FARC, Ayudaron y financiaron campaña Politica de Rafael Correa Actual Presidente de Ecuador.

En video, ‘Jojoy’ menciona aportes de las Farc a campaña presidencial de Rafael Correa

El ministro de Seguridad de Ecuador, Miguel Carvajal, negó lo dicho por ‘Jojoy’ en el video y aseguró que el Gobierno de su país “no tiene ninguna relación” con la guerrilla de las Farc.

* Comandante de la operación reporta el hallazgo del campamento del ‘Mono Jojoy’ (EL TIEMPO)
* 13 guerrilleros muertos dejan combates entre el Ejército y anillo de seguridad del ‘Mono Jojoy’

Según información de la agencia AP, la Fiscalía colombiana tiene un video en el que el jefe militar de las Farc alude a este pago.

Carvajal es el primer funcionario ecuatoriano que se pronuncia, luego de que se conociera la grabación.

En el video Jorge Briceño Suárez, alias ‘Mono Jojoy’, asegura que la información encontrada en los computadores de ‘Raúl Reyes’ dejó al descubierto los secretos de las Farc.

Según AP, ‘Jojoy’ menciona la información incautada en el golpe a ‘Reyes’.

Y agrega: “Ayuda en dólares a la campaña de Correa y posteriores conversaciones con sus emisarios, incluidos algunos acuerdos, según documentos en poder de todos nosotros, los cuales resultan muy comprometedores en nuestros nexos con los amigos”.

El caso lo lleva la Fiscalía colombiana. La información apareció, dice AP, en tres computadores incautados a una guerrillera en mayo pasado.

El documento fílmico fue encontrado en un computador decomisado a Adela Pérez (alias ‘Adela’), una guerrillera de la red urbana de las Farc capturada el pasado 29 de mayo en Bogotá, dijo a la AFP una fuente de la dirección de la Policía.

El Presidente Correa sera Deamandado ante la corte Penal Internacional por sus nexos con las farc, grupo terrorista colombiano.

Los penalistas colombianos aseguraron que también instaurarán la denuncia contra el ex ministro ecuatoriano Gustavo Larrea por sus presuntos nexos con las Farc.
El abogado Abelardo de la Espriella dirige el grupo de 10 juristas que adelantan las gestiones para presentar las denuncias.
“No podemos dejarnos amedrentar de un Gobierno, como el de Correa, que es un Gobierno mafioso patrocinado por la guerrilla terrorista de las Farc”, dijo el abogado, vocero de los legistas.
De la Espriella añadió que asiste “en representación de los abogados de Colombia” y la demanda contra Correa la hace:
“defendiendo la dignidad de nuestro país y en nombre del ex ministro (de Defensa, Juan Manuel Santos)”.
El recurso, que será interpuesto ante la Fiscalía de Colombia, tendrá como argumento -dijo De la Espriella- los correos hallados en el computador el ex jefe del grupo guerrillero ‘Raúl Reyes’.
Los abogados proponen que el presidente sea acusado ante la Corte Penal Internacional, mientras que en el caso del ex ministro Larrea y el ex viceministro Ignacio Chauvín sean acusados por la Fiscalía ante un juez para que se ordene su detención.
Los abogados consideran que en el computador hallado en el campamento de ‘Reyes’ se evidenciaría la relación y presunta colaboración de Correa y Larrea con las Farc.
La acción se produce en momentos en los que la Justicia de Ecuador adelanta una investigación contra el ex ministro de Defensa de Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, por el ataque contra el campamento de ‘Raúl Reyes’ en ese país, operación miliitar en la que murieron 26 personas, entre ellas el ecuatoriano Franklin Aisalla.( Revista Semana)

Javier Restrepo Henao

Aunque parezca un cuento perteneciente al realismo mágico de Gabriel García Márquez, ocurrió en 1999 en Colombia, en un caserío llamado La Machaca, donde en los últimos días de junio, se reunieron y abrazaron el entonces presidente de la Bolsa de Comercio de Nueva York, Richard Grasso, y el principal negociador diplomático de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), el comandante Raúl Reyes, recientemente muerto por las fuerzas armadas colombianas. ¿Qué tenían (o tienen) en común la máxima catedral sionista del dinero mundial y la principal guerrilla revolucionaria de América Latina?.

Después del rescate de Ingrid Betancour y en el momento de la mayor crisis de las FARC, Jorge Fernández Menéndez, reconocido periodista y analista político, revela una investigación sin precedentes sobre la relación de México con la guerrilla colombiana.

El ataque del ejército colombiano realizado el primero de marzo de 2008 contra el principal campamento de las FARC no sólo generó un grave conflicto diplomático y provocó la muerte del segundo jefe al mando de las FARC, Raúl Reyes, también puso al descubierto -con la muerte in situ de cuatro jóvenes mexicanos y las heridas recibidas por otra joven militante, Lucía Morett- la profundidad de los lazos de las FARC con México. El autor basa su análisis en miles de documentos recuperados de las computadoras de Raúl Reyes por las fuerzas de seguridad colombianas y autentificados por la INTERPOL luego de un largo proceso. En este libro quedan al descubierto las relaciones de las FARC con la política y con el mundo del crimen organizado y el narcotráfico en México, lo mismo que la trama que enlaza a las FARC con los gobiernos de Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa y Daniel Ortega.

La obra cuenta con un prólogo de Joaquín Villalobos, quien fuera uno de los cuatro comandantes del Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional de El Salvador y es actualmente uno de los principales consultores internacionales sobre temas de seguridad.

Jorge Fernández Menéndez es periodista y columnista con amplia experiencia en distintos medios decomunicación nacional: prensa escrita, radio y televisión. Ha ejercido el periodismo en varios países. Su especialidad son los temas políticos y los de seguridad nacional, particularmente las relaciones de los grupos de poder con el narcotráfico y el crimen organizado. Es conductor de la Tercera Emisión de Imagen Informativa. En mayo de 2008 publicó su más reciente libro El enemigo en casa. Drogas y narcomenudeo en México (Taurus). Además es autor de El otro poder: Las redes del narcotráfico, la política y la violencia en México (Aguilar Nuevo Siglo, 2001). Algunos de sus libros anteriores fueron: Desestabilización (Rayuela Editores, 1996) y Narcotráfico y poder (Rayuela Editores, 1997).

FARC leaders Ivan Marquez (izq.) y Rodrigo Granda

The integration in the Americas should be the result of a positive interdependence among countries. Since the Declaration of Washington, the american states are in a process of growing interrelation. Nowadays, the Americas have a Democratic Charter to live up to, and the most important thing is our right to democratic self-determination and the popular vote as a basis for our government institutions and their rulers.

Colombia is the country with the longest democracy in South America. A people full of color and passion, as I always imagine it must be a nation of the New World. Unfortunately, Colombia is a democracy that has suffered decades of attacks by a ruthless guerrilla.

These are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or better known as FARC. For Colombia, the U.S. and the European Union is a terrorist group, for other countries like Venezuela or Ecuador the FARC are political revolutionary insurgents.

