Impunity Watch: South America

Police in Brazil Face Crisis

By Jennifer Pautz
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Dozens of senior police officers resigned days before the start of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.  The police commander was fired by the state governor after allowing a mass protest of officers over their pay rate last weekend.  This prompted 43 officials to submit their letters of resignation in protest of the commander being fired.

The commander of Rio’s police, Ubiratan Angelo, permitted police officers to protest against their low pay.  He supported their demands and made his opinion known on the issue.  Angelo was later dismissed by the governor, Sergio Cabral, who believed the protest was an act of insubordination.  Cabral downplayed the situation arguing that the force is trying to “cause confrontation, trouble and disorder in the Military Police.”  The dismissal caused anger among the police officers ending in their resignations. 

The carnival is the largest event of the year for Rio de Janeiro which makes this a crucial time for the police force to be facing a crisis.  The security forces state that they are confident the carnival, which attracts over 700,000 people, will continue successfully. More then 4,000 police will be on duty during the carnival.  However, the loss of 43 officers, including 17 commanders of the 30 battalions in the state, has resulted in“frenzy” before the carnival begins. 

Street parties for the carnival have begun and clashes have already resulted in six people killed and five wounded.  Neighboring towns, including Mangueira, have been subject to recent incidents.

A new commander of the police forces in Rio has already been appointed.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Rio Police Crisis before Carnival – 31 January 2008

Reuters – Trouble, strife hit Rio police as Carnival starts – 30 January 2008

Hostage Situation in Venezuela Ends

Photo - AP

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela - Four gunman armed with rifles and grenades held up to 52 hostages in central Venezuela on Monday.  The bank was in the town of Altagracia de Orituco, in the state of Guarico.

The number of hostages ranges from 30 to 52.  Most were held for 28 hours.  The bank robbers were under the influence of “stimulants” according to Venezuelan Justice Minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin.

Venezuelan authorities allowed the captors to leave the bank Tuesday because “they threatened to start killing the hostages in 20 minutes,” said Guarico state Gov. Eduardo Manuitt.  Some hostages inside the bank held up signs in the windows with pleas for help and called their relatives.

Of the 52 people taken hostage, five were released during the standoff and two managed to escape.   The gunmen used five captives as human shields to board an ambulance.  The remaining 40 hostages inside the bank were then freed. 

Police blocked a highway to intercept the gunmen, who released the last five hostages after they were stopped following a 2 hour high-speed chase.

“The hostages are free,” Manuitt said.  “This nightmare is over.”

No one was seriously hurt other than one of the gunmen, who accidentally shot himself in the leg when his gun went off during the chase.

The standoff was the longest in ten years in Venezuela.  AP reported that those freed included a 2 week old infant, at least three other children under the age of 10, and a pregnant woman.

Rodriguez criticized the Venezuelan and Colombian media, alleging that they tried to create panic in the population by using “images of terror.”  He said he planned to lodge a complaint with Venezuela’s broadcast regulatory agency.

For more information, please see:

AP - Venezuelan Gunmen Caught After Standoff - 30 January 2008
CNN - Venezuelan hostage-takers arrested - 30 January 2008
AFP - Venezuelan bank robbers surrender after hostage standoff - 30 January 2008

Pushing for Free Trade With Colombia

By Jennifer Pautz
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Medellin, Colombia – Condolezza Rice made a visit last Friday to Colombia in order to push a free trade deal that has not yet been passed by the United States Congress.  Rice stated that the problems Colombia has been having with violence, especially labor problems, will get worse unless the deal is passed. 

Labor organizing in Colombia has made it one of the world’s most dangerous countries.  Union leaders oppose the free trade deal and believe that President Uribe has not dealt with the violence and murder plaguing the country.  Since 2001, 700 trade unionists have been killed throughout Colombia with an increase in those killing following Uribe taking office in 2002. 

Despite the violence, Rice stated that the country deserves continued U.S. support and that “the Bush Administration’s support for the free-trade deal is not because we believe that the Colombian story is perfects…we believe in the context of growth and economic activity that the free trade agreement will produce.”  She also stated that a failure to pass the deal will impact the image of the U.S. throughout Latin America. 

In the State of the Union last night, President Bush called for the passage of the free-trade deal along with other deals with Panama and South Korea.  He made particular focus on Colombia as ‘a strategic partner worthy of closer economic ties.”  Expanding trade is a priority for Bush in his remaining months in office, a fact made clear through the State of the Union address.

