Boletín de Prensa Internacional 02/08/11
Pacificadores anóminos: La Misión de Apoyo al Proceso de Paz de la OEA
Americas Magazine (OEA- EE.UU) Anonymous Peacemakers: The OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia
The first thing I should say is that this article will not be an analysis of the OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia. Rather, it will be the testimony of someone who participated in that mission as part of a significant team of professionals from the Americas and from Europe. It is also an effort to value the importance of the people who are directly affected by the violence.
We have known for a long time that we need to listen to the voices of the people who have been injured by the brutal actions of illegal armed groups in Colombia, because they are the ones who can give us a better understanding of what is happening. These men and women, generally from communities located far from state institutions, are the primary protagonists who must be taken into account. Their wellbeing should also be the main concern whenever actions are taken to decrease the effects of violence and to recover territories and communities in order to build peace. It is rare, however, that their voices are reflected in programs and actions or in the images transmitted by the media. ver>>
Closer and closer to the top
The Economist (UK) Closer and closer to the top
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, Colombia’s president, was one of the star members in the cabinet of his predecessor, Álvaro Uribe. As defence minister from 2006 to 2009, he oversaw many of the most successful attacks in the government’s 45-year-old war against the country’s leftist guerrillas. That record helped catapult Mr Santos to the presidency a year ago.
Several of his colleagues from Mr Uribe’s cabinet, however, have fared rather worse. Within a few days in late July, both Andrés Felipe Arias, the former agriculture minister, and Bernardo Moreno, Mr Uribe’s chief of staff, were jailed while they await trial in separate scandals. Meanwhile, a case against Sabas Pretelt, the former interior minister, involving yet another scandal was sent back to the prosecution because of procedural errors. Numerous officials from Mr Uribe’s government had already been charged with crimes including collaborating with paramilitary warlords, bribing legislators, spying on opponents and corruption. But none of them were as high-ranking or close to the president as Mr Arias and Mr Moreno were. ver>>
Las redes criminales de Colombia se consolidan alrededor de dos fuerzas
The Christian Science Monitor (EE.UU.) Colombia's criminal networks consolidate around two forces
Two major criminal networks have been extending their reach throughout Colombia. In Mexico. pressure from security forces has had the opposite effect, causing the criminal underworld to fragment.
As Mexico's criminal underworld fragments under pressure from the security forces, that of Colombia appears to be consolidating around two opposing criminal networks.
New criminal syndicates are continually forming in Mexico, as the bigger cartels are decapitated and middle ranking leaders step up to form their own organizations. In Colombia, however, the reverse seems to be the case, as the number of major league criminal gangs shrinks. However, the two names that are left standing in Colombia represent not integrated structures, but loose networks. ver>>