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.
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