Top Issue 1-2024

31 July 1997 Edition

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Thirty people massacred in Colombia

Business as usual in Colombia. On 15 July last, approximately 100 well-armed men, dressed uniformly in military-style outfits, arrived in the small village of Mapiripan. Before entering the village proper, they cut the telephone and electricity cables. They then moved from house to house, detaining as they went along all those they accused or `suspected' of cooperation with left-wing guerrillas operating in the area. Thirty supposed `suspects' were rounded up and brought, quite purposely, to the village abattoir. One by one, their throats were slit. The bodies were dumped into a nearby river. The killers remained in the village for five days, only departing the scene of their massacre on July 20. To date, only six bodies have been recovered.

The Colombian army has, somewhat lamely, attempted to lay blame for the killings on an internal guerrilla feud. Their claim has been contradicted by local residents who insist the massacre was carried out by right-wing paramilitaries, who operate with the knowledge and connivance of Colombia's powerful armed forces.

The paramilitary groupings were established both by drug cartels and large landowners, in the 1980s. While they maintain a nominally independent role, their function is largely determined by the country's armed forces. Indeed, membership of both groups is frequently interchangeable. In the last four months, 128 campesinos have been murdered by these death squads, in the neighbouring Colombian provinces of Choco and Antioquia - the latter being home to the cartel city of Medellin. The murderers did not distinguish between the old, the young and pregnant women, according to Colombia's Commission for Justice and Peace. The Commission has laid the blame for these deaths squarely at the door of ``agents of the State.'' For the sixth time in the space of four months, the Commission recently called on the Colombian government to stop the terror campaign of torture, murder and kidnapping directed against campesinos `suspected' of supporting the insurgent movement.


Dirty tricks in Cuba?



Miami's Cuban Mafia is said to be rather pleased at recent reports of ``unexplained explosions'' in the Cuban capital of Havana, aimed, it is said, at tourist hotels. The right-wing Cubans have pointed to the explosions as conclusive proof of a power struggle within the Cuban government and cite them as evidence of the imminent demise of the regime. However, it should be borne in mind that these same sources have been voicing the same shrill prophecy for nearly four decades now. And each year, their predictions of Cuba's `imminent demise' have steadfastly failed to materialise.

Equally, since the 1959 Revolution the only people responsible for ``unexplained explosions'' within Cuba have been proxy bombers of the exiled Cuban Mafia, or their paymasters in the CIA. In addition, given that hugely increased tourism revenue has not only helped Cuba survive the collapse of the Soviet Union but also aided its return to relative prosperity in recent years, precisely who would benefit most from frightening off existing and potential visitors to the island?

It is entirely plausible that the aforementioned explosions - if indeed they have occurred and are not just propaganda - represent an intensification of the US' dirty war on Cuba. In mid-July, an Irish visitor recently-returned from Cuba, wrote to the Irish Times detailing the sudden, inexplicable appearance of the `Thrips Palmi Karay' insect among crops in Matanzas region of the country. The pestilent insect has never been found in Cuba before and is actually of Asian origin. Left to its own devices, the `Thrips' will destroy crops. It is immune to all known insecticides.

The Cuban government has presented a report on the problem to the UN and has asked for the help of its Food & Agriculture Organisation in preventing the insect's spread to other areas of the country. The report claims the source of infection was a US registered plane (No: N3093M), reportedly used by the US Department of State in its `war' on drugs. The plane was seen, last October, overflying the region where `Thrips' was subsequently discovered, with a ``tail of dust'' trailing from its undercarriage. Such US action would not be unprecedented. In the 1960s, harvested crops ready for export were poisoned by US agents while, in 1971, a CIA operative introduced the Swine Fever virus into Cuba, forcing the slaughter of 500,000 infected pigs.


Success for landless in Brazil



Brazil's landless, as represented by the Movement of the Landless (MST), has notched up what appears, at least, to be a partial victory. The MST recently occupied a huge swathe of unoccupied land, in support of their demand for real and meaningful land reform in the country. The only problem was that the Brazilian government had recently made a ``present'' of the same land to the US-based multinational General Motors. The remarkable generosity of the Brazilian government no doubt elicited a ``Thanks, big fellas'' from GM's grateful directors.

The ``present'' was valued at $258 million. Immediately after occupying the land, the MST members prepared themselves for the inevitable confrontation with the Military Police sent to evict them. However, the 500 police dispatched to perform the task refused to carry it out. Instead they stood before the MST members and applauded them. The explanation for this extraordinary act of solidarity apparently lies in the fact that police in the Rio Grande do Sur region, where the occupation occurred, are on strike. As are their colleagues in 12 other Brazilian states. More recently, the CUT trade union and the MST were planning a massive demonstration in the city of Sao Paulo. An invitation was extended to members of the civil and military police who, according to a union spokesman, suffer the same impoverishment as workers and landless campesinos in Brazil. Would that Dunnes Stores' presence in Burma provokes a similar outbreak of seditious behaviour.

An Phoblacht
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Ireland