Some 1300 documents and cables have been released by WikiLeaks into the public domain and Colombia appears in 72 of these.
The confusing and often violent world of Colombian politics rarely leaves an onlooker ambivalent and it will come as no surprise that this South American nation, so often a byword for kidnapping, cocaine, guerrilla warfare and contraband, wedged up on the northern section of the continent has appeared in scores of documents.
There are of course several topics that have hit the headlines due to WikiLeaks such as the polemic case of former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, former President Alvaro Uribe’s statements and the state of the FARC guerrillas (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia). Many of the documents and cables released have drawn an unwelcome reality into the Colombian public domain, that of the former government’s desire and insistence on placating the US government to push for a Free Trade Agreement.
Here is a list of the most key mentions of Colombia on WikiLeaks.
The French government’s almost unwavering desire to free Ingrid Betancourt.
According to a representative of the Spanish government in Colombia, their French counterparts were desperate to achieve former presidential hopeful Ingrid Betancourt’s release, even if it meant paying a reward and would have done so with or without the Colombian government’s approval.
US Military Bases in Colombia
At one stage the government of former President Alvaro Uribe tabled the idea of allowing the US military access to several bases in Colombia. Quite clearly this government wanted to stir up a furor with its neighbours of Venezuela and Ecuador.
The Fate of the US Hostages
Former US ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield confirmed in a document that Alvaro Uribe’s government had more or less agreed to a joint US-Colombian effort to free the three American contractors from the hands of the FARC. Brownfield is quoted as harbouring doubts over the Colombian military’s ability to liberate said hostages without endangering their well-being.
The False Positives Scandal
In a sickening turn of events during the Uribe administration, homeless and out of work citizens were lured out to distant areas of Colombia where they were summarily executed and then dressed up as guerrilla combatants. In the WikiLeaks cable this fact is acknowledged by the statement given by the Ministry of Defense recognizing that President Uribe still measured success by the number of guerrillas terminated.
Mentions of Venezuela/ Colombia relations
There was no love lost between Presidents Uribe and Chavez but some of the revelations that have surfaced are of great interest. Speculating a possible increase in tensions and possibility of an armed conflict with their Venezuela, the army of that county was investigated leading to the conclusion that Chavez’s forces lacked professionalism and were “weak.” Also, in addition to comparing President Chavez to Hitler, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was prepared to invade sovereign Venezuelan territory to pursue the FARC guerrillas.
By no means are the aforementioned all of the references to Colombia, there are plenty more and undoubtedly, more will surface.
Richard McColl - I am a freelance writer from deepest darkest London but for the past 10 years or so I have been maintaining my extended "writing break" in ...
