A big white teddy bear sat on top of one of the little coffin boxes, and red roses on the other three. The remains of the four sisters were finally being returned to their mother, Blanca Nieves Meneses.

“I never thought that this is the way they would be returned to me,” said their surviving sister Nancy. “I always kept hoping that they would be returned alive.”
At this ceremony in the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bogotá, Colombia, the Attorney General’s office returned the remains of the four young women, the youngest just thirteen, to their family. A paramilitary leader had confessed, as part of the Justice and Peace process, about where the bodies were buried in common graves. At most, those who carried out the crime can receive five to eight years in jail under this transitional justice framework.

The CTI, Colombia’s forensic team, looked on. They seemed both proud to have helped return the remains and personally shaken by the emotion in the room.

“Their crime was to be young and beautiful in a war zone,” said one of the speakers. They were brutally killed by paramilitaries who operated, according to the human rights group MINGA, “with total impunity” in the region.

Colombia’s Vice President Francisco Santos attended. He spoke of a family who had lost one son to the ELN, one to the FARC, and one to paramilitaries, and called for reconciliation. “Today, one family can begin achieving closure and today, the government is strengthening its presence so that blood will stop flowing in Colombia.” But he did not simply state that in this particular case, these unspeakable crimes had been committed by the paramilitaries.

After the young women were disappeared, their mother and sister waged a years-long struggle, at great risk, to achieve justice for Yenny Patricia, Mónica Liliana, Nelsy Milena and María Nely Galárraga Meneses. Their struggle became a catalyst for many other mothers in the region. “I am just a campesina from Putumayo who sows rice and corn,” Ms. Meneses explained. “But I tell all other mothers of the disappeared to keep searching. Justice should not be delayed,” she said, with bitterness. “Justice should arrive on time.” She spoke of the frustrations of trying to receive reparations or other help from the government.

A human rights activist I know saw me sitting in the back and grabbed my shoulder. “I just have to say, I just have to say, this happened in the context of Plan Colombia.” And indeed, this brutal killing and many others occurred as the United States heavily backed a Colombian army offensive into Putumayo in the early years of Plan Colombia, an offensive which expanded side by side with an increased paramilitary presence in the region.

She played the lyre, she liked to play mini-soccer, she liked best to eat fried eggs and french fries, she was an artist, were some of the memories as their relatives remembered them. The sisters Galárraga Meneses, Nelsy Milena, Mónica Liliana, Yenny Patricia, and María Nely.

This is cross-posted from the Latin America Working Group's blog, the LAWG Blog. It was written by Lisa Haugaard.

Much recent violence was concentrated in the Antioquia department in northwestern Colombia. There, in one six-day period, nineteen people were killed in three separate attacks.

The first of these massacres occurred Friday July 2, in Envigado near Medellín, where eight were killed in a shooting at a bar around 2 a.m. Gen. Óscar Naranjo, director of Colombia's National Police, attributes the attack to rivalries between factions of the "Oficina de Envigado," a narcotrafficking syndicate once dominated by ex-paramilitary commander Diego Fernanco Murillo, alias "Don Berna," who was extradited to the United States in 2008. The two factions, led by alias 'Sebastián' and 'Valenciano,' are fighting for control of illicit funds and the local drug trade. Authorities are offering a reward of 200 million Colombian pesos (about $105,000) for any information leading to the arrest of the shooters.

In a statement released July 2nd, President Álvaro Uribe said that the incident was demonstrative of "the criminal phenomenon of narcotrafficking" that has stricken the country and that the Colombian government, armed forces and justice system "has to do more."

The next attack came on Sunday, July 4th, in Cisneros in northwest Antioquia, where a shooting left four dead and one wounded. All four victims had criminal records for various offenses, namely homicide, illegal transport of arms, and links to criminal groups. Police believe the shooting to be a retaliation attack by "Los Rastrojos," another criminal group with paramilitary heritage, on another, "Los Urabeños." Violence between these two groups vying for territorial control of trafficking routes is common in the area.

