By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia—On Wednesday, Colombian officials confirmed the death of an infamous drug lord who had a 2.5 million dollar bounty on his head.  He has been described as responsible for 3,000 deaths and smuggling illegal drugs across the U.S. border.

The 40-year-old Pedro Oliverio Guerrero was nicknamed “The Knife” or “El Cuchillo” and was among the most wanted criminals in Colombia.  He was at first believed to have been killed in a police operation.  Now it has been revealed that he drowned in a river as he was attempting to escape from the invading police forces.

On December 24, about 300 police commandos and 23 police aircrafts stormed Guerrero’s secret compound (codenamed “Diamond”) in a rural town called Puerto Alvira.  The town is located in Meta province, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Bogota.

Thirty-four of Guerrero’s associates were occupying the compound at the time and two police officers were wounded in the raid.  Government forces captured seven of Guerrero’s comrades but were unable to find Guerrero himself at first.  Late Tuesday, his body finally surfaced, but with no evidence of any injuries from the Christmas Eve clash.

General Carlos Mena from the judicial police explained:  “Cuchillo was drunk, and when he noticed our helicopters hovering over the house where he was celebrating Christmas he escaped with two of his bodyguards.  [Then he] jumped in the river, which is four metres deep, but due to the weight of his weapons, his communications equipment, and his boots, he sank.”  Mena has surmised that plants in the river dragged him down and that he may have even suffered a heart attack during the escape.

Guerrero has been blamed for at least 3,000 deaths connected to a time when he led a division of the paramilitary group called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has called the drug lord’s demise “the most powerful blow we have delivered to the narco-paramilitary gangs.”

Authorities found two pistols and a knife on Guerrero’s body, testaments to the violent life he led.  “That knife is a silent witness to at least 3,000 killings, ordered or executed, by this Colombian criminal who has finally fallen,” President Santos reported during Wednesday’s press conference.  “The killer of killers has fallen.”

For more information, please see:

Herald Sun-Colombian drug lord drowned-30 December 2010

Hispanically Speaking News-Colombian Drug Lord “el Cuchillo” is Confirmed Dead-30 December 2010

AP-Brutal drug lord dies in clashes in Colombia-29 December 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – A recent report published by Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign calls Latin America the most dangerous region in the world for journalists.  In 2010, there were a reported 105 murders of journalists worldwide, 35 of which occurred in Latin America.

While Mexico and Honduras were among the most dangerous countries on Press Emblem Campaign’s list, Colombia was named the seventh most dangerous area, with four murders of journalists in 2010 alone.  According to the Swiss NGO, Colombia’s numbers are on par with other South American countries, such as Brazil.

Fewer fatalities have been reported this year compared to 2009, when 122 journalists died, but the toll is higher than the 91 deaths recorded in 2008.

Blaise Lempen, Press Emblem Campaign’s Secretary-General, said that “the killing of journalists has become an epidemic with no cure.” “The international community has not found solutions to it, or put in place effective mechanisms for bringing the perpetrators of those crimes against journalists to trial.”  Since the NGO began keeping statistics five years ago, 529 journalists have been murdered performing their professional duties.

The media watchdog’s president, Hedayat Abdel Nabi, pressed for action to better protect journalists.  PEC campaign promotes the adoption of international legislation to protect journalists in carrying out their mission.  Nabi also stated “let’s move together in 2011 to achieve a well deserved bold step for journalists, 2011 could be the target date, then or never.”

For more information, please see:

Examiner – Latin America Considered the Most Dangerous Region for Journalists – 27 December 2010

Hindustan Times – Journalists’ Death Toll Reaches 105 in 2010 – 27 December 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Latin America Most Dangerous Region for Journalists in 2010 – 27 December 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—New laws imposed by “lame duck” legislators in Venezuela have continued to inspire criticism that the country has now lapsed into a dictatorship.  President Hugo Chavez, who will rule by decree for the next 18 months, has taken this opportunity to stifle as much opposition as possible.

One of the new laws sparking controversy will prevent lawmakers from switching political parties, categorizing such an act as “fraud.”  Lawmakers breaking this law may be thwarted from holding public office of any kind.   Many leaders of the opposition have protested, calling the law unconstitutional.

Proponents of Chavez defend the regulation.  Iris Varela, a legislator who is a member of the President’s United Socialist Party, argued that such a law was necessary as it disallowed Chavez’s critics from being elected on one ticket “so later they can betray.”

Another new law changes the way the country’s legislature will operate procedurally.  For example, legislators used to be able to take to the floor to orally defend a bill for 15 minutes; now they will only have 10 minutes.  Those opposing a bill will only have 3 minutes to make their argument.  A further change restricts parliamentary debates from being broadcasted on state television.

Defenders of free expression have spoken out against a new law that expands restrictions on Internet messages that “incite or promote disobedience of the current legal order,” or “refuse the legitimately constituted authority.”

“One has to say it clearly:” said Ismael Garcia, an anti-Chavez legislator, “a new dictatorial model is being imposed in Venezuela.”

Last week, fervent protests erupted against the restrictive laws.  Most of the protesters were students and were dispersed by armed forces shooting off water cannons and rubber bullets.

“In Venezuela, the law is destroyed by the law,” opined historian and philosopher Fernando Mires in a recent essay.  “The judicial system is destroyed by the judicial system and the Parliament is destroyed by the Parliament.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times-New Laws in Venezuela Aim to Limit Dissent-24 December 2010

Wall Street Journal-Flurry Of New Laws Strengthens Chavez’s Grip On Venezuela-24 December 2010

AP-Flurry of laws boost Chavez’s power in Venezuela-24 December 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CORDOBA, Argentine – Jorge Rafael Videla, President of Argentina from 1976-1981, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed by Videla’s military regime.  The court also handed down life sentences to retired Gen. Luciano Benjamin Menendez and 28 other defendants.

Videla and his co-defendants were on trial for the extrajudicial execution of 31 inmates at a Cordoba prison and for the abduction and torture of six people targeted as “infiltrators from revolutionary organizations.”

Videla presided over the so-called “Dirty War” in which it is estimated that at least 10,000 people suspected of working against the regime, and perhaps as many as 30,000, “disappeared” or were killed, according to historians and human-rights groups.

Videla, now 85, was also convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison in 1985; however, he was pardoned a few years later by President Carlos Menem.  That amnesty was overturned in 2007 and cases have mounted against Videla since.

The guilty verdict was hailed with praise by the families of “Dirty War” victims.  Prosecutor Maximiliano Hairabedian’s winning argument was that Videla bore ultimate responsibility for devising a systematic plan “to eliminate opponents” of military rule.

During the trial, Videla took verbal swipes at the government of President Cristina Kirchner, who has acted aggressively to bring former dictatorship officials to justice.  Videla said, “the enemies of yesterday achieved their goal and govern the country and they try to set themselves up as champions of human rights.”  Videla also stood strong in his convictions that the war he waged was “just.”

The court was specific in saying that Videla’s sentence is to be carried out at a common prison, not a military detention center or on house arrest.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Former Argentine Dictator Jailed for Life – 23 December 2010

The Wall Street Journal – Former Argentine Dictator Gets Life in Prison – 23 December 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Argentine Junta Leader Sentenced to Life in Prison – 22 December 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—On Friday, Venezuelan legislators voted to allow President Hugo Chavez to rule by decree until 2012.  The bill, which is called the “enabling law,” was allegedly passed in order to safeguard the country during emergencies; but in essence, the law gives Chavez the power of a dictator.

The overwhelming majority of “lame duck” legislators agreed to pass the enabling law.  The National Assembly voted to give Chavez 18 months of unchallenged power.  Cilia Flores, assembly boss of the United Socialist Party, said the lawmakers’ act displayed their “revolutionary commitment.”  These legislators will be replaced by newly-elected ones who are critical of Chavez and his government.  The new lawmakers, who will consist of about one-third of the National Assembly, take office in less than three weeks.

The law was supposedly a response to the recent torrential rain in the country that caused significant damage.  President Chavez held “capitalism” responsible for the terrible weather.  Now, Chavez will have supreme control over Venezuela for the next year and a half, including taxes, the armed forces, land-use, and banking.

Chavez taunted opposition members after the bill passed, saying, “You won’t be able to make even a single law, little Yankees.  We’re going to see how you make laws now.”  Chavez refers to his critics as Yankees to imply that they are U.S. sympathizers.  The president has claimed to already have at least 20 decrees planned, including requirements for media operations and an increase in “Value-Added Tax.”

Numerous human rights groups, along with the U.S. State Department and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), have criticized the “autocratic” seizure of control by Chavez.  The IACHR announced that the new law “assigns the president of the republic ample, imprecise, and ambiguous powers to dictate and reform regulatory provisions in the telecommunications and information technology sectors.”

According to Business Monitor International, the enabling law will prevent opposition members from altering “an increasingly radical policy trajectory.  This not only has negative implications for democratic legitimacy, but it also increases the threat of major political upheaval in 2012.”

Chavez has given no indication that he will relinquish any of his power, and quipped that “the empire” is attempting to thwart his “Bolivarian Revolution.”

For more information, please see:

The New American-Socialist Chavez Set to Rule Venezuela By Decree-20 December 2010

Washington Post-Venezuelan legislature grants Chavez decree powers-19 December 2010

Epoch Times-Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to Rule By Decree-19 December 2010