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Humanitarian Caravan Advances In Colombia

August 2, 2024 People's Dispatch. , , ,
The Caravan for Life, Peace and Permanence in the Territory is an act of solidarity with the people living in the regions most affected by violence in Colombia. It is made up of multiple national and international social organizations that, from July 23 to August 23, will travel through five regions of the South American country (Antioquia, Sur de Bolívar, Arauca, Chocó, Cauca and Valle del Cauca), in order to record denunciations associated with the violation of Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, as well as the alternatives that the population is building to live in dignity. Currently, caravan members are in the south of Bolivar, a region that for three years has been experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to the presence of paramilitarism.

Colombian Paramilitaries Alert Opposition Plot To Assassinate Maduro

July 10, 2024 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
On July 5, the Colombian paramilitary group Conquering Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada), ACSN, published a video on social media in which they denounce an apparent plot to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and provoke chaos in the country. According to the ACSN paramilitaries, formerly known as “Los Pachencas”, certain Venezuelan extreme right-wing groups contacted them in the locality of La Guajira and asked them to carry out a series of actions to destabilize the Venezuelan government. Several days ago, Maduro denounced that an invasion of about 1,000 paramilitaries from Colombia was being planned to generate anxiety in the population a few days before the July 28 presidential election.

Corporate Social Responsibility Leader Convicted Of Funding Death Squads

July 2, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , , , ,
In a landmark legal case, Chiquita Banana was convicted by a federal court in Florida of funding a paramilitary death squad, the United Self Defense Force of Colombia (AUC in Spanish), in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The AUC murdered thousands of workers and used Chiquita ports and boats to move cocaine and weapons. This is the first time a US corporation has been held accountable for committing human rights abuses in another country. Clearing the FOG spoke with Professor Terry Karl, who was an expert in the case, about what happened, how Chiquita will now work to cover up its misdeeds and the impact this case will have.

Colombian Social Movements Reject US-Colombia Military Exercises In Pacific

July 2, 2024 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. , , , , , ,
The Colombian political and social movement the People’s Congress (Congreso de los Pueblos), which brings together dozens of social organizations across sectors and regions of the country, categorically rejected the joint US-Colombia military drills as part of the US Southern Command’s “Southern Seas 2024” operation. Joint exercises between the US Marines and the Colombian Navy took place from June 29-30, 2024, off the coast of the Cauca Valley in Colombia. There were five coordinated exercises and practices between the two armed forces in the Pacific Ocean. Notably, the US aircraft carrier USS George Washington (one of the largest in the world) was present, which can carry 75 military aircraft and 5,000 people on board, and fire nuclear weapons.

The Intersection Of Vulnerability And Power: The Case Of Francia Márquez

June 21, 2024 Janvieve Williams Comrie and Mauri Balanta Jaramillo, Black Agenda Report. , , ,
On June 16, during Father’s Day celebrations, Sigifredo Márquez, father of Colombia's Vice President Francia Márquez Mina, was attacked, also affecting a 6-year-old minor. This incident underscores the precarious position and constant threats that endanger the lives of Black leaders and communities in Latin America, where systemic oppression persists despite advances toward equality. Francia Márquez's political ascent has represented hope for social justice in ethnic communities, peasantry, and popular sectors. However, it has also been an affront to political and economic elites, serving as a catalyst for intensified violence not only against her but also against her community in Northern Cauca and other Afro-descendant communities in the country and region.

Ukraine Summit Failed: Global South Rejected Pro-War ‘Peace Conference’

June 19, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , ,
The Western powers held a conference in Switzerland in June in an attempt to gain more international support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. The vast majority of the world population, in the Global South, rebuked this so-called “Summit on Peace in Ukraine”, to which Russia was not invited. Only 78 countries, mostly in Europe, endorsed the meeting’s final declaration. Together, these nations represented a small minority of the global population. At least 160 countries were invited to the conference from June 15 to 16 in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. Just around 90 ended up attending, and most sent low-level officials.