Regardless of the Bush’ Administration efforts, the deal does not seem imminent.  All Democratic frontrunners in the campaign are against eliminating trade barriers with Colombia in addition to the Democratic leadership in Congress being against the deal.  Others, such as Jeff Vogt, economic specialist for the AFL-CIO, believe that there are better ways to help Colombia and that there is serious concern about continuing violence and impunity throughout the country.  In addition, many U.S. labor unions oppose the free-trade deal. 

For more information, please see:

CNN/Associated Press – Rice pushes free trade deal with Colombia – 25 January 2008

Wall Street Journal – Bush to Pitch Free trade – 28 January 2008

BRIEF: FARC Leader Sentenced

WASHINGTON - Rebel leader Ricardo Palmera, a.k.a. Simon Trinidad, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for helping hold three U.S. contractors hostage.  He was convicted of hostage-taking conspiracy in July.  He claimed he never saw the U.S. hostages.

Palmera is a senior member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and admitted serving as a FARC negotiator.

The hope of the U.S. is that this will send a message to the FARC to release the three hostages.  Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes, and Keith Stansell have been held captive for approximately five years.

For more information, please see:
CNN (AP) - Colombian rebel gets 60 years for role in kidnappings - 28 January 2008

BRIEF: Protest March Against Reform in Ecuador

Thousands of people protested in Guayaquil against President Correa’s constitutional reforms in Ecuador.  The protest was led by the city’s Mayor, Jamie Nebot, who delivered a speech rejecting the plans for state control and arguing that the reforms will be “a slavery document.”

Protesters and critics believe that the reforms will give Correa and his successor more power which will impact the role of foreign investors.  Correa argues that the reforms will allow the country to be a more just society and to reach political stability.  There is popular support for the reforms as Correa has made this a key part of his campaign. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Huge rally against Ecuador Reform – 25 January 2008

Colombia to Seek Help in Europe, not Venezuela, to Negotiate Hostage Releases

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – President Alvaro Uribe said yesterday that Colombia may accept an international force in order to police efforts to secure the release of hostages.

Uribe told the Financial Times he was open to the idea, which arose when he was France Monday, during a visit to Brussels.

“We have accepted the presence of international observers.  I was asked in France about the presence of an international force.  At first glance I do not see any [problem].  We could consider this proposition,” he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been pushing for the release of Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian former presidential candidate who was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2002.

Colombia will no longer look to Venezuela for help, despite President Hugo Chavez’s successful mediation that recently resulted in the release of two hostages.

Colombia’s defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, said that Chavez had “locked the door and thrown the key into the sea” after calling two weeks ago for FARC and other left wing guerrillas to be seen as a “real army that controls territory” instead of terrorists.

FARC has been fighting the Colombian government for nearly a half-century, but have been pushed back since Uribe came into office in 2002.  FARC is not supported by the general Colombian population, and Santos has said that recent military victories point to the “beginning of the end” for FARC.

”The FARC has been decimated . . . and an increasing number of their members are deserting, including guerrillas with many years of experience. This is a very significant sign of the degree of decomposition the FARC are experiencing, ” he said.

FARC currently holds over 750 other hostages, 42 of which could be exchanged for imprisoned rebels.

Colombia has asked for help from France, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as the Roman Catholic Church, to negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages for imprisoned guerrillas.

For more information, please see:
AHN - Colombia Taps Spain’s Help to Free FARC Hostages – 24 January 2008

Financial Times – Colombia refuses Chavez hostage efforts – 23 January 2008

Financial Times – Colombia may ask overseas forces to help free hostages, says Uribe – 24 January 2008

Tehran Times – Sarkozy meets Colombian president over hostage crisis – 23 January 2008

BRIEF: Venezuela Stops Rebels At Border

President of Columbia, Alvaro Uribe, asked Venezuela to not allow FARC rebels to cross into the country.  Colombia has believed that FARC rebels have taken refuge over the countries border.  President Uribe has stated that the Venezuelan forces are taking advantage of their neighbors. 

This step is further evidence of the deteriorating relations between the two countries.  Relations have deteriorated between the countries after a deal led to the release of two dozen hostages from FARC.  Uribe has accused Venezuelan President Chavez of “meddling.”

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Uribe asks Venezuela to stop rebels at the border – 23 January 2008

Concerns About a Fair Trial Raised on Behalf of Man Found Guilty in Hotel Bombings

Photo - AP

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

LA PAZ, Bolivia – An American and a Uruguyan were sentenced to prison Tuesday night for their roles in two Bolivian hotel bombings.

