Colombian party dumps two congresswomen

3.02.06

Reuters.com

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) – A Colombian political party allied with President Alvaro Uribe expelled two congresswomen on Thursday for links to far-right paramilitaries and one of the spurned lawmakers accused the United States of lobbying against her.

Since mid-January, political parties supporting right-winger Uribe have told seven lawmakers that they cannot run for re-election in March. The parties have not always given reasons for the expulsions, but the moves followed a period of media scrutiny over political links to far-right paramilitaries.

Congresswoman Rocio Arias accused U.S. Ambassador William Wood of pressuring her party, Democratic Colombia, to remove her because of her role in peace talks with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, an illegal right-wing militia known by its Spanish initials AUC.

“The question I ask of Colombia, is ‘Is it going to be the American government which decides congressional candidates?’” said a tearful Arias, who has publicly admitted to friendship with leaders of AUC.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said he would make no comment on Arias’ claim.

In December, Wood said paramilitaries influenced 2003 local Colombian elections and said he hoped the government would punish those trying to do the same in 2006.
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Uribe, who is Washington’s closest ally in Latin America, told the United States not to meddle in his country’s affairs. But parties allied with him in Congress began to purge their members.

Democratic Colombia leader Mario Uribe, who is the president’s cousin, said he had fired Arias and Pineda because “it wasn’t convenient for us for them to be candidates.”

Accused of many of Colombia’s worst human rights abuses, the AUC has killed thousands of people, mainly because it suspected them of collaborating with Marxist guerrillas.

The AUC was founded by cocaine traffickers and cattle ranchers to fight Marxist rebels and often co-operated with sectors of the armed forces.

Following peace talks with the government, more than 20,000 members of the AUC have turned over their arms. In return, they have been promised reduced jail sentences for any crimes they committed.

The United States classifies the AUC as a “terrorist” organisation and says it plays a major role in Colombia’s cocaine trade.

Uribe’s tough military action against Marxist rebels has reduced violence in Colombia’s four-decade-old war and polls show he is coasting towards re-election in May.

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