Colombia Soccer
Colombia
According to the Ministry of Defense, as of September 30, guerrillas, particularly the FARC, and to a lesser extent, the ELN, committed nearly 650 terrorist bombings. On February 7, for example, a FARC operative detonated a car bomb in the parking garage of Bogota's exclusive El Nogal social club, killing 35 civilians, including 6 children, and injuring 173 others. On February 15, the FARC detonated a large cache of explosives during a police raid on a house in Neiva, Huila department that killed 17 persons and injured 37 others. The home was located near the city airport's main runway, and officials believed the explosives were intended for use in an assassination attempt against the President, who arrived by air the following day. On March 5, the ELN detonated a car bomb in a crowded shopping district in Cucuta, Norte de Santander department, that killed 7 persons and injured 60 others. In January, the FARC forced civilians to drive four cars loaded with explosives into military targ ... [Read More]
Colombia
On November 22, a Bogota judge convicted paramilitary Juan Carlos Gonzalez Jaramillo (alias "El Colorado") and Walter Jose Alvarez Rivera in the May 1997 murders of two CINEP workers, Mario Calderon and Elsa Alvarado, as well as Alvarado's father, Carlos Alvarado. Jaramillo was sentenced to 60 years in prison, and Alvarez Rivera was sentenced to 45 years. The judge determined that soccer magnate Gustavo Adolfo Upegui Lopez was not implicated in the murders but ordered a review of evidence presented during the CINEP trial that connected Upegui with paramilitary groups. Upegui remained under arrest in Medellin on separate charges at year's end. The judge also convicted two other men connected to the case for the illegal use of telecommunications equipment and exonerated two other men accused of organizing the murders. An arrest warrant for paramilitary leader Carlos Castano in connection with this case remains outstanding. ... [Read More]
Colombia
Guerrillas used landmines to defend static positions such as base camps and drug labs and as indiscriminate weapons of terror. According to the Vice President's Office, landmines killed an average of two persons each day. There were approximately 100,000 landmines in use in the country, spread throughout 40 percent of the national territory. There were 155 land mine incidents through September 15, involving 459 victims, 107 of whom died. Fifty-five percent of these casualties were members of the Armed Forces. Guerrillas were responsible for over 90 percent of landmine incidents. In September the International Campaign to Ban Landmines singled out the FARC for criticism as one of the world's foremost users of landmines. The FARC disguised landmines as everyday items such as soccer balls and paint cans, and increasingly used plastic mines that could not be detected by standard minesweeping technology. Thousands of IDPs were unable to return to their homes because of fear of landmines (se ... [Read More]
Colombia
Guerrillas used landmines both to defend static positions (such as base camps, cocaine laboratories, and sites at which kidnap victims were held) and as indiscriminate weapons of terror. The Vice President's office reported in 2000 that the FARC and ELN have laid indiscriminately 50,000 mines in rural areas. Landmines planted by guerrillas or disguised as everyday items such as soccer balls or paint cans often resulted in the killing or maiming of civilian noncombatants; thousands of IDP's were unable to return to their homes due to the presence of antipersonnel mines (see Section 2.d.). According to press reports, landmines surround guerrilla bases in the despeje zone. The FARC used sulfuric acid in the gas canisters that it employed as artillery and continued its practice of using these canisters to attack small towns. Scores of soldiers, police, and civilians were burned indiscriminately as a result. ... [Read More]
E) South America
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). During 2001, the USG supported a GOB initiative to upgrade its efforts in demand reduction. The Vice Ministry for Prevention and Rehabilitation undertook several joint projects with the USG including: expanding professional training and certification to drug counselors, beginning a youth soccer league to promote drug awareness and offer safe and healthful after-school activities, beginning a drug awareness and drug information center, establishing a toll-free 24-hour drug hotline, and establishing a mobile drug information unit to provide services to small, remote communities. ... [Read More]
"It's Academic" Special Edition
Soccer star David Beckham was recently sold to what new team? ... [Read More]
Strengthening Public-Private Partnerships for Humanitarian Mine Action
The 56 participating organizations included: Adopt-A-Minefield; Afghan Technical Consultants; The Barrie School; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Center for International Rehabilitation; Chicago Coalition for Landmine Action; Children of Armenia Fund; Children’s Surgical Center; Clear Path International; Cranfield University; Danish Church Aid; Demining Agency for Afghanistan; Embassy of Colombia; European Commission; Freedom Fields USA; Golden West Humanitarian Foundation; Grapes for Humanity; Handicap International; The HALO Trust; Help Handicap International; Humpty Dumpty Institute; Iraq National Mine Action Authority; Iraq Mine/UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO); Landmines Blow!; Landmine Survivors Network; Marshall Legacy Institute; Medical Care Development International; Mine Action Information Center; Mines Advisory Group (MAG); Mine Clearance Planning Agency (Afghanistan); One Sri Lanka Foundation; Organization of American States (OAS); Peace Trees Vietnam; Peop ... [Read More]
E) South America
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). During 2002 the USG continued to support the GOB’s initiatives to upgrade its efforts in demand reduction. The Vice Ministry for Prevention and Rehabilitation undertook several joint projects with the USG, including: expanding professional training and certification to drug counselors; beginning a youth soccer league to promote drug awareness and offer safe and healthful after-school activities; beginning a drug awareness and drug information center; establishing a toll-free 24-hour drug hotline; and, establishing a mobile drug information unit. ... [Read More]
The Americas - US Department of State
07 July 2005 - U.S. Hosts Soccer Tournament for Latin American, Caribbean Youth ... 14 July 2005 - U.N.-Sponsored International Soccer Stars Raise Money for Haiti ... [Read More]
Background Notes Archive - International Organizations
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATEBACKGROUND NOTES: ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATESPUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRSNOVEMBER 1994Official Name: Organization of American StatesPROFILEHeadquarters: Washington, DC.Established: April 14, 1890, as the International Union of American Republics. Became the Pan American Union in 1910, then the Organization of American States in 1948 with the adoption of the OAS Charter in Bogota, Colombia.Purposes: To strengthen peace and security in the hemisphere, promote representative democracy, ensure the peaceful settlement of disputes among members, provide for common action in the event of aggression, and promote economic, social, and cultural development.Members: 35--Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba(1), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, P ... [Read More]
|