By Ryan C. Kossler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Last week Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela had entered into an arms deal with Russia.  The Russian government is purported to have opened a 2.2 billion dollar line of credit for Venezuela to purchase weapons, including, 92 Soviet-era T-72 battle tanks, 300-millimeter Smerch multiple launch rocket systems, and surface to air missiles with a range of up to 186 miles.  The Russian government has said that it is willing to sell Venezuela whatever weapons it is willing to buy.

President Chavez said that the weapons were needed for defense purposes because his government feels threatened by Colombia’s recent agreement with the United States to give U.S. forces increased access to Colombian military bases.  The agreement between the U.S. and Colombia occurred last month and was for the purpose of combating regional drug trafficking and terrorism.

U.S. officials say that they fear Venezuela’s new arms acquisitions could lead to an arms race in the region, in turn, leading to regional instability.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said U.S. officials think Venezuela’s arms buildup “poses a serious challenge to stability in the western hemisphere.”

Kelly also said that the U.S. urges Venezuela “to be transparent in its purchases, and very clear about the purposes of these purchases” and that the U.S. is concerned that the Venezuelan government “put[s] in place very clear procedures and safeguards that these arms are not diverted to any irregular organizations,” referring to the fact that in the past, the Venezuelan government has been accused of providing arms to FARC guerillas in Colombia, who are considered a terrorist group by the Colombian government.

President Chavez said that his country had the “right to take the minimum necessary steps” to protect its national security and natural resources.  He accused the United States of encroaching on the country’s oil and gas reserves by saying “the empire has set its sights on them.”  President Chavez seemed to be implying that the U.S.-Colombian agreement may have ulterior motives.

Russia has already sold Venezuela military equipment amounting to the cost of 4 billion dollars since the United States barred the country from buying U.S. equipment and this latest purchase further outpaces those of any other South American country.

For more information, please see:

Google News – US Fears Latin American Arms Race – 14 September 2009

Miami Herald – US Worries About Venezuelan Arms Buildup- 14 September 2009

Miami Herald – Venezuela Gets $2.2B in Credit for Russian Arms- 13 September 2009

VOA News – US Says Venezuelan Arms Buildup Threatens Regional Stability – 14 September 2009

VOA News – Venezuela Buys Rockets from Russia – 12 September 2009

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

ARAUCANÍA, Chile – The indigenous Mapuche Nation will not participate in the upcoming annual Chilean independence celebrations because they perceive Chile to be an oppressive state. The Mapuche have been actively seeking land reform and regional autonomy for the last several years, often leading to violent confrontations with the Chilean government in the state of Araucanía. Last month the military police shot Mendoza Collío, a Mapuche activist, to death in an effort to remove activists from a piece of land they had symbolically seized.

Land reform is a part of Prime Minister Bachelet’s indigenous policy, however the pace of reform is slow. This has led to the use of civil disobedience to encourage the government to move more quickly.  The use of land invasions began after the Mapuche were not granted an audience with President Bachelet or with the Governor of the state of Araucanía.

The international community has criticized the the Chilean government’s reaction to the land seizures. The executive director of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco, called the August killing of Mendoza Collío an “unjustified homicide”.  The Chilean government is currently using an anti-terrorism statute from the Pinochet era to punish Mapuche protesters who seize and destroy property.  Prosecutors may call unidentified witnesses, withhold evidence for long periods, deny bail, and double the length of sentences under this statute.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights declared the anti-terrorism law to be a violation of international law.  Similarly, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racism has criticized the law because it is applied “principally to members of the Mapuche community, for acts committed in the context of social demands and related to the vindication of their ancestral land rights.”

Regional autonomy is a goal of numerous Mapuche groups who use both protest and the political process to further their goals. Groups call for a reconstituted, decentralized local government and a new constitution that would recognize Chile as a plurinational state and raise Mapudungun to the status of an official language.  The national legislature is asked to reserve seats for Mapuche representatives.