The third incidence of violence took place Wednesday, July 7th in Uramita municipality, also in northwestern Antioqua. At around 5 PM, a family of seventeen traveling along the Guayabo Juntas road was attacked by a group of ten armed men. Of the seven people killed, two had previous criminal records and links to paramilitary units that transitioned into criminal groups following the 2006 AUC demobilization effort. Two of those killed were minors.

While the investigation is still underway, authorities are certain that the violence is centered on competition between rival emerging criminal groups involved in narcotrafficking. Prior to 2006, there was a heavy paramilitary presence in Uramita. Following the demobilization, however, the various paramilitary units broke down and now the Urabeños and FARC operate in the zone. The Antioquian government has offered a 100 million-peso reward for information leading to the capture of the offenders. It has also pledged to increase its presence along three important roadways that criminal groups have been targeting: those connecting Medellín to the northwest port region of Urabá, the central Magdelena Medio river region, and the Atlantic coast.

On Wednesday in Bolívar department near the Caribbean coast, security forces launched an aerial attack that killed 13 FARC members. According to intelligence officials, the FARC were attempting to re-establish their presence in the Magdalena Medio region, from which it had been largely expelled since the mid-2000s. President Uribe said the attack was "a message" to the Farc's second- in- command, Ivan Marquez.

Also this week, the Colombian military launched an attack against paramount FARC leader Alfonso Cano in Florida municipality, in Valle del Cauca department. According to the Colombian newspaper El Espectador, the Colombian security agency DAS paid for information about the location of a FARC encampment believed to be used by Cano.

Over the weekend, the death toll in Colombia reached 31 due to a wave of FARC-related violence in various regions throughout the country. The assorted attacks culminated in the death of 12 rebels, 13 soldiers, 2 policemen, 2 government officials and 2 civilians.

Yesterday, July 11, at around one in the morning, a combination task force of Colombian Air Force members and local police launched a surprise attack on a FARC unit in the Tolima department. The attack left 12 rebel members dead, all of whom were part of a unit assigned to protect the group's dominant leader, Guillermo Sáenz, alias 'Alfonso Cano.' Although the assault did not result in Cano's capture, it did claim the life of Magaly Grannobles who Gen. Freddy Padilla, commander of the Colombian armed forces, described as "an extremely dangerous criminal and a trusted confidant of the FARC leader."

Also over this weekend, 13 soldiers were killed along the Venezuelan border in the northwest region of the Arauca province. On Saturday, 3 soldiers died in a minefield in the Puerto Rondón municipality of the province. On Sunday, 10 soldiers were killed and another four were wounded in a confrontation with the FARC on the El Sinaí road in the Arauqita municipality of the Arauca department. The soldiers were pursuing FARC members who were supposedly trying to blow up electrical towers. The FARC also attacked a DAS patrol unit in the region, which left one explosives technician dead and another two detectives in critical condition.

On Sunday in the municipality of Suárez in the Tolima province, the FARC assaulted a local police patrol unit, using firearms and explosives, killing two police and two civilians.

In the Antioquia department, a FARC unit open-fired on a vehicle, which left one government official dead and another three wounded.

This post was written by CIP intern Sarah Kinosian

Adam and Abigail review the week of July 3-9, focusing on massacres in Colombia, state elections in Mexico, Brazil's presidential race, a clandestine submarine in Ecuador, and recent U.S. naval exercises.

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Much of the violence last week was related to the Sunday June 20th presidential election in which former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos beat two-time Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus in a landslide victory. While both candidates pledged throughout their campaigns to continue the government’s fight against the FARC, Santos’ win means the extension of current president Álvaro Uribe’s Democratic Security policy, which has weakened the insurgency since its implementation in 2003.

Following the vote last Sunday, Santos declared that, “the FARC’s time has run out” and reiterated the sitting administration’s policy, asserting, “as long as [the FARC] insist on using their terrorist methods, there will be no dialogue.” In response, in a statement released on June 21st, the FARC declared Santos’ victory as the “illegal triumph of continuity,” and claimed that the country’s “political fight has entered a phase of radicalization.” The document said that Colombians “condemned” the president-elect through their “abstention,” referring to statistics that place less than 50% of citizens at the polls last Sunday.