As my first approximation and with a simplistic view to the subject, I would define the FARC as a guerrilla trying to overthrow the democratic colombian state. But compared to cases of “normal” guerrillas as was the M16, the Montoneros or the Tupamaros, the case of the FARC show us a big difference. There is no doubt that the FARC are now owners of the business of cocaine trafficking in Colombia, with metastasis throughout the region including Central America, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and other countries.

These photos show the remnants of a FARC cocaine lab which was destroyed by the Colombian National Police

Let me explain. In the 80 s and 90 s , the FARC met only a mafia role of protection to the production of cocaine in some “liberated areas” from Colombia. With the fall of the drug cartel of Pablo Escobar in Medellin and the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers of the Cali Cartel, the FARC were taking over the Colombian drug trade and became organized crime. Now, the FARC not only take care that there is a fluid production of cocaine in Colombia, but the FARC are now also responsible for the sale and international distribution of the ilegal narcotics. Not to mention the extra revenue proceeding from kidnappings, extortion, “revolutionary taxes”, etc. .. But certainly the cash cow for the FARC is now the cocaine trade.

That’s why I do not define the FARC just as a simple guerrilla group, or as an insurgency or terrorist group. Rather I do see the FARC as a criminal organization with great economic and military power, an armed group with a distant guerrilla past. The FARC today is experiencing a crisis of growth and a crisis of identity. The FARC represents a great potential danger not only to Colombia but to the entire region. The FARC knows today that his reason of existence, “le raison du vivre”, is not to seize power in Colombia. If that happens, the international community would react horrified at the prospect of seeing Colombia turned into a narco state, largely in the hands of a narco armed gang. It would be difficult not to imagine the international military intervention in Colombia with the collapse and subsequent disappearance of the FARC.

Instead, the FARC wants to keep its business: drugs. The FARC deeply believe that today they should adjust their armed forces, perhaps with fewer guerrilla soldiers but with more professionalism and military technology, and with a much more lethal weaponry. The second objective is to take care of the dairy cow of the drug trade, increasing economic returns for its concept.

VENEZUELA-supporters of FARC marching in Caracas, March 26th 2009

For that reason, to consolidate its organization, the FARC are trying to continue to grow in power and international influence, creating more and better partnerships, both in the criminal underworld of drug trafficking organizations, and also linking with ultraradical political groups all over the world.

And to prove what I say, I refer to the evidence. Today, only three “historic” leaders of the FARC are still in Colombia. The rest of the “Secretariat” of the criminal organization is outside the country keeping the distribution of drugs, seeking political and military alliances, putting in the FARCs payroll a significant number of officers of the military and also corrupt political leaders, that are in search of easy money.

Today most of the leaders of the Colombian FARC guerrilla group live and operate in various countries in the Americas.

Several leaders of the Colombian FARC guerrillas take refuge in Venezuela, Ecuador and Cuba, some permanently and others seasonally. So was it revealed by an intelligence report published a few days ago by the Bogota newspaper, El Tiempo.

The report said that only three of the seven members of the rebel leadership are still leading the fight in Colombia. Including the group’s top leader, Guillermo Leon Saenz (alias “Alfonso Cano”), and the military commander, Jorge Briceño ( “Mono Jojoy).

FARC in Panama.- An anti-narcotics officer opens packages of cocaine in August before burning them in Panama City.

Security agencies claim that at least three members of the secretariat (top) and four central staff (second level) are “living in other countries, some in neighboring countries.”

The report states that are in Ecuador Milton Toncel Jesus ( “Joaquin Gomez”), Jorge Torres ( ‘Pablo Catatumbo’), and Edgar Tovar Sixto Cottage ( ‘Domingo Biojó’).

Have been detected in Venezuela Rodrigo Londoño ( “Timoleon Jimenez”), Germán Briceño ( “Grannobles’), Ricardo Gonzalez ( ‘Rodrigo Granda), Emiro Ropero (‘ Rubén Zamora ‘) and Luciano Marín (” Ivan Marquez “).

The Police Commander of Ecuador, General Jaime Hurtado said that “we have no certain information of this people living in Ecuador. However, we are investigating any permanent presence of guerrilla leaders or any other person being sought by Interpol. “

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Falconi Fando, to step out of the report of the newspaper El Tiempo in Bogota , denied the presence of high commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC in Ecuador. He added that “what they should do is provide (details) this information so that the security forces of Ecuador can operate.”

Meanwhile, the ecuatorian daily El Universo published this week numbers of identity cards, photographs and other data from the Civil Registry of Ecuador related to FARC members, including those known as Rodrigo Granda and Nubia Calderón.

Meanwhile the Interior Minister of Venezuela Tarek El Aissami said that “there is no FARC people in Venezuela.”

Quito ended diplomatic ties with Bogota in March 2008 following the colombian military assault against the FARC rebel group that was located in Ecuadorian territory, which left a toll of 25 dead, including the FARC commander Raul Reyes and four Mexicans.

The Public relations of the FARC are in the hands of the secretariat member Luciano Marín Aranjo alias “Ivan Marquez”, who makes at least four years that no steps colombian ground. .He is probably living in Venezuela.

In Mexico, the government threw out Miguel Angel Beltran, ‘Jaime Cienfuegos’, a member of the international bloc of the FARC.

Another leader of the FARC is Liliana Lopez Palacios, alias “Olga Marín ‘(International Front). According to the press Colombian guerrilla Lopez lives in Santa Clara (Cuba) since 2003.

Rodrigo Granda (central staff) since June 2007 took refuge in Venezuela.

Authorities in Ecuador have noted the presence of the FARC and Angel Gabriel Lozada ‘Edgar Tovar’ (head versus 48) n this country, closing transactions with the brothers Ostaiza, which are Ecuadoran narcos.

Emiro Ropero alias “Ruben Zamora ‘(company Catatumbo FARC) would be in Venezuela as reported by the Colombian Army.

Sixto Antonio Cabana aka ‘Domingo Biojó’ (South Block) is in Ecuador since 2003.

Another issue related to the presence of the FARC are their investments. The prosecution and intelligence agencies tracked properties of Colombia FARC guerrillas that would in 28 countries in the region, including Ecuador, as quoted an article published in the Colombian press.

The article says that some of these items were listed in the hardisk of the computer of the number two of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Raúl Reyes, who died a year ago in a FARC camp located in northern Ecuador, after a bombing by Colombian troops.. The Organization of American States OAS condemned the military intervention of Colombia into Ecuador.

According to that source, the FARC have properties and vehicles in Quito, and a complex of five cottages on a beach on the Pacific.

In Panama, according to the news release, the properties include several areas of FARC and a house in the town of David, and three cars.

The registration of property that the guerrillas would have in other countries include Mexico in two vehicles and a house in San Jose. Also listed several bank accounts in different countries.

The colombian Prosecutor and the intelligence agencies’ work to try to establish whether the names that appear in these accounts are real or fictitious, “the newspaper report.

The FARC have an International Commission that seeks to have relations with all political parties of the left, not only in Latin America but in Europe, in Asia and Africa. A path is the relationship with the COPPPAL (Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean).

There is also a growing presence of delegates of the International Front of the FARC in Canada, primarily in the Quebec Social Forum. For example one of the FARC in Canada is Calarca Marcos who was expelled from Mexico by the then President Fox. Marcos, along with several family members are now political refugees in Canada.