Lestat Claudius de Orleans, nee Tristan Jay Amero, 26, and Alda Ribero Costa, 47, were both sentenced for their roles in the dynamite bombings.  De Orleans was sentenced to 30 years in prison for terrorism and murder.

The March 2006 La Paz bombings killed two people and worsened relations between Bolivia and the United States.  The Bolivian news agency reporting the sentenced did not mention a motive for the bombings.

Paul Wolfe, de Orleans’ attorney, was concerned about a fair trial after Bolivian President Evo Morales commented on the case.

“This American was putting bombs in hotels,” said Morales shortly after Amero was arrested. “The U.S. government fights terrorism, and they send us terrorists.”

Wolfe believes these statements prejudiced the case unfairly for his client.

“You have the president of the country saying this guy is guilty. That's not fair,” Wolf said.

Wolfe also wrote a letter to Bolivian authorities in August of 2006.

“The prosecutors are under significant pressure to find [him] guilty because the president of Bolivia publicly announced that he is guilty.”

Wolfe’s letter went on to say that Morales’ comments endangered his client’s life, and that when the crime was re-enacted, “a large crowd formed, attacking” de Orleans “with sticks and rocks.”

The Associated Press reported in 2006 that he may be mentally ill and that he adopted the name of Lestat Claudius de Orleans y Montevideo, taken from Anne Rice’s popular vampire novels.

Before the bombings, de Orleans described himself as a Saudi lawyer, a pagan high priest, and a vampire.  He was convicted of bombing a cash machine in Argentina before he arrived in Bolivia.

Prison officials said de Orleans tried to attack his own attorney with a kitchen knife, and that a bottle of gasoline was found in his cell.  He apparently confessed that he planned to “set fire to the prison superintendent and the United States diplomat who visits him every now and then,” prison security director Edgar Andrade told AP.

For more information, please see:
BBC News – ‘Vampire’ man jailed in Bolivia – 23 January 2008

CNN – American, Uruguyan sentenced for Bolivian hotel blasts – 23 January 2008

MSNBC (AP) – Report:  U.S. man guilty in ‘vampire’ bombings – 23 January 2008

Protestors invade Drug Lord’s Land

By Jennifer Pautz
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SAN PAULO, Brazil - Protesters in Brazil have invaded a farmed formerly owned by a Colombian drug lord that was set to be auctioned within a few hours.  The protesters were from the Brazil landless movement (MST) in the country.  They are arguing that the land was purchased with money from criminal actions and they want the government to allow the land to settle local families.  About 300 families took over the property and they intend to stay on the land until they get a response.  However, officials have stated that the auction will proceed and that a judge will ensure that the protesters are removed. 

The farm is worth almost one million dollars when the drug lord, Juan Carlos Ramirez, was arrested in August.  Ramirez is one of the leading traffickers in Columbia and is in jail in Brazil currently awaiting to be extradited to the United States for charges of drug smuggling and murder.  When he was arrested authorized seized homes that belonged to him throughout the country.  Other homes have sold at auction for $2.4 million. 

Earlier this month, Ramirez was ordered to tell authorities where he hid $30 million in exchange for a prison sentence in Brazil and for his wife’s release from jail, and for extradition to the United States.  The case is now in review by Brazil’s Supreme Court.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Drug Lord’s Brazil Farm Invaded – 21 January 2008

BBC News – Drug Lord’s Brazil homes for sale – 8 January 2008

Associated Press – Brazil judge orders alleged drug kingpin to turn over millions of dollars – 18 January 2008

BRIEF: Chavez Warns Farmers to Sell Local or Be Taken Over

Photo

CARACAS, Venezuela – Hugo Chavez threatened Sunday to expropriate the farms or milk plants of owners who sought higher profits abroad instead of selling their milk for domestic consumption.

Venezuela has faced shortages of basic goods like milk and chicken recently.  Chavez said that “it’s treason” for farmers to sell their milk across the border instead of to Venezuelans.

“I’m putting you on alert,” Chavez said. “If there’s a producer that refuses to sell the product… and sells it at a higher price abroad… ministers, find me proof so it can be expropriated.”

He continued:  “If the army must be brought in, you bring in the army.”

Chavez said the price for raw milk would be raised to about $2.80 per gallon, an increase of about 36 percent.  His comments came only a day after he threatened to take control of banks that failed to meet state requirements to set aside approximately 30% of all loans, at favorable rates, for agriculture, mortgages and small businesses.

For more information, please see:
CNN (AP) – Chavez to farmers:  Sell within Venezuela or it’s ‘treason’ – 20 January 2008