While Mapuche leaders have pledged to continue their struggle, the independence celebration will go on, with special requirements that all Chilean children participate in military processions. A Mapuche man remarked, “It pains many of us to see our sons and brothers participating in military parades because this is the same organization that has been raping and killing our families over the centuries.”

For more information, please see:

The Santiago Times – Fiestas Patrias – Whose Party is It? – 16 September 2009

Upside Down World – The Mapuche Nation Ups the Ante – 16 September 2009

World Press Review – Chile’s Mapuches Call for Regional Autonomy – 15 September 2009

By Ryan C Kossler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – The fate of Globovision, the last major channel in Venezuela that is critical of President Hugo Chavez, is unknown.

On September 7, Minister of Public Works and Housing Diosdado Cabello announced that an investigation would be initiated into Globovision’s recent alleged unlawful broadcast of a viewer’s text. The message called for a coup and the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  “If you call for a coup, if you call for assassination, assume your responsibility,” Cabello said.

Earlier in the day, Venezuela’s telecommunications commission issued a statement accusing Globovision of airing messages having the implication of calling for violent acts.  The commission also stated that Globovision’s airing of anti government messages sought to “promote public protests, which could generate a climate of tension and nervousness in the population.”

Globovision’s legal advisor Ana Cristina Nunez responded by saying that “We are very careful in attempting to stop people from using Globovision’s screen to make illegal petitions,” and that the channel “would never intentionally broadcast unlawful text messages.”

Opponents to President Chavez see the potential closure of Globovision as another instance of President Chavez trying to silence the media.  “There is a clear strategy to control the flow of information and restrict criticism,” said Carlos Lauria of the New York Committee to Protect Journalists.

President Chavez has denied any accusations that his government is attempting to control the private media for political reasons and has said that Globovision is being investigated only for violations of unlawful broadcasting regulations.

The latest accusations regarding Globovsion’s alleged actions come in the wake of the recent closure of 32 private media outlets and the announcement by Cabello that “there are 29 [radio stations] that will be off the air shortly.”

This is not the first instance that Globovision has clashed with the government and is one example among many in the growing tension between the government and Venezuela’s private media.  On July 17, 2009, Cabello announced that if Globovision did not comply with the laws, its license would be revoked.  This announcement was made shortly after regulators opened five investigations into Globovision’s activities.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Venezuelan Minister: More radio closures coming – 6 September 2009

Miami Herald – Anti-Chavez TV station faces possible shutdown – 7 September 2009

Miami Herald – Venezuela steps up threats against anti-Chavez TV – 17 July 2009

By Mario A. Flores
Special Features Editor, Impunity Watch Journal

BOGOTA, Colombia — The United States has quietly made the legal certification this week that Colombia’s human rights record has improved in spite of reports alleging that serious abuses and impunity for illegal activity in the Latin American nation persist.

This certification will allow Colombia to access $32 million that Washington has withheld as part of a $545 million package that the U.S. government is to provide Colombia this fiscal year under the State Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. The funds are meant to fight gangs and drug smugglers.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Colombia has “made significant efforts to increase the security of its people and to promote respect for human rights by its Armed Forces,” which justify the determination that the nation meets the legal certification criteria on human rights and paramilitary groups.

According to Kelly, factors that led to the upgraded finding are reforms and training that have resulted in respect for human rights by most of the Armed Forces coupled with significant advances in investigating and prosecuting human rights cases over the past few years.

Kelly described “several disquieting challenges” where Colombia must still make progress, including allegations of soldiers involved in extrajudicial killings — which the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions described as “systematic”–, illegal surveillance by the government’s security agency, and the ability of the Prosecutor General’s Office to conduct thorough and independent investigations that result in accountability.

The Attorney General’s Office is said to be investigating cases involving more than 1,700 alleged victims in recent years.

Colombian officials insist they are trying to stamp out human rights abuses, but critics say abuses remain widespread in the country, where the government has been battling the left-wing guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for years.

Ongoing anti-union violence, with the offenders rarely brought to justice, led the International Trade Union Confederation to say that Colombia is the deadliest country in the world for labor rights activists.