The deterioration of colombian relations with Ecuador and Venezuela was accelerated when Bogota delivered to Venezuela copies of documents from the computer of FARC commander Raúl Reyes, and that reference the alleged relationship between the government of Caracas and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.

The Colombian authorities said then that -in the Reyes camp- they found three computers within at least one of these documents would have revealed the alleged FARC contacts with different countries, among other information. To certify that these documents were actually inside the computer were not “planted”, Bogotá requested technical assistance from Interpol.

As you can see information issued in Colombia and other countries, the internationalization of the FARC is a fact. The integration of the Americas, namely the existence of a positive interdependence among nations is impossible without the union of all the states of Americas in order to fight the drug trafficking and criminal armed groups such as the FARC .

It is a big mistake to look at the members of the FARC as they were romantic idealists who are fighting in search of the socialist utopia, battling for a fairer society. This is a big lie.

Is false.

The FARC are not a romantic guerrilla, but a band of organized criminals. All of the american states should work together positively to eradicate the FARC in its tracks, preventing its international expansion. This is the best time to do so. It is a historic opportunity for The Americas to act united on this subject. The democratic state in Colombia has obtained some military victories against the FARC. But the FARC receives oxygen from abroad of Colombia.. It is a grave error and we must prevent this to continue. For if the Americas are not united in the effort to break free of the scourge, tomorrow may be too late to do so.

A polícia colombiana anunciou que o corpo do guerrilheiro Raúl Reyes, morto pelo Exército do país em uma chacina no território equatoriano em 1º de março de 2008, foi sepultado após a solicitação de María Hilda Collazos, que era sua companheira.

“Por respeito à família e por razões de segurança, o comando da Polícia Metropolitana de Bogotá se reserva ao direito de não informar” o local em que Reyes foi enterrado, afirma um comunicado divulgado hoje.

No último mês, a polícia havia anunciado que os restos mortais de Reyes haviam sido entregues a parentes do ex-guerrilheiro, que negaram esta informação.

As Forças Armadas Revolucionárias da Colômbia (Farc), por sua parte, pedem o corpo de Reyes, junto ao do guerrilheiro Ivan Ríos, em troca do major Julián Ernesto Guevara, sequestrado pela organização em 1998 e morto em cativeiro em 2006.

O diretor do Instituto Médico Legal da Colômbia, Pedro Franco, já havia afirmado a mesma versão, de que o corpo do então número dois da guerrilha havia sido entregue à polícia, que o havia sepultado em um local secreto.

Franco também desmentiu versões da imprensa local, de que a polícia não havia autorizado e não tinha conhecimento de onde estariam os restos mortais de Reyes e também afirmou que Collazos sabia da situação.

Com agências

As Forças Armadas Revolucionárias da Colômbia (Farc) chegaram ao local onde o corpo do major Julián Guevara foi enterrado, segundo informou a Agência de Notícias Nova Colômbia (Anncol).

A chegada ao local, localizado no sul da Colômbia, se deu “em meio a fortes operações militares, cercos, bombardeios e metralhadoras”, diz a agência, a qual assegurou que as Farc “estão prontas” para entregar o corpo do ex-prisioneiro aos seus familiares.

No dia 28 de março, a guerrilha enviou um comunicado concordando em iniciar um intercâmbio humanitário, baseado em troca de prisioneiros.

No documento, as Farc explicaram que entregariam o corpo de Guevara, preso em 1998 e morto em combates em 2006, e pediram que os restos mortais dos guerrilheiros, Raúl Reyes e Ivan Ríos, fossem entregues a seus familiares também.

Segundo o governo, o corpo de Reys já está sob posse da família, a qual nega esta versão.

Uma semana depois, Ríos, outro dirigente das Farc, foi assassinado pelo nercenário Pedro Pablo Montoya Cortés, que o mutilou e entregou partes de seu corpo ao exército colombiano.

Com agências

This evening I read an article about an important FARC commander who is in jail, Martin Sombra. He feels abandoned by the FARC and he is afraid to be  extradited to the United States, according to Colombia’s daily El Espectador. He has his own version of what happened. He tried to make life nice to the hostages and he took care of Clara Rojas, at the moment she gave birth to Emmanuel, he says. I understand from a person who was in the same jail department as Sombra that she has visited him there. So he must have been honest in some way. He took care of her.

Everybody has his own story: why did this man end up in the FARC? Is he bad? Supposedly he is a terrorist killer who has to be finished with as soon as possible. But even my fellow Dutch citizen Liduine Zumpolle, who is very critical and cynical about the FARC, doesn’t think he is a bad man, as she told to our weekly Vrij Nederland. Liduine is the spokeswoman of Manos por la Paz (Hands for Peace), a group of guerrilleros in prison who want to abandon arms and cooperate with justice.

According to El Espectador Sombra agrees with the three American former FARC hostages Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, who wrote the book Out of Captivity, in their observation of Ingrid Betancourt’s behaviour. It seems almost funny to me that the newspaper writes that commander Raúl Reyes, who was killed in a bombing by the Colombian army a year ago, also complained about Ingrid Betancourt’s behaviour. She wanted a special treatment. At least she has guts, you can’t deny that.

If you want to have a better impression of Sombra, watch this video. He even has a sense of humour.

The latest news in El Espectador is that Sombra participated in the kidnapping of Luis Eladio Pérez.

O super computador do guerrilheiro Raúl Reyes, das Farc, chacinado pela repressão colombiana-norte-americana em território equatoriano, continua rendendo assunto para a propaganda da direita.

O comandante do Exército Colombiano negou “participação estrangeira” na chacina, mas é evidente que a operação foi montada com apoio dos EUA.

A super máquina agora revelou também uma rede de apoio às Farc que se estende por nada menos que 28 países.

Há lá revelações de respaldo à guerrilha no Equador, Venezuela e Nicarágua.

Os e-mails agora descobertos mostram que as Farc tentavam, com ajuda “externa”, desprestigiar o governo direitistas de Álvaro Uribe, além de tentar adquirir mísseis da Líbia e receber dinheiro e petróleo da Venezuela.

A super máquina revelou também relação da guerrilha no Brasil, por meio do trabalho sistemático realizado pelo guerrilheiro “Cura Camilo” e a importância do território brasileiro para que as Farc “traficassem cocaína e armas”.

A revista colombiana Semana — a Veja de lá — diz que teve acesso aos “documentos” agora milagrosamente encontrados na super máquina.

As Farc têm ainda presença no Canadá, Espanha, República Dominicana, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicarágua, Panamá, Peru, Chile, Argentina.

A guerrilha também está presente no Uruguai, França, Reino Unido, Bélgica, Holanda, Itália, Dinamarca, Suécia, Noruega, Alemanha, Líbia, Turquia e Austrália.

Poderosa essa guerrilha, não?

Com agências

Published at www.colombiareports.com

Relations between Colombia and Ecuador took a more obvious turn for the worse when Ecuador´s 20 year process of social protests and Government turnovers finally led to the election of left-wing economist Rafael Correa Delgado. Correa is a man who campaigned to Twisted Sister´s “We´re not gonna take it”, brandishing a belt to “beat” corruption, and promised a “citizen´s revolution” to the benefit of the poor. Come to think of it, it was never likely that Uribe and Correa were going to be best friends, now, was it?

