WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
            ISSUE #409, NOVEMBER 30, 1997

NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., 
NEW YORK, NY 10012 
(212) 674-9499ISSN#: 1084-922X.

*14. COLOMBIA: FACELESS JUDGE CONVICTS "CONVIVIR" LEADER

In late October a regional judge in Colombia's Antioquia
department handed down a seven-year prison sentence against Jose
Alirio Arcila Vasquez, manager of a "Convivir" paramilitary
association in southern Antioquia, for his responsibility in the
crime of forming illegally armed groups. In the same decision,
the judge, whose identity was kept a secret, acquitted Arcila of
more serious charges relating to three murders committed between
April and May 1996 in Ciudad Bolivar, attributed to the local
Convivir group, "Los Sables." After Arcila turned himself in on
Sept. 13, 1996, he admitted that he had carried out intelligence
work with individuals who later turned up dead.

This was the first sentence in which a Convivir group has been
implicated since the formation of the associations was approved
in 1994, although there are other investigations under way. Other
members of the Los Sables Convivir are being tried for their
alleged participation in the murders of Ernesto Vargas Castro,
John Jairo Henao and Javier Velez Restrepo. Awaiting sentencing
in the same case is retired army captain Ciro Alfonso Vargas
Lancheros, convicted of the three murders and of forming
illegally armed groups. The Convivir associations are authorized
by the government to act as civilian intelligence and information
support groups for the armed forces. They have been brought into
question by human rights groups for apparent human rights abuses.

The Colombia office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner
for Human Rights has asked the Constitutional Court to bar the
Convivir associations from operating because they run the risk of
becoming a contributing factor to the violence and because they
do not recognize the civilian population's right to neutrality.
[El Colombiano (Medellin) 10/29/97]

On Nov. 19, the Convivir associations in Uraba began a series of
public rallies in the towns of Currulao, Carepa and Chigorodo to
reiterate their intention to fight leftist rebels and to
criticize efforts by nongovernmental organizations like the
International Committee of the Red Cross (CICR) and indigenous
leaders to mediate between armed groups. [El Colombiano 11/19/97]

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is demanding answers to questions
about the death of Antonio Bedoya, parish priest of San Francisco
in Antoquia department. Bedoya was shot to death on Oct. 25, a
day before regional elections were held, as rebels unsuccessfully
tried to kill Antioquia governor Alvaro Uribe Velez [see Update
#404]. Uribe insists that "the Carlos Alirio Buitrago front of
the ELN [National Liberation Army] killed the priest, we have not
got the slightest doubt of that." However, eyewitnesses said they
don't believe Uribe's version because the rebels were far from
the main plaza where Bedoya was shot. "All we know is that the
plaza was full of soldiers, who were shooting in all directions.
The guerrillas didn't even come close to that place," said one
eyewitness. Rebel commanders Oscar and Raul of the ELN's Buitrago
front said that because of the location of their troops during
the attack it wasn't possible that they could have shot the
priest, but they said they would carry out an investigation among
their ranks to clarify the incident. [El Colombiano 11/22/97]

*6. ECUADORANS PROTEST PINOCHET, CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS MEET

Chilean armed forces chief and former dictator Gen. Augusto
Pinochet arrived in the Ecuadoran coastal city of Salinas on Nov.
27 for the 21st Conference of American Armies (CEA), a four day
meeting of military leaders from the Americas. The night before
Pinochet arrived, nine prominent Ecuadoran lawyers and nine well-
known artists, writers, painters and human rights activists
presented charges against the general before the Supreme Court in
Quito, calling for Pincohet's arrest for the 1973 torture and
murder of Ecuadoran citizens Felipe Campos, Freddy Torres and
Socrates Ponce and the forced disappearance of Jose Garcia.
Signatories on the legal petition included former vice president
Leon Roldos and painter Oswaldo Guayasamin. [La Republica
11/28/97 from AFP]

Some 70 young conscientious objectors and peace activists met in
Quito, Ecuador from Nov. 24 to 29 at the Fourth Latin American
Conscientious Objector Meeting (ELOC). The participants came from
Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica,
Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina,
Brazil and Ecuador. Topics discussed included not only
conscientious objection but youth-led peace education projects
and community anti-violence organizing under way in such
countries as Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras. The organization
hosting this year's meeting was Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ)-
Ecuador. [El Comercio 11/30/97]

=================================

The Weekly News Update on the Americas is
published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater
New York. A one-year subscription (52 issues) is $25. To
subscribe, send a check or money order for US $25 payable to
Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY
10012. Please specify if you want the electronic or print
version: they are identical in content, but the electronic
version is delivered directly to your email address; the print
version is sent via first class mail. For more information about
electronic subscriptions, contact wnu@igc.apc.org. Back issues
and source materials are available on request. 

If you are accessing this Update for free on electronic
newsgroups, we would appreciate any financial support you can
contribute. We are a small, all-volunteer organization funded
solely through subscriptions and contributions. Please also help
spread the word about the Update. If you know someone who might
be interested in subscribing, send their email (or regular mail)
address to  and request a free one-month trial
subscription to the Weekly News Update on the Americas.

Feel free to reproduce these updates, or reprint or re-post any
information from them, but please credit us as "Weekly News
Update on the Americas," and include our full contact information
so that people will know how to find us. Send us a copy of any
publication where we are cited or reprinted. We also welcome your
comments and ideas: send them to us at the street address above
or via e-mail to 

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITES: 
http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/wnuhome.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/nsnhome.html
 
=======================================