More Colombians massacred in Venezuela
By GONZALO GUILLEN
EL NUEVO HERALD

Two new massacres in Venezuelan territory could raise the number of Colombians killed in recent weeks in Venezuela to at least 20, according to officials in both countries.

On Saturday, the bodies of two men were found in the Colombian town of Arauquita, at the foot of the border with Venezuela. On the other side of the border in the Venezuelan state of Apure, two more bodies were found. The deaths occurred at the same time and under the same circumstances, officials said.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan officials and a Colombian consul were in Barinas, where the bodies of six Colombians, killed by mechanical asphyxia, were found in graves, according to relatives and friends.

Also on Saturday, Venezuelan authorities found 10 corpses (eight Colombians, a Venezuelan and a Peruvian) at four sites in the municipality of Fernandez Feo. They had been kidnapped about a week before from a soccer field in Chururu.

Witnesses said armed men traveling in pickup trucks kidnapped 15 people. Four remain missing and a wounded survivor identified as Manuel Cortez Jr. was transferred to Caracas. The Colombians killed in the Fernandez Feo kidnapping worked as street vendors selling peanuts in Tachira state.

Both of the men killed in Arauquita appeared to have been killed at close range. One was identified as Edgar Garcia, who was born in the Colombian border town of Cucuta. Authorities believe the men who were shot in Venezuela on Saturday were also Colombian citizens.

According to Cortez Jr., who survived the kidnapping at the soccer field, heavily armed men kept the group in chains under a bridge guarded by 18 other heavily armed men. About 7 p.m., "They said they were going to liberate us, but instead they took us to different places to kill us.''

Relatives of Edgar Garcia have stated he also lived in Fernandez Feo and knew the other men who were killed. Authorities have not explained why the killers divided the group of four and crossed the border to kill the other two in Colombia.

In a press conference held the same Saturday in the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, to announce the finding of the 10 corpses, Leomagno Flores, government secretary of Tachira, said authorities believe there were about six more unidentified Colombians killed whose remains have not been found.

Flores attributed the deaths of the peanut vendors to a group of Colombian rebels known as the National Liberation Army (ELN), active in Venezuela.

They are "acting like hyenas, like animals marking their territory,'' said Flores.

Venezuela's vice president, Ramiro Carrizalez, argued that "there are many clues that lead to identify them [the dead] as paramilitaries.'' He also said their jobs as street vendors did not reflect their lifestyles.

As for the six dead from asphyxiation in Barinas state, according to witnesses, their deaths occurred in late August.

Colombia's consul in the area, Moses Jairo Martinez told reporters he will lead an expedition to the site of the deaths.

http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2009/october/27/latam-091027-03.htm Colombia, US May Sign Military Pact

BOGOTA - Colombian Foreign Affairs Minister Jaime Bermudez stated today the government may sign a polemic military agreement with the US without passing it to Congress.

Bermudez, who is taking part in an event promoted by the Organization of American States (OEA), stated the Executive Power has the arguments to sign the agreement without passing it to the Legislative.

He also said the government is convinced that all requirements are carried out and there's no need to pass it to Congress.

Regarding military agreement between Bogotá and Washington there'll be at least 1 400 US soldiers at Colombia; eight hundred permanently and other 600 under contracting conditions.

Colombia and the USA sustain this agreement is aimed to fight drug trafficking in Colombia. This argument is considered by other countries of the region as a pretext to cover Pentagon geopolitical real intensions.

On the other hand, the US Congress approved last week the Department of Defense's budget of 680 billion dollars for 2010. From that amount the Pentagon will use 46 million dollars to refurbish the Colombian military base of Palanquero, 111.85 miles from Bogotá.

Colombian minister of Defense Gabriel Silva is in Washington in an official visit to discuss with US aouthorities this polemic agreement.

possibly why uribe and washington are a match made in hades. allowing foreign troops without the blessing and approval of the will of the people or of elected congress. politics as usual between what is now certainly a military dictator and washington and a sign of american aggression. narcoterrorism my arse

come on you guys lets invade Venezuela and get rid of nutty hugo .....what do you say Coco ?

For para-military read CIA - infiltrating legitimate organizations to wreck havoc......... CIA is the greates employer of criminals and assasins.... US troops should get out of the region....
S.

abc,
we are waiting for your input on the article regarding your euro friend. go for it

so much attention......
S.

the same could be said about mexicans killed in US haitians killed in DR afghanis killed in pakistan..etc etc. is there any point to this thread other than the fact that people from nearby countries often get killed while visiting their neighbors doing illegal or subversive actions??? is this thread to villify hugo and say you had best beware or this could begin happening in the DR?? it already is. it is about drugs. money and power or all of the above. the athorities are the last to know(on the record) and the first blamed. if these people were innocent and killed then my heartfelt condolences to there prospective families and shame on venezuela for their actions. but call me a sceptic until proven and you a propagandist.

Those Venezuelans are racist for murdering the Colombians because they want to deny that they have Euro/Indio/Afro roots as well!. Besides those selling drugs just wanted to make a living, they are starving in home.


RAYCIZZUM!!!