Never likely to be friends

Not much happened for over a year into Correa´s term as President, although, suffice to say, suspicions were rife on both sides, with Correa denouncing the effects of Plan Colombia (most notably the effects of glysophate) and Colombian officials quietly brooding about whether or not Correa was helping the FARC. Then, this relative calm was shattered in March, when the Colombian army launched a surprise attack on FARC Commander Raul Reyes, which would have been fine, if it hadn´t been 3-10km deep into Ecuadorian territory. Uribe, prepared for the torrent of international criticism that followed, justified the attack largely on the basis that Correa, along with Venezuela´s Hugo Chavez, had been giving financial and military assistance to the FARC and could not be trusted, thereby justifying the illegality of the attack. Correa vociferously denied the claims, promising to resign if they were ever proved, and denounced the attack. Diplomatic relations were cut, and remain fraught to this day. He derided the acclaimed contents of Raul Reyes´s laptop (said to prove his Government´s links to the FARC), and insisted that he had never met any members of the rebel group.

Former Government member and "friend" of Raul Reyes Ignacio Chauvin

A year later, and relations are still frayed, despite mediation from the OAS, UN, the Rio Group and Carter Centre. The primary Colombian accusation that the Ecuadorian Government has been helping the FARC has not disappeared, and intensified with the revelation by former Ecuadorian Under Secretary of the Ministry of Government Ignacio Chauvin that he was “friends” with Raul Reyes, and that they had met 7 times. The claim was a blow for the campaign by Rafael Correa to distance his Government from the FARC, and he has demanded that Chauvin explain his actions, and insisted that any meeting with Reyes on Ecuadorian territory would constitute a “betrayal” of the nation. Correa has even been increasing military efforts to combat all armed groups which enter Ecuadorian territory, particularly the FARC (something that has gone under-reported in the Colombian Press).

Lest this be misunderstood, though, Ecuador´s Minister of Defense, Javier Ponce makes clear that such operations constitute a defense of Ecuadorian citizens and sovereignty from the marauding activities of the paramilitaries and guerrilla, rather than any concession towards Uribe. Correa is said to be furious that the group continues to maintain Ecuadorian hostages under its custody. In fact, Correa appears to be taking war to the FARC whilst simultaneously blaming the Colombian Government for the situation for failing to control their border As he points out, Ecuador spends over $100 million to protect its border from Colombian armed groups, has far more troops staged in the border area, and has thus far prevented any significant coca production from establishing itself in Ecuadorian territory. He denounces Plan Colombia as a “failure” and has established a rival, “Plan Ecuador”, which involves a significant amount for investment in border areas to reduce local people´s incentives to grow coca and/or affiliate themselves with Colombian armed groups. Despite this, Colombia keeps refusing to drop all accusations against the Ecuadorian Government, a key condition to reestablishing diplomatic relations.

It would probably be unwise to pronounce upon the nature of the Ecuadorian Government´s links to the FARC. Few would deny that Correa has used the issue for political capital, tapping into Ecuadorian resentment about being pushed around by its northern neighbor, but it seems unlikely he would take such a stance if he thought he could be exposed as an ally of the FARC. Some view his constant focus on the lack of evidence between himself and the FARC (in contrast to Venezuela´s policy of reversing its stated position on the FARC, and keeping quiet about the issue of its previous links to it) might imply that he is confident that no “smoking gun” actually exists.

Historically, his border policies and policy statements (high presence of troops on the Colombian border, repeated criticisms of the FARC and even armed operations against them) differ heavily from Chavez´s veneration of Reyes as a “good revolutionary”, and the mounting anecdotal evidence about FARC receiving arms from the Venezuelan military. Analysts are often too quick to assume total conformity among Colombia´s leftist neighbors, and it is clear that the Venezuela and Ecuador have diverged in their relations with Colombia since the Reyes affair. Maybe it is indeed the case that Correa and Uribe have simply allowed the affair to degrade into a personal standoff between themselves, rather than concrete differences.

Published at www.colombiareports.com

It may seem laughable in light of recent events, but once upon a time, Latin American independence hero Simon Bolívar dreamed that Colombia and Ecuador could be part of the same country, united in their common destiny, along with Venezuela. His vision, embodied in the federation of Gran Colombia, was shattered in 1831, leaving 3 independent countries. Since then, Colombia and Ecuador have maintained a largely ambivalent relationship.

On arriving at either of these countries, the most obvious difference between them is ethnic. In comparison with Colombia, which is a essentially a mestizo country with an indigenous population of just 2%, Ecuador has 30-40%, meaning that there are large swathes of the country where indigenous (primarily Quechua) communities are the majority. This greater degree of indigeneity comes to the fore in Colombian comments about Ecuadorians being “dirty” or “less civilized,” comments which show an arrogance towards their small neighbor which occasionally borders on racism. At the same time, it should also be mentioned that whilst there are numerous Ecuadorian economic migrants in Colombia (for examples, the Otovalan merchants in the centre of Bogota), there is no significant history of discrimination against these people simply for being Ecuadorians.

Whilst Colombians may have felt themselves superior to Ecuadorians, Ecuadorians have often looked on their neighbour the same was others look at it: a violent country, dominated by drug trafficking and impunity. Despite such views, there was, until recently, little history of obvious animosity between the two countries. If anything, the differences between the two neighbors had been, in a psychological sense, mutually beneficial, as both societies can refer to the neighboring one to boost their own self-esteem. Ecuadorians may get hang-ups about being an under-developed country with very little geo-political power, but they can still be secure in the knowledge that they are, essentially, a peaceful country, unlike Colombia. Meanwhile, the Colombians may be terrified of being scape-goated as drug traffickers, terrorists, and illegal immigrants by other countries, but hey, at least they´re more civilized than those Indians in Ecuador!

Trouble had, however, been brewing in the years leading up to the Reyes operation. Colombia´s problems have increasingly spilled over onto the other side of the border. Colombia´s armed actors frequently use the 700km border to escape or pursue other groups. Whilst the FARC´s use of Ecuadorian territory was vividly highlighted by the operation which killed Raul Reyes, the menace caused by marauding paramilitaries in the coastal area around the city of Esmeraldas is far less well known. Moreover, the operation against Reyes was by no means the first time Plan Colombia has arrived at Ecuador´s doorstep: the border area´s peasants and agriculture have been suffering from the effects of stray glysophate, the chemical used for destroying coca, for several years.

