Daily Kos: Kyle Johnson

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Tuesday May 15, 2007 · 9:35 AM PDT

2007/05/15 · 09:35

Last November, I posted a piece about the violence in the Colombian city of Buenaventura and its relations to drugs. I'll be traveling there this summer, and in researching in the city again, I came across an article in a leading Colombian news Magazine called Semana about the city. As the article points out, not much has changed in the last 6 months, and it seems the situation has gotten mildly worse, somehow. The city is still Colombia's most violent and despite the increased numbers of security forces, the violence continues and bomb attacks are up. What follows is the article translated from Semana...

The Nest of the Eagles

Kyle Johnson

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Monday February 26, 2007 · 10:13 AM PST

2007/02/26 · 10:13

Since Colombia's shaky and controversial peace process with the AUC paramilitaries began in 2002, violations of the ceasefire signed by the death squads on December 1, 2002 began appearing throughout the country. The last demobilization took place in August 2006, but even before this last demobilization, new small paramilitary groups had also begun to appear. There has been one group that since the beginning has always been noted: The Aguilas Negras, or, the Black Eagles. This group first appeared in the northeastern department (province) of Norte de Santander. In August/September of 2006, all of the social groups that I interviewed in the north/central city of Barrancabermeja told me of their presence in the country, and in the rural areas outside of Barrancabermeja. A Colombian weekly news magazine, Semana, has been incredibly on the ball with regards to the new paramilitarism in Colombia, including the Black Eagles. The following is an article translated from Semana that details the rise of the Black Eagles, where they are at now, and what it means for the country of Colombia. Next diary will discuss what the Black Eagles mean for US policy in Colombia

#2 for Displaced in the World, and Who Knows?

Kyle Johnson

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Monday February 12, 2007 · 11:59 AM PST

2007/02/12 · 11:59

Second only to Sudan/Darfur in the number of Internally Displaced Persons lies Colombia, a country more synonymous with drugs and kidnappings than a serious humanitarian catastrophe. For those who have traveled to the war-torn nation's capital Bogota, the displaced are not easily missed, even for tourists. The central area of the city sees countless displaced families begging on the streets for whatever amount of pesos any one can spare. The northern part of the city is incredibly rich, and it is there where the displaced rarely make it to beg or look for a job. On the contrary, the southern part of Bogota is incredibly poor, and has a very high displaced population, in some places over 50%. Those forced to leave their homes do so to seek refuge in the relative safety of the large cities. Leaving everything behind is more than a difficult decision, and it also shows us what people must go through in order to, minimally, survive the war.

FARC vs ELN in Colombia

Kyle Johnson

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Tuesday February 06, 2007 · 7:02 AM PST

2007/02/06 · 07:02

For most Americans, Colombia is a country of drugs, guerrillas and war. Those who are a little more intimate with the situation know Colombia is a complex country where guerrillas, paramilitaries and narco-traffickers are fighting for control of the drug trade and its corresponding corridors. It also goes beyond a doubt that the military and paramilitaries have been connected for years, killing and massacring all over the country. The same is true for the two main guerrilla groups. The FARC and ELN have worked together on and off in all parts of the country in order to take on the military, paramilitaries and kill and massacre the civilian population. But this has changed in the last year or so. The FARC declared war against the ELN first in Arauca and more recently in the southwestern portion of the country...

A Good Model for Afghanistan?

Kyle Johnson

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Tuesday January 23, 2007 · 9:49 AM PST

2007/01/23 · 09:49

On Friday January 19th, General Peter Pase, Chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff, stated that the counterdrug and couterinsurgency model used by Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe would be a good model to use in Afghanistan. To those who follow Colombian politics, US policy there and the war in the country, this statement is beyond shocking. US Drug Policy has failed on all accounts. The paramilitary peace process has been borderline complete farse, with any success being limited at best. Uribe's counterinsurgency policy has been a mixed success at best. Countless analysts have argued that the FARC are in a strategic retreat and not have been beaten back towards defeat. Lastly, if the Colombian model were to be adopted in Afghanistan, one shouldexpect more failure for Afghanistan.