According to Human Rights Watch, there has also been an increased activity of new armed groups linked to paramilitaries. These groups engage in threats, targeted killings, and forced displacement of civilians, very much like the paramilitary groups of old that are supposedly demobilized.

The media and civil society have reported that there has been a recent rise in forced displacement partly as a result of the activities of these new paramilitary groups. Last year, more than 380,000 persons were internally displaced, according to Human Rights Watch.

Maria McFarland, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that the U.S. decision was disappointing and that Colombia’s government had responded to abuse allegations only after intense pressure.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – U.S. Upgrades Colombia’s Human Rights Score – 11 September 2009

The Washington Post – US certifies Colombia’s rights record – 11 September 2009

Department of State – Determination and Certification of Colombian Government and Armed Forces with Respect to Human Rights Related Conditions

Human Rights Watch – Colombia: Obama Should Press Uribe on Rights – 26 June 2009

By Mario A. Flores
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador — Chevron announced that it obtained recordings of meetings in Ecuador this year that appear to reveal a bribery scheme connected to a $27 billion 16-year-old lawsuit the company has been battling over environmental damage at oil fields it operated in the Amazon forest in Ecuador.

The audio and video recordings reveal a $3 million bribe scheme implicating the judge presiding over the environmental lawsuit currently pending against Chevron, Juan Núñez, and individuals who identify themselves as representatives of the Ecuadorean government and its ruling party, including possibly Pierina Correa, the sister of Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa.

Judge Núñez appears in the video released by Chevron explaining that he plans to rule against the oil giant later in the year or in January at the latest for an award of $27 billion, “more or less.” In that part of the video, the Judge says he will only discuss the verdict, not “the other stuff,” which Chevron contends is a $3 million payoff request. The video later implies that Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa will benefit from the bribe amount.

Correa, a left-wing economist who rose from obscurity to become Ecuador’s strongest president in recent years, has sided with the plaintiffs in the case, prompting Chevron to lobby Washington to strip Ecuador of American trade preferences. But the Obama administration allowed the preferences to continue as a chance to improve ties with Correa.

The release of the recordings is sure to focus more scrutiny on Correa, who has come under pressure over his clashes with the media and accusations of corruption involving another family member, his brother Fabricio Correa, a prominent businessman.

In one of the recordings made in June, the political operative negotiating the bribe identifies himself as an official in Correa’s political party, and refers to $3 million in bribes to be split equally among the judge, the presidency and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

In the same meeting, the operative explains how to approach the president’s sister about the bribe. “Tell Pierina clearly, ‘Madam Pierina, what we came to do beyond anything else is to participate, participate in the remediation. That’s why I want to make you part of this,’” he said.

The recordings, obtained by businessmen using spy watches and pens implanted with bugging devices, are not clear on whether any bribes discussed were actually paid or whether Judge Núñez was even aware of plans to try to bribe him. The tapes are also unclear as to whether the president’s sister was aware of the scheme or had participated in it. Nor is there confirmation that the political operative was in fact in contact with her.

Alexis Mera, a legal adviser to the president, dismissed the recordings as “approaching the level of defamatory libel,” and said Chevron’s was a “terrible legal strategy.”

This is not the first time Correa is plagued by accusations of alleged bribes. Earlier this year, the Colombian military seized a set of three laptops from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which were alleged to contain at least one video with evidence that the guerrilla group may have contributed money to Correa’s first election campaign in 2006.

President Correa has vehemently denied allegations that he received election funds from the Marxist FARC rebels. He has said evidence had been fabricated to destabilize his left-wing government.

For more information, please see:

San Francisco Chronicle – Chevron Ecuador Judge Nunez bribery scandal – implications – 31 August 2009

The New York Times – Chevron Offers Evidence of Bribery Scheme in Ecuador Lawsuit – 31 August 2009

Los Angeles Times – Chevron, Ecuador and a clash of cultures – 29 August 2009

The Wall Street Journal – Report: Chevron seeking probe of judge in Ecuador suit – 1 September 2009