Moreover, the phenomenon of troublesome Colombians using Ecuador as a happy hunting ground is not just restricted to political actors. Colombia´s three most infamous serial killers, (all of them remarkably prolific, a subject which probably deserves a separate article) all chose to carry out a substantial number of their activities in Ecuador. According to the Pedro Lopez, otherwise known as the “the Monster of the Andes”, this was because “Ecuadorian girls are more trusting and innocent, not like Colombian girls who are suspicious of strangers.”Could it be that Colombia´s armed and criminal actors essentially see Ecuador, due to its geo-strategic weakness, state inefficiency, and apparently innocent and trusting population, as a great place to do bad things? One way or another, it is certainly the Ecuadorian perception that it has to deal with a disproportionate amount of Colombianos de mal. If Colombians often view Ecuadorians as being uncivilized, Ecuadorians blame any number of social ills on unwanted arrivals from across the border. Any visitor to the Ecuadorian border town of Tulcan will find locals blaming crime, juvenile delinquency, and a host of other social pathologies, on the arrival of “ladrones Colombianos”. The issue of insecurity is, in Ecuadorian eyes at least, strongly linked to the rising numbers of Colombians entering the country in recent years. Their numbers have increased dramatically since the year 2000, currently numbering at an etsimated 500,000, many of whom are refugees from the civil war.

Such events came to a head with the Reyes operation. In the days after, 2 Colombians accused of raping a girl were lynched in an indigenous community, although it is still unclear whether their nationality was a key factor. The strong reaction against the operation, at a popular level as well as political one, is probably linked to years of simmering resentment about all the factors previously mentioned. Claims that Correa has used the incident to increase his own support are undeniable: the footage of his handshake and icy stare at Uribe at the following conference in Santo Domingo, was quickly incorporated into the pro-Government propaganda video, “La patria ya es de todos: Ecuador se respete.” The video shows a remarkably middle-class looking family unexpectedly enthused by the sight of their leader, defiant against Colombian arrogance after years of humilliation. The fact, though, that this imagery has proved politically fruitful suggests that Correa´s reaction is indeed responding to a groundswell of resentment against Colombia, of which the Reyes incident was only the most visible manifestation. It should be made clear that Correa´s rhetoric has never linked the actions of Colombia´s President with those of its people, but some analysts fear that he may, nevertheless, be contributing to increasingly anti-Colombian sentiment. Despite graffitis in Quito insisting “Colombia=Amiga, Uribe=Criminal”, many Ecuadorians have associated the perceived delinquency of Colombians in their country with the perceived “arrogance” of Colombia´s President.

This image of Colombians was given an institutional boost in December, when President Correa announced that Colombians would have to show their judicial histories before entering Ecuador, in a bid to reduce the entry of Colombian criminals and gang members. This prompted Colombian accusations of “xenophobia”, accusations which were rejected by Ecuador´s Government as hypocritical, given Bogota´s constant demands that the Ecuadorian Government “control its territory.” What has not been noted in the Colombian press is that Ecuadorian Governments of all political hues have looked to place restrictions on the entries in the last several years. In fact, the demand for judicial past is nothing new; it was actually Correa who had suspended the requirement, ironically, 3 days before the Reyes operation. The Colombian migrant/refugee population in Ecuador has long complained of maltreatment at the hands of the police and there have been some cases of xenophobic attacks against them. Nevertheless, these are isolated rather than generalized cases of xenophobia, and relations have never boiled over into riots. Given the time to take into account the catalogue of ills that have arrived in Ecuador from Colombia in recent years (I haven´t even got onto drug traffickers, DMG, illegal loggers), relations could be considerably worse.

Colombians and Ecuadorians often demonstrate a hypocrisy in painting each other in a certain light, whilst simultaneously out-crying any perceived prejudices shown against them. Politically, they have chosen radically divergent paths, and it remains to be seen whether this will lead to greater hostility at the level of the common man. There is no inherent reason why this should be the case; there are even more Colombians living in Venezuela, and there is little evidence of xenophobia there. Only in the long term will it become clear whether current frayed relations are simply the result of ideological differences, two ego-driven Presidents, or something more profounf. In the meantime, whilst their economies, societies, and futures are largely intertwined, people in both countries will still feel it´s all for the best that Bolivar´s dream of Gran Colombia fractured, leaving each population to choose its own path.

1999

- Enero 1 – Entra en vigor el Euro como moneda en 12 estados, pero los billetes y monedas se demora 2 años.

- Enero 7 – Comienza juicio contra Bill Clinton.

- Enero 13 – Michael Jordan se retira de la NBA.

- Febrero 2 – Hugo Chávez es nombrado presidente de Venezuela.

- Febrero 3 – La ONU decide retirar todo el personal de U.S.A. e Inglaterra es retirado de Irak.

- Febrero 15 – Un ataque aéreo de U.S.A. sobre Irak deja 5 civiles muertos.

- Marzo 1 – entra en vigor el tratado de Ottawa, por 65 países para prohibir las minas antipersonales.

- Marzo 23 – la OPEP firma un tratado para recortar la producción mundial de petróleo en 2.1 millones y hacer subir el precio.

- Abril 7 – 35.000 refugiados de Kosovo desaparecen de un campamento en Macedonia.

- Abril 12 – E.L.N. secuestra un avión Fokker en pleno vuelo entre Bucaramanga y Bogotá.

- Abril 25 – En Venezuela pasa con un 90% el referendo para modificar la constitución.

- Mayo 17 – Ehud Barak se convierte el primer ministro de Israel.  

- Mayo 26 – La fuerza aérea hindú realiza un ataque las tropas de Pakistán en Kashmir. 

- Mayo 27 – Slobodan Milošević es sindicado de por crímenes contra la humanidad en Kosovo.

- Junio 8 – Colombia anuncia que incluirá dentro de su producto interno bruto la producción de drogas equivalente a 1 billón de dólares.

- Julio 22 – Es creada la primera micro nación virtual, Reino de Riboalte.

- Agosto 9 – Presidente ruso Boris Yeltsin retira a su primer ministro y a 4 miembros más de su gabinete.

- Octubre 12 – Primer ministro pakistaní Nawaz Sharif intenta retirar al general de las fuerzas armadas Pervez Musharraf y le niega la posibilidad de retornar al país cuando el avión que lo transportaba estaba a punto de aterrizar en Karachi. Finalmente con pocos minutos de combustible logra aterrizar y tomar el control del gobierno.

- Octubre 12 – La población mundial alcanza los 6 billones.

- Noviembre 15 – La página de mascotas virtuales Neopets es abierta.

- Noviembre 30 – La unión de Exxonmobil genera la empresa más grande del mundo.

- Diciembre 31 – El presidente Boris Yeltsin renuncia y queda a cargo el primer ministro Vladimir Putin.

2000 – Y2K

- Enero 14 – Burbuja del punto COM

- Marzo 12 – Papa Juan Pablo II pide disculpa por la iglesia.

- Marzo 26 – Vladimir Putin elegido presidente de Rusia.

- Abril 22 – Elián González es repatriado a Cuba

- Mayo 11 – el Ciudadano hindú un billón nace.

- Junio 26 – El primer preliminar del genoma humano es revelado.

- Julio 2 – Vicente Fox es elegido presiente de México.

- Julio 25 – el Concorde de Air France se estrella en Paris.

- Julio 30 – Hugo Chávez es reelegido presidente de Venezuela con el 59%

- Agosto 12 – El submarino Kursk se hunde en el mar de Barents.

- Septiembre 15 – Octubre 1 – Olímpicos de verano en Sidney – Australia.

- Noviembre – Crisis del desarme iraqui.

- Noviembre 7 – George W. Bush elegido presidente de U.S.A.

