News From the Narcosphere:
New Colombia Military Chief Has Dark Past;
U.S. Expanding "River Combat" Ops in Colombia;
World Water Forum and Juarez' Birthday in Mexico;
Complaint Filed Against Super-Secretive Judge
March 23, 2006
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The Narcosphere is buzzing with activity on Colombia. Sean Donahue reports that a general believed to be a former
paramilitary fighter and to have maintained ties with right-wing death squads while rising through the ranks and leading
key military operations has been placed in charge of the Colombian armed forces:
"Just days before signing a trade agreement with the U.S. which will accelerate the sell-off of Colombia's land and
resources to foreign corporations, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe appointed General Mario Montoya to head Colombia's
armed forces.
"Uribe brought in Montoya, long a favorite of the U.S., to help rehabilitate the military's image following a hazing
scandal. Montoya, however, has his own dark past - throughout a long career, working to consolidate resource-rich areas,
the general has frequently been charged with working hand in hand with right-wing paramilitaries. At the press
conference announcing Montoya's promotion, Uribe said 'In this moment of our Nation's history we need triumphant
commanders. We don't need commanders to justify defeats' and called for 'a final victory' -- giving Montoya a clear
go-ahead to use any means necessary to crush resistance in Colombia."
Read the full story, here:
And the discussion continues on a story posted by Stephen Peacock more than a week ago. Peacock's story revealed that
the U.S. was seeking to expand its assistance to the Colombian military for "river combat" operations and training by
creating a new private contractor position and sending a fleet of small armored boats.
Peacock later discovered that the private contract for "Riverine Plans Officer" had already been awarded to a small
company in Amarillo, Texas. Various Internet searches turned up no reference to the company and it did not seem to have
been awarded any previous government contracts. But Narco News today was able to reach the contractor by phone. Read
what he had to say and the further debate it has sparked, here:
That's not all that's new from our muckraking copublishers in the Narcosphere. From Mexico, Juan Trujillo reports on
last week's World Water Forum in Mexico city, where business and government leaders met to discuss the further
privatization of the world's water supply as civil society demonstrated outside and held alternative forums:
Nancy Davies reports from Oaxaca on the celebrations for the birthday of Mexico's beloved 19th-century indigenous
president Benito Juaréz. The holiday, writes Davies, has only highlighted how absent Juaréz' ideals are in Mexico today
amid continued government repression of social movements:
And Bill Conroy writes of a complaint over a federal judge's excessive secrecy... the same judge assigned to the Scooter
Libby case:
"FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds is taking the judge in her federal court case to task for his seemingly over-the-top
pursuit of secrecy at the expense of transparency and justice.
"In a motion filed today with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Edmonds claims federal Judge Reggie Walton
has demonstrated a penchant for unwarranted secrecy, which has proven prejudicial to her litigation. As a result, she
claims that Walton should not be allowed to continue as the judge for her case.
"By the way, Walton is also the judge assigned to hear the criminal case of 'Scooter' Libby, the former White House
official accused of compromising CIA undercover operate Valerie Plame Wilson."
Read that full story here:
From somewhere in a country called América,
Dan Feder Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin