By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LA PAZ, Bolivia—A fourth senior officer in Bolivia was arrested Thursday to the embarrassment of President Evo Morales.  The former head of Bolivia’s anti-narcotics police was arrested in Panama at Washington’s request and will be facing drug charges in the United States.

Rene Sanabria, a retired police general, has been charged in the U.S. with allegedly running a cocaine trafficking ring.  According to a U.S. official, Sanabria had his first federal court appearance on Friday in Miami, Florida.  Three other senior officers have been arrested as well.

Sanabria was once a senior official at the Interior Ministry and the top man at the FELCN counter-narcotics police from 2007-2008.  In 2009 he was appointed chief of the Center of Intelligence and Information Generation.

Felipe Caceres, Bolivia’s deputy minister for social defense, expressed satisfaction about the arrests and said, “In the coming days we are going to arrest everyone (involved) and bring them to justice.”  According to Caceres, Sanabria operated an intelligence center comprised of 15 officials, most of them police officers.

President Morales has said that he has zero tolerance for cocaine trafficking.  Three years ago he expelled American counter-narcotics agents from the country, saying they incited his opponents.  Morales was once a coca growers union leader and has promoted traditional uses of coca during his presidency.

Morales’ opponents, such as opposition legislator Andres Ortega, have called the arrests “a very clear signal that drug trafficking has deeply infiltrated the Interior Ministry.”

Bolivia is the world’s third largest cocaine producer; Colombia and Peru rank first and second.  The United Nations has reported that Bolivia’s coca cultivation was 119 square miles in 2009. U.S. and Colombian officials have reported that without the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s help, traffickers from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and elsewhere operate with impunity in Bolivia.

For more information, please see:

Daily Mail-Former head of Bolivia’s drugs police is sent to U.S. to face cocaine trafficking charges-28 February 2011

News.com.au-Former Bolivian drug chief Rene Sanabria arrested-28 February 2011

Canadian Press-Former Bolivian counterdrug police chief arrested as alleged head of narco ring-27 February 2011

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – A student-lead hunger strike that lasted for 23 days has finally ended. The hunger strike, which grew from 9 to 80 university students, was in support of people that the protesters argued were political prisoners.

The protesting students had also been calling for a discussion of the cases by the Organization of American States (OAS) and arguing for a visit from that regional body, something that the administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has so far blocked.

Lorent Saleh, one of the leaders of the protesters, stated that “today we are completing 23 days since we started a promise we made to fight for liberty and democracy, and for those who find themselves behind bars for thinking differently than this regime.” According to Saleh, the protesters and the Venezuelan government had reached a number of agreements, including medical attention for some prisoners, freedom for other prisoners and the creation of a round-table with authorities to discuss other demands that the protesters have.

According to Juan Pio Hernandez, a member of the Link the Americas organization, which has been a staunch supporter of the protesters, “the regime of Hugo Chavez agreed to free seven of the 27 political prisoners held under false criminal charges.”

The hunger strike drew significant attention from the United States. As the strike continued to snowball to its ultimate number of 80 students, the U.S. State Department called Hugo Chavez’ government to help end the starvation. The U.S.’s interference; however, was not taken kindly by all parties involved.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro rejected the statements made by the U.S. government, accusing them of meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs. “Venezuela doesn’t need any protective guidance from nobody, of neither instance,” said Maduro.

The students announced that while the hunger-strike is over for the moment, their ‘Operation Freedom’ is not over and that they would continue to keep a vigil at the OAS headquarters in Caracas.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune – Venezuela Students End 3 Week Hunger Strike – Political Prisoner Released – 23 February 2011

Wall Street Journal – Venezuelan Student Protesters End Hunger Strike – 22 February 2011

Fox News Latino – Venezuela Student Hunger Strike Gains Momentum – 18 February 2011

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia—Colombia has been waging war against powerful drug warlords for many years.  The warlords have been working with relative impunity, frightening many civilians and frustrating government forces.  Now a U.S. firm has jumped on board to help Colombia in its anti-narcotics campaign.

