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Telesur indepth special: Paramilitaries in Venezuela
The phenomenon of paramilitary groups in Venezuela is on the rise, according to the country's government. President Nicolas Maduro revealed last month that there are 30 different Colombian paramilitary groups operating inside Venezuela
Paramilitary groups have mainly developed in Colombia, but the model was “exported” throughout the region during the Cold War. Today, paramilitary groups operate in Mexico, Honduras, and more recently in Paraguay
Venezuela, however, was relatively free from paramilitary forces – although there have been small guerrilla groups operating inside the country and land distribution issues – until 1997
In Febrary 1997, detained paramilitary groups were connected to wealthy landlords and had detailed maps of the border region of Apure. The men claimed they were hired by the Venezuelan Gen. Enrique Medina Gomez
Carlos Castaño, the leader of Colombia’s most famous paramilitary group, the United Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), confirmed later that same year that he had met with 140 Venezuelan businesspeople and landlords to create a similar paramilitary structure as the one he led in Colombia, particularly in border regions
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By Jesus Rojas - published on 13 September 2015 by Democracy and Class struggle
The incursion of paramilitary groups into Venezuela has been a silent and dangerous invasion. You can not allow under any circumstance that paramilitary groups be established in the country.Admittedly Colombian brothers have come to work with dignity, but others have come to commit crimes.
The paramilitary groups act as a mercenaries cells, paid by landowners or governments that promote terrorism, paramilitarism in Venezuela. They began acting at the frontier of Tachira, Apure and Zulia, in cattle rustling, kidnapping, extortion and killings. Proof of this has been the number of peasants killed by hired killers with land problems by paramilitary groups.
All these events are not accidental, behind these events is the hand of Santander Uribe Velez (Ex Colombian president) and his family, one of the creators of such mercenaries or paramilitaries in his country, there are also the seven US bases in Colombia, besides US embassies in Colombia and Venezuela and the stateless fascist bourgeoisie, who just want the rule of the jackboot be installed here.
They are using the paramilitaries to destabilize the country, the electricity service, the universities and economic sector, to convulse large cities with guarimbas and killings of leaders.
Venezuela has denounced the presence of extreme right paramilitary groups of the in its territory. These groups, coming from Colombia, are pursuing well-defined political and economic objectives.
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Published on 1 September 2015 by Council on hemispheric affairs
President Nicolas Maduro launched an ambitious campaign to fight organized crime (the Operation to Liberate and Protect the People–OLP) in the most seriously impacted states of the country. Over the past week, as a critical phase of this campaign, Venezuela has moved to take control over its notoriously porous border with Colombia in Táchira State, seriously disrupting the routine but illicit trade in contraband goods coming from Venezuela that has fueled a parallel economy in Colombia. This illicit trade, however, as well as manipulative currency exchange practices in the frontier area, has been generating some of the commodity shortages as well as the depreciation of the bolívar fuerte suffered by consumers in Venezuela. This is not a new issue. The crime and contraband problem along the border had been brewing for more than a decade. Moreover, a growing public outcry calling for decisive action to address both public security concerns and persistent commodity shortages has become particularly intense over the past two years and now threatens to derail the Bolivarian project ahead of the December 2015 legislative elections. Maduro had to either take decisive action or preside over the demise of the revolution.
This essay argues that there is a direct relationship between a significant part of the shortages of basic goods in Venezuela and the parallel economy in Colombia that is fueled by contraband smuggled out of Venezuela. This relationship, moreover, is unsustainable for the Venezuelan side and is a poor substitute for legitimate employment on the Colombian side. Though recent stepped up interdiction efforts over the past year have been intercepting contraband on a routine basis, the movement of subsidized goods out of Venezuela nevertheless has been unrelenting. Even the current operation, however, is only a temporarily fix; it will take cooperation between Bogotá and Caracas on security, economic, and social matters along their common frontier to bring about a satisfactory resolution of this issue.
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Published on 11 September 2015 by Venezuela Analysis
A Venezuelan judge sentenced far right opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to 13 years and nine months in prison Thursday evening for his role in leading last year’s violent anti-government protests.
Venezuelan judge Susana Barreiros found Lopez guilty of public incitement to violence and association to commit crimes. In particular, Barreiros cited over 700 tweets which she says urged supporters to take the streets to demand the “exit” of democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro.
Beginning on February 12, 2014 and lasting several months, the protests saw opposition supporters set up violent street barricades that led to the deaths of 43 people, over half of whom were security personnel and passersby.
Lopez was arrested on February 14 after clashes saw armed opposition backers attack the Public Prosecutor’s office and other government buildings, leading to several deaths and widespread public property damage.
Born into one of Venezuela's wealthiest families, Lopez is also well known for playing an active role in the US-sponsored 2002 coup which saw then-president Hugo Chavez briefly ousted from office. The arrest of the Harvard-educated lawyer has attracted widespread coverage from international news outlets, which have drawn comparisons between the rightwing politician and both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
The high profile trial, which took place over the span of a year and involved 70 hearings, was reportedly dragged out by delay tactics on the part of the Lopez team, including failing to show up for court on several occasions and mounting a thirty day hunger strike.
Responding to the ruling, Lopez told the judge, “You are more afraid to dictate the sentence than I am to hear it”. The statement has been construed by some as a veiled threat. The Lopez defense team has announced that it will appeal the decision.
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Published on 8 September 2015 by TeleSUR English
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Monday his country will receive 20,000 Syrian refugees fleeing Western interventionism, war and violence.