In eight of Colombia’s 32 departments, rebels are reported to have burned ballots or otherwise disturbed voting. Although this election was the least violent in four decades, there were smatterings of violence in various regions leading up to the elections, culminating in the death of at least 16 on Election Day.

On Sunday, June 20th, as Colombians cast their votes, in a rural area of the Meta department, FARC members killed three soldiers transporting voting papers while in another part of the department the military shot six FARC members who were allegedly planning to attack local polling stations. Also on Sunday, in the Norte de Santander province near the Venezuelan border, seven policemen were killed in a minefield and another eight went missing. An additional nine FARC members were arrested in the port city of Buenaventura, before they could carry out any attacks, authorities said.

In Tolima, the governor encouraged people to get out to the polls despite FARC intimidation tactics. According to the governor, the rebel group was threatening voters particularly in the more rural zones of the region. Additionally, in many parts of Tolima on Sunday there was no public transport between cities and throughout the countryside, as many proprietors feared left-wing insurgency groups would incinerate their vehicles.

On June 17th, the Thursday before the election, in Suaza in the Huila province, the army found a metric ton of explosives, including various antipersonnel landmines, in a cove along the ‘Alto Brasil’ roadway connecting the Huila and Caqueta departments. According to authorities, the FARC intended to use the materials to attack the route, dissuading voters from traveling. Similarly, just north of Neiva, police found a carton of explosives after receiving a call that a ‘suspicious man’ had left a package along the road connecting the El Cortijo neighborhood to Galindo. Supposedly the materials were to be transported to Neiva before Sunday.

On June 23rd, just two days after the FARC denounced Santos’ win, in Algeciras, a town located in the central region of the Huila department, the rebel group announced an armed strike against public transport in protest of president-elected Juan Manuel Santos. In response, police escorted buses from the city of Neiva to Algeciras while military forces manned the roadways. The governor of the department encouraged travel despite FARC threats, and guaranteed that the government would incur “100 percent” of the cost of any damages to residents’ vehicles. However, many were still hesitant as similar promises were left unfulfilled during the last FARC strike.

Yesterday, June 28th the FARC issued a statement that announced a 24-hour hiatus in the armed transportation strike. The statement gave farmers and transportation workers from Algeciras until today at noon to distribute all agricultural products to the rest of the country, at which time they would reinstate the strike. Despite the truce, today, June 29th, the FARC incinerated a truck transporting green beans on the roadway between El Toro and Betania.

Looking at violence unrelated to the election:

• On June 23, a 15-year-old girl was injured in a bombing at her home in Chaparral, in the Tolima department. Authorities believe the FARC was behind the incident, as they commonly use such intimidation tactics as a means of extortion. This was the rebel’s second attack against the family’s house.
• As described in last week’s update, recently in the Arauca department, violent clashes have broken out between ELN and FARC groups. In an undated document released this month, the FARC announced the termination of their cease-fire with the ELN that leaders from both groups had agreed to on December 13, 2009. The document accuses the ELN of “assassinating, displacing, and torturing” populations in “FARC territory” and charges the ELN with a series of murders and other intimidation tactics such as making phone calls and sending “threatening pamphlets.” The region has experienced a steady stream of violence throughout the conflict.
• According to a survey recently reported on by Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, residents of Medellín feel markedly more insecure than in 2008. Antioquia’s governor’s office describes the increase in insecurity as “a consequence of clashes between criminal structures,” many of which arose out of the 2005 paramilitary demobilization.
• On Thursday June 24th, in el Valle de Aburrá, Antioquia, authorities captured fifteen members of a band of land pirates that also operated throughout Medellín. The group would hijack vehicles by blocking a road, or dressing as police or military and stop cars asking for documentation and then robbing them.
• Following the region’s trend, in Yalí, Antioquia, authorities arrested a minor for possession of an AK47. While not an unusual occurrence in the conflict, the incident is indicative of larger bouts of violence that have recently flared up between newly emerging criminal groups fighting for territory throughout the city. The two main groups are Los Rastrojos, who are responsible for the majority of narcotrafficking in the city, and Los Urabeños, who fund themselves through violent extortion.
• Over the weekend, Medellín city assembly president, Jhon Jaime Moncada Ospina, was shot in an attack on Saturday night in the Laureles neighborhood. According to reports Mr. Moncada had just pulled up to a stoplight, when four men on motorcycles assaulted his vehicle, issuing him five shots to the chest. While the assemblyman is currently in stable condition, President Uribe has offered a compensation of 100 million Colombian pesos ($50,000) to anyone with any information about the motivations behind the attack or that leads to the detainment of the assailants.
• On Sunday June 27, the FARC killed a policeman in Silvania, Huila, where various factions of the FARC are reported to operate. The policeman was apparently shot while traveling from the police station to his house.

