Boletín de Prensa Internacional 12/10/11
Mapeo de donde las FARC controlan las minas colombiana
In Sight (Colombia) Mapping Where the FARC Controls Colombia's Mines
Across Colombia, unlicensed mines provide an extra source of funds for drug-trafficking organizations like the FARC. But it's unclear if the government's push to legalize the industry takes into account that not all forms of illegal mining are the same.
According to a study by Colombia's intelligence service, the DAS, and seen by El Espectador, up to 50 percent of Colombia's mines are unlicensed. Many of them are a source of funding for armed groups like the Rastrojos or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). ver>>
Ser niño en medio del conflicto
BBC Mundo (España) Colombia: ser niño en medio del conflicto
Se llama Nohora Valentina, tiene 10 años y desde hace doce días toda Colombia parece estar pendiente de su suerte.
La pequeña, quien es hija del alcalde de Fortul, en el oriental municipio de Arauca, clic fue secuestrada el 29 de septiembre cuando iba rumbo a la escuela en compañía de su madre.
Y, desde entonces, su nombre figura a diario en las oraciones y los mensajes de Twitter de un incontable número de colombianos.
Decenas de miles de personas han salido a las calles clic demandando su liberación, y al llamado se han sumado numerosas personalidades, incluyendo al papa Benedicto XVI y el presidente Juan Manuel Santos.
Al menos 2.000 efectivos del ejército y la policía colombiana buscan a Nohora por toda Aracuca, un departamento fronterizo con Venezuela en el que operan tanto las guerrillas de las FARC como el ELN y las bandas criminales de origen paramilitar dedicadas al narcotráfico. ver>>
El oro eclipsa a la cocaína a medida que los señores de la droga siguen a los multimillonarios de la minería en Colombia
Bloomberg ()Gold Eclipses Cocaine as Drug Lords Follow Billionaires in Mining Colombia
Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer, said illegal gold mining is becoming the “next major threat” to security as government efforts to crack down on drug crops prompt rebels to seek new revenue sources.
Unlike cocaine, gold can easily be sold into the economy and be used to finance terrorist groups, Mines and Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas said in an interview.
“It’s something that has been growing fast, and in some ways it’s Colombia’s next major threat from the point of view of illegal groups,” Cardenas, 49, said Oct. 10 at his office in Bogota. “We have to combat this very effectively, very fast. We cannot let this problem grow.” ver>>
Por la carga aérea
The Economist (UK) By the planeload
Hugo Chávez seems unperturbed by claims of official complicity in crime
OPPONENTS of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, are eagerly awaiting the trial of Walid Makled, a businessman extradited from Colombia five months ago. Before he was sent home to face drug-trafficking charges, Mr Makled boasted that he had 15 Venezuelan generals, the interior minister’s brother and five pro-government legislators on his million-dollar monthly payroll. Described by a United States attorney as a “king among kingpins”, Mr Makled is wanted in New York for allegedly shipping tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela. As a prisoner of Mr Chávez’s security service, Mr Makled has now fallen silent. The trial, due to begin soon, may or may not offer more revelations. ver>>
Ciudad colombiana exige protección de las BACRIM
Los Ángeles Times (EE.UU.) Colombian city demands protection from gangsters
Residents of impoverished Tumaco are tired of living in fear of the Rastrojos drug gang. Thwarted by efforts to reduce coca cultivation, the gang has turned to extortion.
The caller identified himself as a member of the Rastrojos drug gang, then threatened to kill the businessman unless he paid $250 a month in protection money.
Seeing no alternative and not trusting the police to intervene, the owner of a small lumber concern quietly paid the monthly "vaccinations," as bribes are called here, until early last month, when the gang called to demand a much steeper payoff.
That was the last straw. He joined the ranks of 10,000 residents of Tumaco who marched through the steamy streets last month to demand that the government do something about the thugs in this lawless Pacific port city who, thwarted by successful eradication efforts to reduce coca cultivation, have gone hunting for other sources of revenue. ver>>