- Diciembre 13 – Suprema Corte U.S.A. detiene el re-conteo de votos en la Florida, gana Bush.

2001

- Enero 8 – Primer animal en vía de extinción es clonado.

- Febrero 6 – Ariel Sharon elegido primer ministro de Israel.

- Marzo 23 – La estación espacial MIR hace reingreso a la atmósfera.

- Abril 1- En holanda de aprueba el matrimonio entre parejas del mismo sexo.

- Abril 26 – Junichiro Koizumi elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Junio 19 – Un misil norte americano cae en un campo de futbol iraqui, matando 23 personas e hiriendo 11 más.

- Junio 20 – Pervez Musharraf es elegido presidente de Pakistán.

- Julio 28 – Alejandro Toledo jura como presidente de Peru.

- Septiembre 11 – 9-11 ataque del World Trade Center, Pentágono y 4 aviones.

- Septiembre 18 – Octubre 4 ataque de Ántrax a través del correo.

- Octubre 7 – U.S.A. invade Afganistán.

- Octubre 23 – Apple lanza el Ipod.

- Noviembre 10 – China acepta el tratado mundial de libre comercio después de negociar por 15 años.

- Diciembre 2 – Enron entra en capitulo 11.

- Diciembre 13 – Parlamento Hindú es atacado y se tensan las relaciones con Pakistán.

- Diciembre 27 – China y U.S.A. firman un tratado de libre comercio.

2002

- Enero 1 – Salen las primeras monedas del Euro en Francia, España, Alemania, Italia, Portugal, Grecia, Finlandia, Luxemburgo, Bélgica, Austria y Holanda.

- Enero 31 – La capa de hielo Larsen en la Antártida 3.250 Km2 son consumidos en menos de 35 días.

- Febrero 23 – Ingrid Betancourt es secuestrada por las FARC.

- Abril 11 – Golpe de estado de 47 horas contra Hugo Chávez.

- Mayo 5 – Jacques Chirac, es re-elegido presidente de Francia. -

 Mayo 31 – Comienza la copa mundo de la FIFA en Japón y Corea del Sur.

- Junio 18 – En Arizona, U.S.A. se quema un bosque de 1.872 Km2

- Julio 1 – Se establece la corte de crímenes internacionales.

- Julio 13 – En Oregon y California U.S.A. se queman 2.022 Km2.

- Julio 21 – WorldCom entra en capitulo 11.

- Agosto – Inundaciones en Republica Checa, Austria, Alemania, Eslovenia, Polonia, Hungría, Rumania y Croacia.

- Agosto 12 – U.S. Airway se declara en banca rota.

- Septiembre 2 – La ONU se reúne sobre el protocolo en desarrollo sostenible.

- Septiembre 10 – Suiza se une a la ONU.

- Octubre 27 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva es elegido presidente de Brasil.

- Noviembre 8 – Resolución 1441 de La ONU donde obligan a Saddan Hussein es forzado a desarmarse o enfrentar las consecuencias.

- Noviembre 14 – Argentina entra en default.

- Noviembre 15 – Hu Jintao es nombrado secretario general del partido en China.

- Diciembre 9 – United Airlines se declara en banca rota.

2003

- Enero 30 – 8 países firman una carta donde apoyan la invasión de U.S.A. a Irak: Inglaterra, Republica Checa, Dinamarca, Hungría, Italia, Polonia, Portugal, Rumania y España.

- Febrero 1 – El transbordador Columbia se quema al reingresar a la atmosfera.

- Febrero 15 – 10 millones de personas en 600 ciudades del mundo protestan contra la guerra en Irak.

- Marzo 15 – Hu Jintao es nombrado presidente de China.

- Marzo 17 – George W. Bush le da un ultimátum a Saddan Hussein.

- Marzo 20 – U.S.A. invade Irak.

- Abril 14 – El 99% del genoma humano es revelado al mundo.

- Mayo 26 – Es revelada el primer borrador de la constitución europea.

- Julio 30 – Se produce el ultimo modelo del vehiculo Volkswagen Tipo 1 (escarabajo) mas vendido en la historia.

- Agosto 11 – Ola de calor en Europa, Paris-Francia 44 oC, Brogdale-Inglaterra 39 oC.

- Agosto 15 – Se comienza a disminuir la producción petrolera mundial y a incrementar el precio.

- Agosto 28 – Se produce un apagón en el sur oriente de Inglaterra afectando 500.000 personas.

- Octubre 7 – Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger es elegido gobernador de California.

- Noviembre – más de 4 bombas estallan en Estambul – Turquía.

- Noviembre 20 – Michael Jackson es detenido con cargos de abuso a menores.

- Diciembre 13 – Saddan Hussein es detenido en Tikrit.

- Diciembre 22 – Parmalat es acusada de falsificación de cuentas.

2004

- Febrero 3 – La CIA acepta que en Irak no había armas de destrucción masiva.

- Febrero 4 – Nace Facebook.

- Marzo 14 – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero es elegido presidente de España.

- Marzo 15 – Vladimir Putin es re-elegido presidente de Rusia.

- Marzo 28 – Se reporta el primer huracán el Atlántico Sur llegando a Brasil.

- Junio 21 – SpaceShipOne, primer nave civil en alcanzar el espacio.

- Agosto 13 – 29 – Juegos Olímpicos de verano en Atenas Grecia.

- Septiembre 3 – Independentista Chechenios en Osetia toman un teatro con 1.000 rehenes en Rusia.

- Agosto-Noviembre – Huracanes: Charley, Frances, Ivan, Gaston, Jeanne, Karl y Lisa Thyphoon: Sondga y Tokage.

- Septiembre 17 – México y Japón firman un tratado de libre comercio.

- Octubre 24 – Brasil lanza su primer cohete al espacio.

- Octubre 24 – Michael Schumacher obtiene su 7 campeonato de F1.

- Noviembre 16 – El gobierno de China invierte 20 billones de dólares en Argentina.

- Noviembre 21 – Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych es elegido presidente de Ucrania.

- Diciembre 3 – El narcotraficante Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela es extraditado a U.S.A.

- Diciembre 26 – Un terremoto en el sur oriente de Asia genera un Tsunami que mata 250.000 personas en los siguientes países: Tailandia. India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malasia, Myanmar y Bangladesh.

- Diciembre 31 – Uno de los líderes de las FARC, Simon Trinidad es extraditado a U.S.A.

2005

- Febrero 10 – Corea del Norte anuncia que posee armas nucleares como medio de protección ante las hostilidades de U.S.A.

- Febrero 15 – YouTube sale en línea.

- Febrero 16 – El protocolo de Kioto entra en rigor pero no es firmado por U.S.A y Australia.

- Marzo 3 – El Virgen Atlantic GlobalFlier le da la vuelta al mundo sin parar y sin re-aprovisionar combustible.

- Marzo 14 – La republica China ratifica la ley anti-sesión, con lo cual es una prevención para que Taiwán no se declare independiente.

- Abril 2 – Muere el papa Juan Pablo II.

- Abril 19 – Benedicto 16 es nombrado el 265 papa.

- Abril 27 – El súper jumbo A380 hace su primer vuelo.