This post was written by CIP intern Sarah Kinosian

This post was written by CIP intern Sarah Kinosian

In Colombia's run-off presidential election this past Sunday, former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos took 69 percent of the vote to beat two-time Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus, who received 28%. The victory margin was the widest in the country's history. Despite initial polls that showed public support for Mockus, Santos was the favored candidate going into the election following the results of the first-round vote on May 30th. As a previous member of current President Alvaro Uribe's cabinet, it is expected that Santos, who also received overwhelming support from the outgoing president, will continue many of his predecessor's policies, particularly with regard to the FARC and narcotrafficking.

As anticipated, the Obama administration showed its support for Santos, saying that it was "looking forward" to working with Santos to "advance common goals" for the benefit of both countries. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley continued that because of Colombia and the United States' "shared interests," he "did not anticipate a significant change" in the bilateral relationship between the two countries. Many Uribe and Santos supporters hope that the change in government will prompt the U.S. Congress to ratify the free-trade agreement that Uribe negotiated during the Bush administration. Santos also received congratulations from European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, who stated that the newly-elected president could "count on the support of the European Union." Both Germany and France extended their best wishes to Santos with French President Nicolas Sarkozy sending a letter to the new president urging him to visit France "very soon."

Santos welcomed calls from various regional leaders following Sunday's victory, including Chilean president Sebastián Piñera and Peru's Alan Garcia who reiterated what Santos has described as a "good friendship." During a discussion with Argentine leader Cristina Kirchner, who called Santos Sunday night to extend her congratulations, both leaders pledged to "continue working to develop relations" between the two countries. Brazilian President Lula da Silva proposed that the countries "join forces in international forums" as "Brazil and Colombia share the same geography, have a vast, common border, and face similar challenges." Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom also offered Santos any "support and collaboration," urging him to "work hard for Colombia," and Mexican President Felipe Calderon invited Santos to "strengthen collaboration to address regional and global challenges."

Even Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called to congratulate Santos on his win, despite tense relations between the two countries, which began to sour following the Colombian army's 2008's attack - during Santos' tenure as defense minister - on a FARC camp in Ecuador. Since then diplomatic relations have continued to be strained, as evidenced by an Ecuadorian court's issue of an arrest warrant for Santos for his role in the attack, and Correa's warnings that diplomatic relations could not be mended until the Colombian government discloses all information retrieved from FARC computers recovered in the cross-border mission. Santos said that he and Correa spoke amicably about "a way in which to find a better route to improve relations and accelerate this process." In response, Ecuadorian chancellor Ricardo Patiño said that while the Correa administration would welcome such developments, it is "worried about what could happen in the future" and that Ecuador will proceed "with caution."

Santos did not receive a call from Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who, leading up to Sunday's election, had continually criticized Santos, labeling him a "warmonger" and warning that tensions with Colombia could worsen if elected. However, on Monday the Venezuelan government did publish a five-paragraph communiqué congratulating the Colombian people and president on the victory. In the message, Chavez wished Santos success and said that he hoped that Santos would demonstrate the "sincerity and respect" needed to improve relations. The statement also said that the Venezuelan government "would be very attentive, not only to the new government's declarations, but also to [Santos'] actions, which will ultimately shape the type of relation that could be possible." Santos responded that the communication was "a good first step towards re-establishing relations" but that he does not want to rush into making any policy decisions at present.

