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Feb 20
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From Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), translated by P&JfC
An international electoral observer mission in Colombia has today expressed concern about the fairness of upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in March and May of this year. They believe the electoral process has been marred by bribes, assassinations and persecution.
The director of the NGO “Americas Program of the International Relations Centre (IRC)” Laura Carlsen, has said that during her visit members of the mission have heard from the people that they interviewed that the candidates from the governing parties have used government subsidies to force people to vote for them. Continue reading »
In recent months, there had been an unprecedented escalatation of harassment and persecution of solidarity activists internationally who have shown support to the political struggles of the Colombian and other Latin American peoples. This international campaign began soon after the murder of former FARC-EP leader, Raúl Reyes and the illegal seizure of information from a “magic laptop” that did not get destroyed after heavy bombing. Law specialists have discussed the legitimacy of such source of information, as no protocols were followed while obtaining the data. Moreover there are severe doubts of its authenticity including INTERPOL reports showing improper handling of the laptop by Colombian authorities. In any case, that information —based on alias names, doubtful dates and the media interpretation of the supposed data— has been used as a base for interrogating academics, journalists, human rights advocates, unionists and solidarity activists, in an attempt to simplistically interpret social consciousness, political activism or solidarity with “terrorist activity.” 
This past summer, President Obama announced that he had signed an agreement with Colombia to grant the U.S. military access to 7 military bases in Colombia. As the UK’s Guardian newspaper announced at the time, “[t]he proposed 10-year lease will give the US access to at least seven Colombian bases – three air force, two naval and two army – stretching from the Pacific to the Caribbean.” And, these bases would accommodate up to 800 military and 600 civilian contractors of the United States. As the Guardian explained, this announcement caused outrage in neighboring Latin American nations and “damaged Barack Obama’s attempt to mend relations with the region.” 