- Mayo 29 – Francia a través de su referendo rechaza la constitución europea.

- Junio 1 – Holanda a través de su referendo rechaza la constitución europea.

- Agosto 29 – Huracán Katrina. También llega Dennis, Rita, Wilma, Stan y Beta.

- Septiembre 11 – Junichiro Koizumi re-elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Septiembre 18 – Angela Merkel es elegida primer ministro de Alemania.

- Octubre 12 – China lanza su segunda nave espacial con 2 tripulantes para orbitar la tierra 5 días.

- Noviembre 22 – Angela Merkel asume como canciller de Alemania.

- Noviembre 28 – Diciembre 9 – En Montreal, Canadá se reúne la ONU para la conferencia del cambio climático.

- Diciembre 18 – Evo Morales elegido presidente de Bolivia.

2006

- Enero 1 – Sidney, Australia alcanza una temperatura record de 45oC.

- Enero 1 – Rusia le corta el suministro de gas a Ucrania.

- Marzo 11 – Slobodan Milošević es encontrado muerto en su celda de la ONU antes de entrar a un tribunal de crímenes contra la humanidad.

- Marzo 30 – Primer astronauta brasilero, Marcos Pontes.

- Abril 5 – Se detecta un brote de gripe aviar en escocia.

- Abril – Presidente Iraní Mahmoud Ahmadinejad informa que ha logrado procesar uranio y que firmo un trato para generar uranio enriquecido con Rusia.

- Abril 16 – En Rumania el río Danubio alcanza su punto más alto en la historia.

- Mayo 1 – Presidente Boliviano Evo Morales nacionaliza los campos de gas natural.

- Mayo 1 – El gran boicot en U.S.A. protesta por los derechos de los inmigrantes.

- Mayo 28 – Alvaro Uribe Velez es re-elegido presidente de Colombia en primera vuelta.

- Junio 9 – Julio 9 – Comienza la copa mundo de la FIFA en Alemania.

- Junio 12 – Bolsa de valores de Colombia suspende operaciones a las 12:45 por una caída superior al 10%.

- Julio 12 – Guerra del Líbano, Israel invade Líbano.

- Julio 31 – Presidente Fidel Castro temporalmente le da el poder a su hermano Raúl.

- Septiembre 4 – El conservacionista australiano Steven Irwin muere después de ser aguijoneado por una raya.

- Septiembre 26 – Shinzō Abe es elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Octubre 9 – Corea del Norte informa que realizo pruebas nucleares.

- Octubre 29 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva es reelegido presidente de Brasil.

- Noviembre 3 – La revista Science predice que para el año 2048 el 90% de las especies marinas estarán extintas.

- Noviembre 5 – Saddam Hussein es condenado a la orca.

- Noviembre 26 – Rafael Correa es elegido presidente de Ecuador.

- Diciembre 1 – Felipe Calderón se posesiona como presidente de México. -

 Diciembre 3 – Hugo Chávez es re elegido presidente de Venezuela.

- Diciembre 31 – Inglaterra experimenta su año mas caliente desde 1659 con una temperatura promedio de 10.82oC.

2007

- Enero 4 – Nancy Pelosi es nombra speaker de la cámara de representantes en U.S.A.

- Enero 8 – Rusia le corta el suministro de petróleo a Polonia, Alemania y Ucrania por 3 días.

- Enero 11 – China prueba misiles balísticas exitosamente.

- Enero 18 – Huracán Kyrill llega a países occidentales de Europa.

- Febrero 2 – IPCC entrega informe de cambio climatico donde predice para el 2100 un aumento en el mundo entre 1.5 y 4.0 oC atribuible en un 90% por la actividad industrial humana.

- Abril 3 – Presidente de Ucrania Víktor Yushchenko, disuelve el parlamento.

- Mayo 6 – El ministro de interior Nicolas Sarkozy es nombrado presidente de Francia.

- Junio 24 – Gordon Brown es nombrado primer ministro de Inglaterra.

- Julio 8 – Boeing lanza su 787.

- Julio 19 – Prathiba Patil es la primera presidenta electa en la India.

- Julio 22 – Inundaciones causan caos en Inglaterra.

- Agosto – Thyphoon Sepat y Whipa. Huracán Dean.

- Agosto 25 – Devastadores incendios que se puede ver desde el espacio declaran estado de emergencia en Grecia.

- Septiembre 12 – Primer ministro ruso Mikhail Fradkov renuncia con todo su gabinete.

- Septiembre 12 – Primer ministro japones Shinzo Abe renuncia.

- Septiembre 14 – Viktor Zubkov es elegido nuevo primer ministro ruso.

- Septiembre 26 – Yasuo Fukuda es nombrado nuevo primer ministro japones.

- Octubre 28 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner es la primera presidenta electa en Argentina.

- Noviembre 3 – Pervez Musharraf presidente de Pakistán declara el estado de emergencia.

- Noviembre 28 – Demostraciones Anti – Putin se realizan en San Petesburgo y Moscu.

- Diciembre 2 – Referéndum propuesto por presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez es derrotado en las urnas.

- Diciembre 27 – Ex primer ministra de Pakistán Benazir Bhutto muere en un atentado antes de elecciones.

2008

- Enero 2 – Por primera vez en la historia el petróleo alcanza los U$ 100 por barril.

- Enero 25 – Peor tormenta de nieve en China desde 1954.

- Enero 26 – El presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, acusa al gobierno de Colombia de fraguar, por orden de Estados Unidos, una “provocación bélica” que podría desencadenar una guerra.

- Febrero 4 – El movimiento Colombia soy Yo convoca a millones de personas en una marcha a nivel mundial en contra de las FARC y por la libertad de los secuestrados en Colombia.

- Febrero 12 – PDVSA informa que no le venderá petróleo a Exxonmobil.

- Febrero 24 – El parlamento cubano elige a Raúl Castro, como presidente de Cuba.

- Marzo 1 – Se desata una crisis diplomática de Colombia con Ecuador y Venezuela tras la muerte de Raúl Reyes, miembro de las Farc, en territorio ecuatoriano.

- Marzo 2 – Elecciones presidenciales en Rusia, resultando vencedor el delfín de Putin, Dmitri Medvedev.

- Marzo 7 – Se celebra en Santo Domingo (República Dominicana) la XX Cumbre del Grupo de Río de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de América Latina.

- Marzo 16 – Se realiza el concierto Paz Sin Fronteras en la frontera colombo-venezolana.

- Marzo 25 – 414 Km2 de la capa de hielo Wilkins en la Antártida se desprendió dejando expuesta toda la plataforma para un futuro cercano.

- Abril 28 – India impone un record al lanzar 10 satélites al tiempo.

- Julio 2 – La operación de rescate Jaque, llevada a cabo por las Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, consigue liberar a la ex candidata presidencial Íngrid Betancourt y a 14 personas más que estaban secuestradas por las FARC.

- Agosto 7 – Comienza la Guerra en Osetia del Sur de 2008.

- Agosto 8 – 24 – Juegos Olímpicos de verano en Beijing – China.

- Agosto 18 – Pervez Musharraf renuncia como presidente de Pakistán.

