WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #420, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
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*12. PARAMILITARY KILLINGS SPREAD THROUGHOUT COLOMBIA
The Reconciliation and Peace Commission in the Colombian
department of Narino charged on Feb. 11 that at least 25 people
were murdered by paramilitary groups over the weekend of Feb. 8
in the town of Puerto Asis, in the neighboring department of
Putumayo. According to the private radio network Radionet, a
communique released by the commission reported that some 300
heavily armed men were going around Puerto Asis with lists in hand,
selectively murdering people suspected of collaborating with leftist
guerrillas. Commission spokesperson Alfonso Pardo said that news of
the killings came from priest Harold Lopez and several teachers, who
arrived in Pasto, capital of Narino department, after fleeing what
they described as a bloodbath in Puerto Asis.
Puerto Asis mayor Nestor Hernandez Iglesias confirmed to Radionet
that 38 people have been killed by paramilitary members since Jan.
31 in the town. Hernandez specifically blamed the murders on a
paramilitary group that calls itself Paracos, which has painted
slogans all over the walls in town warning that they will kill anyone
who helps the guerrillas. [El Diario-La Prensa 2/12/98 from AFP; El
Colombiano (Medellin) 2/12/98; Clarin 2/13/98]
Several campesinos who fled Puerto Asis told the Medellin daily El
Colombiano on Feb. 11 that the paramilitary groups operating in the
area belong to the Campesino Self-Defense Groups of Cordoba and
Uraba (ACCU), led by Carlos Castano. ACCU is primarily based in the
northern departments of Cordoba, Choco and Antioquia, but recently
has been reported committing massacres in the southern region of
Colombia [see Update #413]. "They arrived on Jan. 31 by river from
Puerto Leguizamo and entered Puerto Asis on three buses," said one
worker who asked not to be identified. "Since that Sunday they have
been patrolling the town with a list of around 200 residents. On that
list is the name of Father Harold [Lopez]," explained the worker.
Puerto Asis mayor Hernandez has traveled to Bogota to report the
situation to the Interior Minister and other authories. Hernandez
demanded that government security forces take an active role in
preventing the massacres in Puerto Asis. Asked about the role of the
army, local residents charged that the soldiers stay in their barracks
while paramilitary members cruise around Puerto Asis. "The
paramilitaries walk around in uniform through the streets of the
town, and the first night they killed six people," according to refugees
from Puerto Asis. [EC 2/12/98]
According to a report in the Buenos Aires daily Clarin, the 300
paramilitary members who arrived in late January in the
municipalities of Puerto Asis and La Hormiga were headed by a
member of the military who identified himself as Gustavo Gomez.
"We have come to clear the zone of guerrillas," announced Gomez.
Refugees from Puerto Asis told Clarin that the paramilitary members
were armed with R-15 rifles. Clarin reports that in December, the
rightwing paramilitary groups had announced via a public
communique that they would send troops to "rescue" Putumayo from
leftist rebels. Putumayo military commander Diego Gativa insisted
that the reports of the massacres "are nothing more than
disinformation from the guerrillas" to accuse the paramilitary groups
and "in passing" affect the army's image. [Clarin 2/13/98]
In a communique dated January 1998 and sent out over the Internet
by the International Commission of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia-Popular Army (FARC-EP), the FARC-EP's Southern Bloc
charged that "the Colombian Army is carrying out massacres in
Putumayo and Caqueta in the name of the paramilitary groups."
According to the communique, "On Jan. 6 of this year the ones
charged with carrying out these deeds arrived in Puerto Asis in a
Armed Forces Hercules plane and armed with AK-47 rifles, together
with the anti-guerrilla `dragon' company. Another 200 arrived in
Caqueta; they are now in Florencia under the direct protection and
leadership of [army] Brigade number 12, and they are mixed with
units of the Juanambu Battalion." The communique calls on "the
friendly countries, US society and the US government, the NGOs and
the European Parliament, to demand that the government of
[President Ernesto] Samper and his future successor in the
presidency stop state terrorism in Colombia, beginning with the
purging of the Armed Forces and punishing military personnel
implicated in crimes against humanity." [FARC-EP Communique 1/98,
posted 2/13/98 by FARC Int'l Commission
]
In the colonial port city of Cartagena de Indias on Colombia's
Caribbean coast, presumed paramilitary groups shot to death seven
people on Feb. 14, police reported on Feb. 15. The victims are
believed to have been sympathizers of leftist groups. They were
drinking at a bar near their homes in a poor neighborhood on the
outskirts of the city when a group of heavily armed assailants
approached and shot them, then fled in several vehicles. Authorities
of Cartagena de Indias are concerned because the city is known for
its peaceful atmosphere and is frequented by tourists. Police are
searching for the assailants but so far have found no leads. [Notimex
2/15/98]
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