Crimes are crimes, no matter who commits them

Colombia’s president Álvaro Uribe thinks that the victims of his country’s horrible violence cannot be treated the same way. Those who are victims of crimes commited by the army, the police or the intelligence service DAS do not have the same facilities to get repaired by the state as the victims of the left wing guerrillas or the right wing paramilitaries.

Child soldiers in Colombia (3)

2133 children were victims of the paramilitaries in Colombia, the country’s daily El Tiempo writes today. More than 200 children were killed. Moreover several blocks recruited child soldiers, like the Élmer Cárdenas in the north west (395 children) and a block in the Magdalena Medio area (87 children).

Guerrilla girl puts to sleep her boss and escapes

The nicest news in Colombia yesterday: a guerrilla girl of the smaller guerrilla group ELN puts to sleep her commander with a herb called ‘tunda’ and escapes with 14 other fighters.

False positives and Carnival

‘Colombia es pasión’ is the slogan they use to promote the country. When I am in a cynical mood, I add ‘para matar’. In short, Colombia is passion to kill. In this country people are killed because thy don’t want to hand over their cell phone to a thief. They are killed because they (supposedly) cooperate with the guerrilla, the army or the paramilitaries (Look at my post about the Awá). Or they are killed because they are poor.

FARC kill 17 Awá indians in Colombia

It is hard to believe. While FARC-commander Alfonso Cano is mentioning negotiations with Piedad Córdoba and her ‘intellectuals’, his people in the south west department of Nariño kill 17 Awá indians.