While many analysts see Santos as an extension of Uribe, it remains to be seen how the new president-elect will respond to regional tensions, especially to Chávez in particular, and address the previous administration's recent central intelligence scandal and ongoing human rights abuses.

• On Sunday, a Colombian Army jungle raid freed four policemen who had been held hostage by the FARC guerrillas since the 1990s. Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said that although there was combat, the rescue took place without a single death. It happened less than 20 miles from the site where the 2008 “Operación Jaque” hostage rescue occurred. Details of the operation – in particular, how it happened without the guerrillas carrying out their threat to kill hostages at the first sign of a rescue attempt – are still emerging. We’re posting links to coverage here.

• The rescue happened on the same weekend that Colombia’s principal newsmagazine, Semana, reported that the country’s military, angered and “discouraged” by verdicts in high-profile human rights cases, had become almost inoperable. “The situation is so delicate that some analysts have dared to propose it as the reason [the Army] has not repeated its strong blows against the FARC high command, such as the bombing of Raúl Reyes and Operación Jaque in 2008.”

• Meanwhile, a week before Sunday’s presidential election runoff in Colombia, former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos leads opponent Antanas Mockus by a broad margin. 66.5 to 27.4 percent, according to the last Gallup poll.

• Mexico is angry about a June 7 incident in which a Border Patrol agent fired across the border at a group of people throwing rocks, killing a 15-year-old boy in Ciudad Juárez. Mexico’s Interior Secretary issued a diplomatic note expressing concern, and legislators of all major parties have called for the agent’s extradition to Mexico. The State Department’s response was terse.

• “[M]ost of Chile didn’t notice the dictatorship of Pinochet. On the contrary, they felt relieved,” Chile’s ambassador to Argentina, Miguel Otero, told an Argentine newspaper. Otero downplayed the 1973-1990 dictatorship’s human rights abuses (“everywhere in the world, there are people who abuse their authority”), adding that had it not been for Pinochet’s coup, “Chile would be Cuba today.” The resulting political firestorm not only forced Otero’s resignation; it shone a light on the pro-Pinochet elements in the right-of-center coalition backing recently inaugurated President Sebastián Piñera.

• Peru’s defense minister, Rafael Rey, accused the country’s human rights groups of going on a “witch hunt” against the armed forces.

• Honduran President Porfirio Lobo claimed that a conspiracy, possibly involving the right wing of his own National Party, is plotting a coup to overthrow him. “I know who you are,” Lobo cryptically warned the alleged plotters, whoever they are.

• Though it wasn’t on the official agenda, the question of whether to re-admit post-coup Honduras to the Organization of American States was a dominant point of discussion at the annual OAS General Assembly meeting in Lima, Peru. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a pitch for Honduras’s reinstatement, but a significant number of countries demand that the Tegucigalpa government take further steps to demonstrate that democracy has truly been restored. Meanwhile, U.S. aid to the Honduran military re-started with the delivery of twenty-five trucks.

• Secretary Clinton’s trip to the region was also notable for a surprisingly friendly visit to Ecuador, where leftist President Rafael Correa declared, “The new left that I represent is not anti-anything. We’re not anti-American; we love America.” Correa’s new tone has been marked by kind words from Colombia on border-security cooperation, postponed and less-frequent meetings with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, and increasing opposition to the President on Ecuador’s left.

Adam and Abigail discuss Colombia's May 30 presidential vote; the upcoming OAS meeting in Peru; Secretary of State Clinton's planned visit to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados; and Peruvian President Alán García's meeting with President Obama.

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• Colombia’s first round of presidential voting is over, and results have been tallied. Former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos came close to avoiding a second-round runoff vote with 46.6%, about ten points higher than polls had been predicting. Former Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus will face him on June 20; he won 21.5%, more than 10 points lower than polls had foreseen. Santos won 31 of Colombia’s 32 departments; Mockus only won in Putumayo.