This is the same number of refugees U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday that his country will accept over the next five years.
Maduro took the chance to condemn plans by the U.S. and its Western allies to topple the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, who was democratically elected.
Instead, he said, they should seek to implement a peace plan for Syria, where a civil war that began in 2011 has left over 250,000 people dead and over 11 million displaced, including 3 million externally.
The U. N. agency for refugees recently revealed that Venezuela has received over 200,000 refugees in the last couple of years, of which over 95 percent are Colombians, who arrived in the neighboring country fleeing from violence, poverty and war.
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Published on 1 September 2015 by Prensa Latina
Giustino Di Celmo, a friend of the Cuban Revolution and who lost a son in Havana victim of a terrorist attack, died on the night of 1 September at the age of 94.
Di Celmo, a merchant by profession, traveled to Cuba for the first time in 1992 and during the most difficult years of the special period, he defied the blockade and threats hovering over this country, providing assistance in obtaining goods deficit for the people, says a note released here.
After the terrorist action against his son, Fabio, on September 4, 1997, in the lobby bar of the Copacabana Hotel, he decided to settle permanently on the island and was dedicated to denounce events of this kind against Cuba from the most diverse forums, the text added.
He also called for international solidarity with the Caribbean country and was a champion in the battle for the liberation of Elian Gonzalez after being kidnapped in Miami, and the return to the homeland of the five Cuban heroes who complied with cruel and unjust imprisonment in US jails.
Veteran of World War II, anti-fascist fighter, and man of peace, Di Celmo applied to become a member of the Communist Party of Cuba, exceptional status granted on September 30, 1997.
With his example, he captivated the affection and admiration of the people and his name will be registered as an example of solidarity with our country, highlights the note, adding that in response to the will of their children, the body will be cremated and subsequently repatriated to the home country.
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Published on 24 August by TeleSUR
Canadian mining companies account for 75 percent of the world’s extractive corporations. Canada is literally digging up the globe.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ed Fast says, “Canada’s mining sector … leads the world in responsible mining practices, and we are proud of the prosperity that this sector is creating at home and in every corner of the globe.”
However, the political, social and environmental costs are far greater than the Canadian government or mining corporations would have you believe.
In Latin America,Canada and its extractive industry are viewed as the new conquistadors; they are thirsty for land and minerals and hungry for power. Canadian mining companies are often positioned at the epicenter of community conflicts in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and linked with violence, environmental degradation, corruption and murder. Research produced by Canada’s own Prospectors and Development Association of Canada (PDAC) found that Canadian mining companies accounted for the most human and environmental rights abuses globally. Harrowing examples in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras further erode Canada’s claims of bringing “good” to the world.
Canadian mining companies’ environmental and human rights abuses have been well documented by affected communities, NGOs and transnational solidarity groups. Such injustices are tangible examples of deep structural violence that Canadian extractives are inextricably linked with. Their actions, under the guise of “development,” have undermined governance in countries where democracy can be described as “uneven.” Legal scholar Debbie Johnston writes:
“Canada’s extractive industry routinely seeks out unexploited natural resources located in underdeveloped nations that feature weak, failing or often oppressive governments that, in turn, rely on foreign investment of capital and technology to exploit their resources, to prosper, and in some cases to stay in power.” Canadian companies actively choose to operate in Central American countries with corrupt governments and often limited public support.
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Published on 26 August 2015 by Venezuela Analysis Infographic by TeleSUR English
Venezuelan and Colombian foreign ministers will meet today to discuss the issues surrounding Venezuela’s border closure and the crackdown on smuggling and undocumented Colombian immigrants in Tachira state, amid rising controversy.
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos advocated yesterday for diplomacy after senator and former leader Alvaro Uribe called Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro a dictator on Twitter and accused him of “torturing Colombians.”
Maduro closed the border between Tachira and Santander after three Venezuelan soldiers were attacked by alleged paramilitaries last week. The closure was soon extended to a 60-day state of exception- similar to a state of emergency but without the suspension of human rights- after Venezuelan authorities assessed an alarming level of smuggling and paramilitary-related violence in the region.
Santos also warned of politicians using the situation as a political platform, as Uribe visited the border area and fanned the flames of resentment in communities that were economically dependent on contraband gasoline and Venezuelan goods.
“Its not the time to sound the trumpets of war,” Santos rebuked, “It’s time for firemen to step in, not pyromaniacs.”
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Published on 24 August 2015 by Granma
Right wing forces, incapable of recognizing the electoral victories of popular governments, consistently resort to violent action, as is currently happening in Ecuador. After the failure of a general strike called for August 13, the opposition here launched another adventure, blocking roads - including the Pan American Highway – burning vehicles and tires, in an attempt to lay the groundwork for a coup d’etat against President Rafael Correa and the Citizens’ Revolution.
Police have quickly re-opened roadways and detained rioters attempting to pressure Rafael Correa with these maneuvers, which began this past June as supposed protests against proposed tax laws regarding inheritances and earnings. It soon became clear that the issue was a pretext for disrupting the government, in hopes of precipitating a coup, but the opposition has reaped few political dividends.
On the contrary, despite the opposition’s counterrevolutionary flag-waving, the population supported Correa’s policies with demonstrations August 13, without going on strike, while messages of solidarity arrived in Quito from political and social organizations across the country.
Normality reigned in Ecuador’s principal cities on the day of the attempted general strike, much to the chagrin of the opposition, led by well-known members of Ecuador’s elite who depend on a few leaders of Pachakutik, a faction within the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) and the Workers United Front.