Plan Colombia and Beyond

A photo from Soacha, Colombia. The army claimed these bodies were FARC soldiers.
They were later shown to be "false positives".

The blog Plan 'Colombia and Beyond' does such a great, great job covering its subject that it's difficult to praise it highly enough. For example, check out today's post that reports on the recent UN investigation into Colombia and its "false positives" scandal, where the army rounded up innocents, shipped them to the jungle, murdered them, dressed them up as FARC soldiers and pretended they were downed in battle.....all for the sake of gaining extra days of leave.

Here's the link to this outstanding 'Plan Colombia' post. Use it today and often, cos it'll open your eyes as to what's going on in the country. Remember, this is the same Colombia that Canadian dumbasses at two-bit ratings agency DBRS think is worthy of the 'investment grade' rating. Who gives a crap about human rights anyway? Just give us your money....right?

Cocaine: Like Charts?

Plan Colombia and Beyond got lots and lots of charts. Check out the article "A compendium of drug-war statistics" because it's all you need to read on the raw numbers of the whole issue.

Applause deserved for this simply excellent resumé of the Andean cocaine sector, including UN and US numbers for Colombia, Peru and Bolivian production. I'm not going to paste any of the charts here because they're better seen all together, but I will indulge by posting PC&B's concluding paragraph as it's one with which I wholeheartedly agree.

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"All of these metrics indicate clear failure, despite heavy U.S. and Colombian investment - in money and lives - in a decades-long effort to reduce cocaine supplies coming from Colombia. The argument in favor of a new drug policy could hardly be stronger."

Links

Click to enlarge, or better still visit the WSJ link below
to see the original context

There has been so much quality reading on LatAm biz/economy/politics out there in the last 24 hours that it would be remiss of me not to direct readers to at least a few of the places.

Colombia: At blog Plan Colombia and Beyond we get the full English translation of an interview with Colombia's Veep Francisco Santos. The nub of Santos' argument is summed up in this line from the post; "Colombia should abandon Plan Colombia, downgrade relations with the United States, and seek relations with governments, like China, that don’t value human rights as strongly." Essential reading for those interested in the country.

LatAm Remittances: Market Memorandum comments on the Interamerican Development Bank's (IDB or IADB, goes under both acronyms, it seems) paper of yesterday that highlights the downturn-to-come in remittance monies for LatAm countries. Recommended viewing along with MM in the graphic above, available at this report in the WSJ. One thing so far unmentioned in the issue is the counterbalance of repatriated citizens and their contribution to local economies. I suppose we'll get round to that eventually.

Mexico: Stupid union leaders strike again...literally. BNAmericas has the outline of the story about how Peñoles workers have rejected a management pay offer and gone on strike. Mgmt are surely going "Great! That means we're making less of a loss on the zinc and lead you would have processed for us." Can someone please get it through the skulls of union workers that there's a recession on?

Peru: Farid Matuk blogs in English and lays wide open the clear irregularities in the methodology used by Peru's economic bodies. Presented in this way it really does seem as though they get an order from Twobreakfasts to "give me XXX result" and then find a way of massaging figures for their meister.

There's nothing like making the best of a trip, is there?

When you're out traveling, touring and visiting it's best to pack in as much as you can to make the most of your time, isn't it? Well, as you're about to read the paramilitary groups in Colombia (the ones that the USA insists are the good guys and also insists on funding) have the same attitude as any other holidaymaker.

Here's an extract from businessman-turned-paramilitary chief Raúl Hasbún's recent testimony. You can find the rest of the report (in English) right here, and it's pretty compelling stuff. Hat tip to Lillie at the wonderful Memory in Latin America blog for passing this one on.

"...Without blinking, he confessed to the San José de Apartadó massacre of 1998. He said he ordered the massacre because the town was so secluded, and the logistics of getting there were so difficult, that it wasn’t worth it to make an incursion just to kill one or two people. Therefore, in order to make the most out of the trip, they killed the largest amount of people that could possibly be associated with the FARC ..."

Now go read the rest.