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the OAS General Assembly in Peru on June 6-8. She will spend the rest of June 8 in Ecuador and Colombia, and go on to Barbados on June 9.

• The Washington Post caused a stir last Monday with an article presenting evidence from a new witness claiming that President Álvaro Uribe’s brother, Santiago, led a paramilitary group in Yarumal, Antioquia, in the 1990s. President Uribe responded by citing the “capacity” of “criminals” to “penetrate a serious newspaper like the Washington Post.”

• In the wake of a wave of threats, two human rights defenders were killed in Colombia: victims’ leader Rogelio Martínez, in San Onofre, Sucre; and Alexánder Quintero, in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca.

• After an urban offensive in Kingston slums that killed more than 70 people, Jamaican authorities have yet to capture drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke, wanted in extradition by the United States.

• Two important human rights documents released last week: the Americas section of Amnesty International’s annual report, and the report on Colombia by Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Executions.

• 12 Republican senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calling for Venezuela to be added to the U.S. government’s list of terrorist-sponsoring states.

• Though it’s only available to subscribers, William Finnegan’s New Yorker article about the La Familia drug cartel in Mexico is worth a read - or just listen to the podcast interview with the author.

• Paraguay ended a 30-day state of emergency imposed in five northern provinces to combat a small guerrilla group called the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP). Not a single EPP member was captured as a result of the military deployment. No serious human rights abuses were reported, but critics voiced concerns about giving the army an increased internal security role.

• Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said that he would dissolve the country’s congress if the business community supported his decision.

• El Salvador’s president, Mauricio Funes, is completing his first year in office with very high approval ratings but significant disagreements with his own party, the former FMLN guerrilla movement.

• The head of Colombia’s armed forces, Gen. Freddy Padilla, announced his resignation, effective on August 7, the day Colombia would inaugurate its next president.

Colombians go to the polls today for the first round of voting to elect a new president. Here is a quick overview of what each of the major candidates has said on the record about Colombia’s relations with the United States.

Antanas Mockus, Green Party

Favors the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Proposes to rethink drug policy through a “broad national debate.” Supports the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement signed in 2006.

• “While he considered that ‘there are reasons to privilege the relationship with the United States,’ Mockus said he was ‘disposed to understand new facets’ of Colombian foreign policy.” (Source)
• “With respect to the presence of U.S. soldiers on Colombian bases, Mockus said he is in agreement with the accord, and that Colombia needs the United States to fight narcotrafficking.” (Source)
• “Mockus, the former Bogotá mayor, didn’t refer in today’s debate to the agreement with the United States, but on other occasions he has defended it, though with the nuance that all guarantees must be given, above all to neighboring countries, that the U.S. military personnel will not use the bases for purposes different than what was agreed.” (Source)
• “I would like a certain stepping back from current anti-drug policy so that Colombian society can explore all the implications of drug trafficking: the supposed benefits for some sectors and the costs borne by youth, the environment, the justice system and institutions. No one is going to resolve the problem of drug trafficking but Colombians.” (Source)
• “Narcotrafficking doesn’t work for Colombia. We are going to shake narcotrafficking off of us. From that point we’ll be able to rethink Plan Colombia and adjust it. The message is that only Colombians can meaningfully contribute to ending the problem. We may need foreign aid, but nobody is going to fundamentally resolve the problem for us. We have to do it ourselves.” (Source)
• “Regarding fumigations, the Green Party candidate, Antanas Mockus, proposed that Plan Colombia should continue while a broad national debate occurs that would lead to the eradication of illegal crops through social pressure.” (Source)
• “The Free Trade Agreement organizes interdependence, helps us to specialize, and favors long-term investments. At the same time, it makes it possible to clarify which labor sectors in the United States would benefit from trade with Colombia.” (Source)
• “The United States should not dictate our relations with Venezuela, and Venezuela should not dictate our relations with the United States.” (Source)