ManTech International Corp. has received a $6.2 million contract to help fight drug warlords who operate between South, Central and North America, trafficking narcotics.  The U.S. firm is a provider of new technologies that deal with mission-critical national security programs.  ManTech has said they plan on operating in Colombia after receiving a task order in line with a Strategic Services Sourcing prime contract.  The multimillion dollar award will allow the mission to operate for at least 12 months, with an option to be extended for another two years.

ManTech intends to provide a bilingual team to work on communications to U.S. air assets that battle narcotics trafficking in Colombian air space.  The firm said the team will help plan air operations and support the U.S. Military Group Colombia with technical and security problems.  ManTech’s strategies have suggested that their operations in Colombia will be diversified.

Louis Addeo, president and chief operating officer of ManTech’s Technical Services Group said, “We are proud to be selected to play a part in the U.S. counter-narcotics mission.  Colombia is a prominent positioning point to battle the illegal drug trade that enters the United States.”  Addeo added that the company’s “extensive experience supporting U.S. military forces overseas” would help it be successful in its mission.

The United States has been aiding the Colombian government in its fight against traffickers who bring illegal drugs into richer areas of the Western Hemisphere.  The U.S. has spent tens of millions of dollars on these endeavors; yet the paramilitary drug gangs have so far been able to expertly use their acquired funds to counter government forces.

Drug lords living and working in Colombia have been powerful enough to command entire regions both within and outside of the country.  They have also been known to rule over towns and villages, run their own air strips, and keep informers who work in a variety of public and private sectors.

On Thursday, the United Nations reported that Colombian gangs drove a 40% increase in massacres last year, murdering human rights defenders, public officials, and civilians.  Christian Salazar, a U.N. representative, said, “These groups have the power to corrupt and infiltrate the state [and] are a strong threat to the rule of law.”

For more information, please see:

UPI-U.S. firm joins Colombia anti-narcotics operation-24 February 2011

Reuters-Colombia crime gangs spur more massacres in ’10: U.N.-24 February 2011

Colombia Reports-ManTech wins $6.2M contract to combat Colombian narco-trafficking-23 February 2011

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – An Ecuadorian judge has ordered the release of  José Acacho, Pedro Mashiant and Fidel Karinas, all of whom are indigenous leaders and who were arrested on February 1, 2011 on charges of terrorism and sabotage. The charges stem from the three indigenous leaders’ actions in instigating a protest in 2009 where one person died. Judge María Cristina Narváez of the Pichincha court accepted a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of the three leaders, which forces their immediate release.

Three hundred protestors met the release with jubilation when they heard the decision, chanting “libertad” in front Quito’s Corte Provincial de Justicia of Pichincha. Inside the courtroom, the decision was met with equal joy and tears by major indigenous leaders of Ecuador, who filled the courtroom.

Judge Narváez determined that the imprisonment of three leaders was “illegal and arbitrary.” Following the court’s decision, Acacho, the leader of the Shuar Indians, stressed the importance that justice will be independent and not subject to interference by the Executive.

The International Federation for Human Rights, the Ecumenical Commission for Human Rights, the Regional Human Rights Advisory Foundation, and the Centre for Economic and Social Rights have all expressed concern for growing criminalization against social protest of indigenous communities in Ecuador. These indigenous Ecuadorians are becoming increasingly mobilized in defiance of large scale mining activities on their territories.

The three charged individuals were charged for their roles in a protest, when confrontations between demonstrators protesting against a new water law and the national police ended with the death of Shuar Professor Bosco Wismua. The charges of sabotage and terrorism against the three men still stand.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, along with other indigenous governmental organizations of Ecuador, intend to present a proposal of amnesty for all imprisoned indigenous leaders to the national assembly.

For more information, please see:

Pacific Free Press – Ecuador Using Terrorism Law to Target Indigenous and Environmental Activists – 13 February 2011

IFEX – Authorities Release Former Radio Director Accused of Terrorism and Sabotage – 11 February 2011

Latin American Herald Tribune – Ecuador Court Frees 3 Indigenous Leaders Jailed on Terrorism Charges – 11 February 2011