11 December 1997 Edition
Pinochet crimes unearthed
By Dara Mac Neil
In Chile, evidence continues to emerge of war crimes committed by the regime of General Augusto Pinochet during his 17 years of military rule.
In late November, investigators unearthed a mass grave containing 58 corpses in Antofagasta, north of the Chilean capital Santiago. The corpses are currently being examined by a medical team, but human rights organisations have no doubt but that the murders were the work of Pinochet's military. The site was known to have been used as an internment/concentration camp for political opponents during Pinochet's rule.
As part of the 1990 deal which saw Pinochet step down (but retain control of the armed forces for a time) and an elected government assume power, a general amnesty was decreed for all crimes committed during his 17 years in power. In effect, the amnesty applied almost wholly to Pinochet and his executioners. In addition, the amnesty has had the effect of disguising the true extent of the barbarity perpetrated by Pinochet's terror state during those years, as it tended to discourage investigation.
Pinochet came to power in 1973, on the back of a CIA-engineered and supported coup d'état, which toppled the government of Salvador Allende, the world's first elected Marxist head of state.
Yet again, the victims of the latest massacre in Colombia were unarmed civilians. Yet again, their murderers were right wing paramilitaries with links to the country's so-called security forces.
On Sunday 30 November a band of 50 armed men entered the village of Dabeiba, in the northeast of the country. By the time they had left, 40 civilians lay dead and 22 houses had been burnt to the ground. The death toll may well have been higher, had not a further 300 people managed to escape the village and flee into surrounding mountains.
Following this latest example of state terror, the Organisation of American States (OAS) has announced it is to send a team of investigators to Colombia to study the ongoing (and intensifying) campaign conducted by state-backed paramilitaries against the civilian population.
In Washington, a Puerto Rican lawyer embarked on a hunger strike at the beginning of the month, in order to force US authorities to concede that he is a citizen, not of the United States, but of Puerto Rico. The island has been under US control since 1898.
The campaign of lawyer Alberto Lozada Colon is part of the wider independence movement on the island. Since 1994, some 21 Puerto Ricans have renounced their US citizenship and declared themselves citizens of their own country.
Authorities, both the colonial administration in San Juan and those residing in Washington, have attempted to ignore the campaign by simply refusing to accept the citizenship renunciations.
As a result, Lozada Colon has taken his protest to Washington. He is demanding that his claim to Puerto Rican citizenship be formally recognised by officialdom. Lozada Colon wants US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, to officially recognise and certify his Puerto Rican citizenship. His claim is being heard by a tribunal in Washington. In 1996, the lawyer formally renounced his US citizenship in the US embassy in the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile the rule of Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo is three years old this month. Specially chosen to further the economic reform (destruction) programme initiated by his predecessor Carlos Salinas (currently a resident of Dublin), the `success' of Zedillo's rule can be summed up with just one statistic: There are currently 14 separate armed insurgency movements operating in the country. Three years ago there were none. Remarkable.
In Chile, evidence continues to emerge of war crimes committed by the regime of General Augusto Pinochet during his 17 years of military rule.
In late November, investigators unearthed a mass grave containing 58 corpses in Antofagasta, north of the Chilean capital Santiago. The corpses are currently being examined by a medical team, but human rights organisations have no doubt but that the murders were the work of Pinochet's military. The site was known to have been used as an internment/concentration camp for political opponents during Pinochet's rule.
As part of the 1990 deal which saw Pinochet step down (but retain control of the armed forces for a time) and an elected government assume power, a general amnesty was decreed for all crimes committed during his 17 years in power. In effect, the amnesty applied almost wholly to Pinochet and his executioners. In addition, the amnesty has had the effect of disguising the true extent of the barbarity perpetrated by Pinochet's terror state during those years, as it tended to discourage investigation.
Pinochet came to power in 1973, on the back of a CIA-engineered and supported coup d'état, which toppled the government of Salvador Allende, the world's first elected Marxist head of state.
Another massacre in Colombia
Yet again, the victims of the latest massacre in Colombia were unarmed civilians. Yet again, their murderers were right wing paramilitaries with links to the country's so-called security forces.
On Sunday 30 November a band of 50 armed men entered the village of Dabeiba, in the northeast of the country. By the time they had left, 40 civilians lay dead and 22 houses had been burnt to the ground. The death toll may well have been higher, had not a further 300 people managed to escape the village and flee into surrounding mountains.
Following this latest example of state terror, the Organisation of American States (OAS) has announced it is to send a team of investigators to Colombia to study the ongoing (and intensifying) campaign conducted by state-backed paramilitaries against the civilian population.
Puerto Rican hunger strike
In Washington, a Puerto Rican lawyer embarked on a hunger strike at the beginning of the month, in order to force US authorities to concede that he is a citizen, not of the United States, but of Puerto Rico. The island has been under US control since 1898.
The campaign of lawyer Alberto Lozada Colon is part of the wider independence movement on the island. Since 1994, some 21 Puerto Ricans have renounced their US citizenship and declared themselves citizens of their own country.
Authorities, both the colonial administration in San Juan and those residing in Washington, have attempted to ignore the campaign by simply refusing to accept the citizenship renunciations.
As a result, Lozada Colon has taken his protest to Washington. He is demanding that his claim to Puerto Rican citizenship be formally recognised by officialdom. Lozada Colon wants US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, to officially recognise and certify his Puerto Rican citizenship. His claim is being heard by a tribunal in Washington. In 1996, the lawyer formally renounced his US citizenship in the US embassy in the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile the rule of Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo is three years old this month. Specially chosen to further the economic reform (destruction) programme initiated by his predecessor Carlos Salinas (currently a resident of Dublin), the `success' of Zedillo's rule can be summed up with just one statistic: There are currently 14 separate armed insurgency movements operating in the country. Three years ago there were none. Remarkable.