"Long overdue needs"

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 30, 2000 Friday

HOUSE OKS COLOMBIA DRUG AID, BUT NO FOOD FOR CUBA;

Leaders resolved a last-minute snag yesterday and whisked through the House
an $11.2 billion emergency package bearing money for Colombia's drug war,
the Pentagon and storm victims at home.

Months in the making, the bill was approved by a bipartisan margin of
306-110. The Senate was all but certain to give it final approval today,
when Congress' Fourth of July break is scheduled to begin.

Signaling that he would sign the measure, President Clinton said afterward,
"While it contains certain flaws, in total this bill will make our nation
safer and more secure by meeting essential and long-overdue needs at home
and abroad."

(clip)

===

New York Times, July 14, 2000

Colombians Tell of Massacre, as Army Stood By

By LARRY ROHTER

EL SALADO, Colombia -- The armed men, more than 300 of them, marched into
this tiny village early on a Friday. They went straight to the basketball
court that doubles as the main square, residents said, announced themselves
as members of Colombia's most feared right-wing paramilitary group, and
with a list of names began summoning residents for judgment.

A table and chairs were taken from a house, and after the death squad
leader had made himself comfortable, the basketball court was turned into a
court of execution, villagers said. The paramilitary troops ordered liquor
and music, and then embarked on a calculated rampage of torture, rape and
killing.

"To them, it was like a big party," said one of a dozen survivors who
described the scene in interviews this month. "They drank and danced and
cheered as they butchered us like hogs."

By the time they left, late the following Sunday afternoon, they had killed
at least 36 people whom they accused of collaborating with the enemy,
left-wing guerrillas who have long been a presence in the area. The
victims, for the most part, were men, but others ranged from a 6-year-old
girl to an elderly woman. As music blared, some of the victims were shot
after being tortured; others were stabbed or beaten to death, and several
more were strangled.

Yet during the three days of killing last February, military and police
units just a few miles away made no effort to stop the slaughter, witnesses
said. At one point, they said, the paramilitaries had a helicopter flown in
to rescue a fighter who had been injured trying to drag some victims from
their home.

Instead of fighting back, the armed forces set up a roadblock on the way to
the village shortly after the rampage began, and prevented human rights and
relief groups from entering and rescuing residents.

Full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/071400colombia-violence.html


Louis Proyect

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