dissent.  Readers may remember RCMP Sgt. Maj. Hugh Stewart, nicknamed "Sergeant Pepper" after the 1997 Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) at the University of British Columbia. Stewart won fame for unleashing streams of pepper spray on a crowd of students holding a sit-in outside the Leader's Summit. Stewart is also the master architect of the secret security plans for 2010. Assisting Stewart in pepper-spraying students at APEC was Sgt. Gary R. "Bud" Mercer. The RCMP has named him chief of the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit. 

Mercer, now an assistant RCMP commissioner, has shown up at crucial moments in other high-profile political confrontations. In 1995, he tracked two people who fled a pickup truck disabled by RCMP explosives outside Gustafsen Lake, where First Nations activists were occupying a Sun Dance ceremony site. That confrontation became the largest paramilitary operation in BC history. After a heavy one-sided firefight and a month-long standoff, the Ts'peten Defenders surrendered and 15 people went to jail.

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Surprising number of passengers on Flight AA77 that allegedly hit the Pentagon had military connections http://www.voltairenet.org/article163908.html

The Voltaire Network article dealing with the cockpit door of Flight 77 [1] - which revealed disturbing details, little if at all examined by the official investigations, but which call for a closer look even by non-official investigations - had already drawn our attention to a certain number of the anomalies linked to that terrible day. The baffling profile of Charles F. Burlingame is but one anomaly. On board Flight 77 there was a high density of passengers who worked at classified positions in the Defense sector: between 16 and 21 persons out of a total of 58 passengers.

The were aerospace engineers. One of them, Mr. Yamnicky, was a longtime CIA operative that worked for the Veridian Corp. as an aeropace engineer. Another passenger on the list, Mr. Caswell, led a team of about one hundred scientists for the US Navy. Others worked for Boeing and Raytheon in El Segundo, California, on a project dubbed "Black Hawk".

We present here some information regarding these noteworthy Flight 77 passengers, who belong to the lists which were obtained by scanning the obituary columns on the Web or in the newspaper articles published in the days following the attacks.As we have just seen, the main actors involved in these programmes as well as other aerospace experts were officially declared dead on September 11, 2001.

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Western Shoshone ask court to enforce ruling to halt gold mining on Mount Tenabo http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/02/western-shoshone-ask-court-to-enforce.html

Western Shoshone and their allies have asked a federal court to enforce a ruling that would protect sacred Mount Tenabo from the destruction of Barrick Gold's open pit gold mine, which would core out the sacred mountain where ceremonies are conducted.

A motion was filed Friday, February 5, in U.S. District Court in Reno for enforcement of an injunctive order recently issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It is part of the 14-month long lawsuit brought against the BLM and Barrick Gold of Canada to stop expanded gold mining on Mount Tenabo.

Discussing the Indian Nations' Motion, John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch stated, “Barrick’s hollow offer in their motion was too vague and incomplete to assure that the irreparable harm to the Tribes and the environment will not occur while the deficiencies in the EIS are addressed. The law is very clear that the purpose of an EIS is to develop a full picture of all the impacts enabling a balanced evaluation of the mine and whether impact mitigation plans are adequate. The Ninth Circuit clearly found that BLM violated these fundamental legal requirements.”

comment-barrick gold is also aproblem down in south america ...see this...Barrick Gold Strikes Opposition in South America http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12447

“Barrick! Listen! Chile will not surrender!, No to Pascua Lama!,” roared a crowd of protestors as they paraded through the streets of Santiago, Chile. The crowd was addressing Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold, in response to the company's proposed bi-national “Pascua Lama” open-pit mine on the border of Chile and Argentina.