Rafael Pardo, Liberal Party

Opposes the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Opposes aerial fumigation of coca crops. Supports the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

• “In July, Rafael Pardo, Colombia’s former defense minister, called the agreement analogous to ‘lending the balcony of your apartment to someone from outside so that he can keep watch of the neighbors.’” (Source)
• “Manual eradication should be maintained, accompanied by development programs. Plan Colombia has not defeated narcotrafficking.” (Source)
• “The Liberal Party aspirant, Rafael Pardo, said that to eradication he would add ‘an incentive payment in zones of coca cultivation to fight the narcos, and more social investment.” (Source)
• “The negotiation of the FTA is already finished. Its approval brings benefits for the country, and I have always been in favor of well-negotiated treaties, which benefit all sectors of the country.” (Source)

Gustavo Petro, Alternative Democratic Pole

Opposes the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Opposes aerial fumigation of coca crops. Opposes the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

• “He declared himself to be against the broadening of the military cooperation accord with the United States. … He said that it ‘wasn’t valid’ because the Congress wasn’t consulted and because it violated constitutional principles.” (Source)
• “Petro said he considers that the current [drug] policy shifts around, but does not solve, the problem, while ‘narcotraffickers embrace governors, mayors and enter the Casa de Nariño [Colombian presidential palace] through the basement.” (Source)
• “Fumigation doesn’t guarantee that coca will disappear, it just displaces the problem to other territories. The problem is attacked with more social fairness.” (Source)
• “Instead of insisting blindly on its approval, we must seek the renegotiation of this FTA. To create a new treaty with fair terms for the nation, especially with regard to labor rights, the agricultural sector and the environment. The FTAs that become treaties to protect investment or that include unfair trade terms, should be denounced.” (Source)

Noemí Sanín, Conservative Party

Supports the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Would maintain aerial fumigation of coca crops but supports rethinking drug policy. Supports the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

• “Noemí Sanín said that the issue of the bases with the United States was already over, she recalled that Brazil signed one without complaints from any neighbor, and said she would not accept any country giving opinions about the agreements that she would sign.” (Source)
• “Noemí Sanín spoke fo the need for an alternative and integral agricultural policy and concluded that ‘fumigation is a lesser evil.’” (Source)
• “With the FTA many jobs will be created. These agreements open permanent new markets to our exports and assure us more foreign investment, more better-paid jobs, and the incorporation of new technology. I won’t just insist on the FTA with the United States, but also with other countries.” (Source)

Juan Manuel Santos, “La U” Party

Supports the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Supports aerial fumigation of coca crops. Supports the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

• “Cooperation with the United States ‘is necessary’ and the military accord signed late last year does not contain ‘any threat against any third country,’ Santos emphasized.” (Source)
• “[The defense cooperation agreement with the United States] is not a treaty, but an accord, and thus doesn’t need to be approved by Congress.” (Source)
• “The [military] accord ‘gives order’ to what was already being done under Plan Colombia, it is ‘a legal umbrella,’ Santos maintained.” (Source)
• “Juan Manuel Santos, of ‘La U,’ responded that coca crops are a security problem, which must be fought with fumigations and manual eradication.” (Source)
• “Santos will seek ‘to revive’ the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United States.” (Source)

Germán Vargas Lleras, Radical Change Party

Supports the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Supports aerial fumigation of coca crops. Supports the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

• “The candidate of Radical Change, Germán Vargas Lleras, also defended the [defense cooperation] agreement and affirmed that, regardless of whether it is ‘popular’ or not, it is Colombia’s ‘best instrument to dissuade’ neighbors from ‘an eventual aggression.’” (Source)
• “The current [drug] policy has yielded important results that must be maintained and deepened, that’s why I’ll continue with eradication and fumigation.” (Source)
• “Free Trade Agreements allow us to reach higher levels of development. That’s why it will be a priority to keep working bilaterally for the approval of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Colombia can’t give itself the luxury of wasting the enormous opportunity represented by a market of 300 million people.” (Source)