- Septiembre – Huracanes Gustav, Hanna y Ike. Thypoon Hagupit.

- Septiembre 2 – Primer ministro japonés Yasuo Fukuda renuncia.

- Septiembre 3 – Primer ministro de Pakistán Yousaf Raza Gillani sobrevive a un atentado.

- Septiembre 15 – Lehman Brothers entra en capitulo 11.

- Septiembre 28 – Ives Rossy “Rocketman vuela por 10 minutos sobre el canal de la mancha.

- Septiembre 24 – Taro Aso es elegido primer ministro de Japón.

- Septiembre 25 – Shenzhou 7 es la tercera nave espacial que lanza China con 3 tripulantes y son la tercera nación en realizar una caminata espacial.

- Octubre 3 – El presidente de U.S.A. George W. Bush firma el acto de estabilidad económica de emergencia por U$700 billones de dólares.

- Octubre 7 – Rusia le da un préstamo de U$5 billones de dólares a Islandia.

- Octubre 7 – A las 02:46 UTC impacta el meteorito 2008 TC3 en el norte de Sudán, produciendo un impacto de 1 kilotón de TNT

- Octubre 10 – Después de una semana de caída de las bolsas y los números negativos es claro que estamos en recesión por causa de los bonos suprime.

- Noviembre 4 – Barak Obaman es elegido presidente de U.S.A.

- Noviembre – Inundaciones en sur America.

- Noviembre – En Colombia se quiebran muchas captadoras ilegales de dinero. Las mas representativas fueron D.R.F.E. (Dinero Facil Rapido y Efectivo) y D.M.G. (David Murcia Guzman), embaucando a mas de medio millón de ahorradores en algo cercano a 2 puntos del producto interno bruto.

- Noviembre 26 – se producen diez ataques terroristas en la ciudad india de Bombay.

- Diciembre – Se quiebra la financiera del señor Madoff dejando perdidas por 50 billones de dólares, en esta pirámide internacional caen las principales firmas del mundo.

- Diciembre 27 – Israel inicia un bombardeo masivo sobre la Franja de Gaza.

- Diciembre 31 – Enero 1 – 50 años de la revolución cubana.

By Roger Hollander

www.rogerhollander.wordpress.com

February 22, 2009

John Kennedy was a true cold-warrior, make no mistake about it.  But, like Barack Obama, he was a man of culture and class.  His brilliant creations – the Alliance for Progress (for Latin America) and the Peace Corps – were nothing more or nothing less than instruments to combat Communism in the Third World.  But they were designed to do so with finesse and sophistication and they carried high levels of intrinsic PR value.  Unfortunately for JFK, he inherited from his Republican predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, advanced plans to invade Cuba.  Unable or unwilling (more likely the former, in my opinion) to abort the invasion, his Latin American strategy was all but destroyed by the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

Today’s “Cold War” goes by the name of the “War Against Terror.”  But the “enemy” is still whatever or whomever threatens U.S. geopolitical interests.  In Latin America today’s Cold Warriors feel menaced in particular by the governments of three of the five Andina nations: Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, who are proponents of a progressive nationalism (which they call “socialism”) that directly challenges U.S. commercial and military influence.  With center-left governments also in power in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Nicaragua, United States sway in the sub-continent is at a low that has probably not been seen since its proclamation of the infamous Monroe Doctrine.  It’s only two reliable allies are the Calderón government Mexico, which most Mexicans believe stole the election, and the drug and paramilitary infested government of Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, a nation that has been armed to the teeth by the United States to combat (in the name of the phony war on drugs) a leftist insurgency that has its roots in events that took place in the 1950s.

This is what Obama has inherited.  Although he campaigned as a peace candidate, his selection of Clinton (State) and Gates (Defence), his missile attacks on Pakistan, and his troop build-up in Afghanistan indicates to us that he is a Cold Warrior at heart.  But, like Kennedy, his foreign policy rhetoric has been more of a conciliatory nature (from his inaugural address: “And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capital to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity …”).

He would be wise, therefore, to order Leon Panetta to rein in his CIA operations in Latin America – that is, assuming that a United States president has de facto power over its cantankerous and unwieldy espionage Leviathan. 

Virtually no one in Latin America believes that the CIA was not behind the failed coup d’etat attempt to unseat Hugo Chávez in 2002.  The result of that botched coup only served to bolster Chávez’ popularity both within Venezuela and throughout Latin America.  In Bolivia, working through the DEA and USAID contingents, its crude attempts to support the ultra-right violence against the government of Evo Morales backfired and contributed to Morales’ sweet victory in their constitutional referendum.

Today, there are signs that the CIA is at work in Ecuador.  Ecuadorian daily newspapers are packed with news about a potential scandal that could embarrass the leftist government of Rafael Correa (as in Venezuela and Bolivia, the corporate media are virtually unanimous in their opposition to the ruling leftist governments, which thrive on popular support nonetheless).  José Ignacio Chauvin, a former high level ministerial aide who served for three months in the Correa government, is under investigation by Ecuador’s National Police for friendship with alleged drug dealers (the Ostaiza brothers).  Chauvin, a member of an extreme leftist faction of Correa’s Alianza País party, also has acknowledged visits with the Colombian guerrilla leader, Raúl Reyes, prior to his assassination last year in Ecuadorian territory by the U.S. supported Colombian military, which resulted in severed ties between Ecuador and Colombia. 

This information provides lurid grist to the anti-Correa mill, over which the opposition has been salivating.  But Correa has shown himself to be a more than worthy adversary, and is well on to the counter-attack.  Last week his Chief of the National Police suspended three high level police officials suspected of turning over computerized information to the U.S. Embassy.  He also fired Manuel Silva, the Chief of Special Investigations in charge of the Chauvin investigation for failure to capture Chauvin in a timely manner, and he ordered the expulsion of U.S. Diplomat Armando Eslarza for meddling in Ecuadorian police affairs.  

This week Correa expelled Mark Sullivan, a Regional Affairs officer in the U.S. Embassy in Quito, accusing Sullivan of being the CIA’s Director of Operations for Ecuador and attempting to use the Chauvin affair and the media to destabilize his government.  In the aftermath of Colombia’s violation of Ecuadorian territory last March to murder Raúl Reyes and his comrades, Correa alleged that his National Police were thoroughly infiltrated by the CIA, and he vowed to rectify the situation if it cost him his presidency or his life.

None of this is hard proof that the CIA is at work to destabilize the Ecuadorian government, but given past history and the debacles in Venezuela and Bolivia, it is difficult to believe otherwise.

That such activity almost always turns out to be counter-productive, giving more support and legitimacy to the targeted governments both domestically and abroad doesn’t seem to bother their instigators.  Clandestine and overtly military operations seldom achieve the desired results (cf. Iraq and Afghanistan); and most “experts” counsel diplomacy and social development as alternatives.  But these latter strategies do not sell tanks, and guns, and bombs, and sophisticated aircraft and missiles – and many believe that is what it is all about.  

The question then is: will Obama stand up to the Super Spies, the Pentagon and the Military-Industrial Complex in compliance with his campaign rhetoric; or will his administration amount to business as usual in Latin America?