Chiquita Ordered To Pay $38 Million For Funding Colombian Death Squads

June 13, 2024 Robert Inlakesh, MintPress News. , , , ,
In a historic first, Chiquita Brands International has been ordered to pay the families of murdered Colombians after a court found the U.S.-based banana giant had privately financed death squads. After a lengthy legal battle spanning 17 years, a Florida court ordered Chiquita to pay $38 million to the families of death squad victims. This landmark case is the first in which an American corporation has been found liable for human rights abuses committed overseas, encouraging more victims to seek legal restitution. In 2007, Chiquita pled guilty to “one count of engaging in transactions with a specially-designated global terrorist” group, the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

US Jury Finds Chiquita Guilty Of Financing Paramilitary Death Squads

June 11, 2024 The Canary. , , , , , ,
In a historic first, an American jury has held a major US corporation liable for complicity in serious human rights abuses abroad. Specifically, the case has held banana giant Chiquita Brands International accountable for financing a brutal paramilitary death squad in Colombia. Chiquita In Colombia Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita financed the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) to the tune of US $1.7m. The AUC was a coalition of right-wing death squads. The group of over 30,000 soldiers operated throughout two-thirds of the country, and manufactured war to prop up a series of illegal business activities. Primarily, the AUC ran what was then the largest drug trafficking cartel in the world. It also engaged in arms sales, human trafficking, and money laundering.

Colombia Halts Coal Sales To Israel Until Genocide In Gaza Ends

June 9, 2024 Ana Perdigón, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , , ,
The Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism published a decree according to which the country will stop selling coal to Israel in an attempt to pressure Tel Aviv to stop its genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “This decree will enter into force after five calendar days… and will remain valid until the orders of provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in the process of applying the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip are fully complied with,” states the decree published on Friday, June 7.

Colombian Government And National Liberation Army Sign First Point Of The Peace Agreement Agenda

May 26, 2024 Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
The government of Colombia and the armed guerrilla movement National Liberation Army (ELN) signed the first point of the peace agreement agenda, as announced in a joint press conference at the end of the peace talks held in Caracas, Venezuela. “Signing of the first point of the peace agreements: the participation of society in the construction of peace,” the Colombian government representation announced after the latest round of the peace talks with the ELN ended on Saturday, May 25, as scheduled. The delegations of the Colombian government and the ELN, headed respectively by Vera Grabe and Pablo Beltrán, presented the signed agreement at the post-negotiation press conference.

Colombia To Open Embassy In Occupied West Bank

May 23, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , ,
The Colombian government announced on 22 May plans to open an embassy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, the de facto capital of the occupied West Bank, under the orders of President Gustavo Petro. “President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told reporters on Wednesday. Murillo also said Petro recently led a meeting of Latin American leaders in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where they agreed to implement strategies to recognize Palestine as a full UN member state.

Colombia President Threatens To Break Relations With Israel

April 1, 2024 Middle East Monitor. , , , ,
Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, warned on Tuesday that Colombia will break diplomatic relations with Israel if it does not comply with the recent resolution of the United Nations Security Council, which demands a ceasefire in Gaza, Anadolu Agency reports. “If Israel does not comply with the United Nations ceasefire resolution, we will break diplomatic relations with Israel,” Petro published on his X account. Israel’s response to the Colombian President’s statement did not take long. The country’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, responded on X that Petro´s “support” of Hamas is a “disgrace to the Colombian people.”

Colombian President Suspending Military Material From Israel

March 8, 2024 RT, Resumen English. , , , , ,
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced on Thursday the suspension of the purchase of war material from Israel in response to the attack that occurred that same day during the distribution of food in the Gaza Strip, which left more than 100 Palestinians dead. Both countries have been arms partners for more than three decades. In the 90s, Colombia bought 24 Kfir fighter jets from Israel, which are already about to reach their useful life, so the Government is looking for a way to replace them, although it still needs spare parts and services from the air industry of Israel for the maintenance of the old aircraft.

Colombian Farmers Take Back Land Stolen By Big Oil

February 17, 2024 Rodrigo Vazquez-Sales, The Real News. , , ,
The story of multinational corporations taking land and resources from working people can be found all over the world. In Colombia, farming families have joined forces to reclaim their stolen land and defend it from local security forces acting on behalf of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation. The Real News reports from Arauquita, Colombia, on the frontlines of a land defenders’ campaign that stretches back decades.  In Arauquita, Northeast Colombia, 150 farming families were displaced from this land 20 years ago. It’s been exploited by the Occidental Petroleum Corporation ever since. However, the farmers returned to reclaim their land.

Venezuela Denounces Argentina And US For Theft Of EMTRASUR Boeing 747

February 13, 2024 Ariadna Eljuri, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , ,
Venezuela reported that it will file complaints against Argentina and the United States before the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for violating international regulations following the brazen theft of the EMTRASUR Boeing 747 cargo jet. This was announced on Monday, February 12, after the United States stole the Venezuelan state cargo airline’s jet in collusion with Argentina. The plane had been illegally and arbitrarily retained for over 20 months in Argentina while a barrage of fake news was directed against Venezuela to criminalize the nation and legalize the theft by the US.
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