Coca-Cola in Colombia, FIRST DRAFT - FINAL COMING

Kyle Johnson

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Thursday December 14, 2006 · 10:23 AM PST

2006/12/14 · 10:23

In early September of this year, I visited Barrancabermeja a city in north-central Colombia. While there, I met with various social organizations and their leaders including William Mendoza, who I had interviewed in the past, the president of Sinaltrainal, a union suing Coca-Cola for, what he says, is complicity in the murder of union members. The following post is a story I'm writing for UCONN's paper as an op-ed based on info from my interview with William, info I got in general in Barrancabermeja, info from interviews with other social organizations in the city and info derived from outside sources. Who knows when it'll appear at UCONN, but I'm sure some of this info will be used for a story on Barrancabermeja in general in the near future.

The War Over Drugs

Kyle Johnson

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Thursday November 30, 2006 · 9:37 AM PST

2006/11/30 · 09:37

The city of Buenaventura, on Colombia's Pacific coast in the southwestern department of Valle del Cauca, is a violent battle ground for the control of a port city incredibly important for narco-trafficking. The port city has seen over 300 murders this year alone, as FARC guerrilas, paramilitaries, who either have not disarmed or are re-arming, and gangs that work for drug traffickers have been fighting openly, and at times in broad daylight, for control of the city. Recently, Valle del Cauca has caused much worry for public officials: Cali has seen a rise in guerrilla violence, more police are to be sent the city and Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe, has stated publicly that the Farc guerrillas will not "subdue" Cali. Many officials and social organizations have been very worried about the situation in Buenaventura as well. About 2 weeks ago, a bomb went off in a market square in Buenaventura, killing a police officer, and only a few days later6 murders shocked the city. This year the murder rate in Buenaventura is about 100 per every 100,000 residents...

Digging up the Disappeared in Colombia

Kyle Johnson

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Tuesday November 28, 2006 · 10:13 AM PST

2006/11/28 · 10:13

While drops in homicides, though usually unrelated to the war in Colombia, has been a welcome sign in Colombia, one part of the war that until the last 5 years or so has been a under-publicized part of the war, forced disappapearances, has been on the rise. In the last 20 years, at least 3,000 people have been disappeared, with a lowball estimate. One good thing that has come out of the paramilitary peace process is that communities are no longer afraid to denounce to authorities where graves of the disappeared are. And because of this, people have been telling the authorities. Colombia's Attorney-General is in charge of finding the graves, exhuming the bodies and finding out who the people in graves are. Unfortunately, there are some problems. For example, there are only 2 people whose job it is to go to the parts of the country where there may be graves and find them. As any institution with any real hope in Colombia, it's highly underfunded and understaffed, to say the least.

Letters from Putumayo

Kyle Johnson

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Sunday November 26, 2006 · 10:42 PM PST

2006/11/26 · 22:42

In August, I traveled to Putumayo, in southern Colombia, to witness the effects of the US's war on drugs in the region. I first traveled there for 4 days with an international human rights organization called Witness for Peace and then returned to the region only 4 days later on my own to witness a large meeting of poor farmers, campesinos, who were presenting their plan for getting rid of coca voluntarily.

First Post...article in Revista Cambio about paramilitaries

Kyle Johnson

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Saturday November 25, 2006 · 8:13 PM PST

2006/11/25 · 20:13

This article appeared in this week's version of Revista Cambio. In Colombia, scandals involving paramilitaries have been unfolding and revealed almost daily. A few days ago, paramilitary bosses appeared for cameras working in gardens and soccer fields in the vacation resort-turned-prison in north-western Colombia. This show for photographers had the goal of convincing people that these paramilitaries are not just hanging out at a resort, but are actually doing manual labor to pay off their time, though they most likely are just hanging out. It should be noted that what these guys are doing in the prison, tilling gardens, digging, cleaning up areas are what many Colombians do for their living, so to many peasants, and peasant vicitms of the paramilitaries, these photos mean nothing more than paramilitaries evading justice while they are stuck without and reparations. So here it is:

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