[NYTr] Paramilitaries Foster Crime in Colombia
 
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 19:27:27 -0500 (CDT)


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Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Paramilitaries Foster Crime in Colombia

Bogota, Sept 6 (Prensa Latina) New paramilitary groups are responsible
for the escalation of crime in many Colombian cities, as a result of
their wars to control drug trafficking and prostitution, the newspaper
El Tiempo said on Thursday.

That situation contradicts official reports, according to which
paramilitary groups ceased to exist after the controversial Justice and
Peace Law, which led to the demobilization of some 30,000 members of
the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, came into force.

The newspaper said that in Cucuta, the capital of the department of
Norte de Santander, homicides increased from 259 from January to August
2006 to 327 during the same period this year, due to paramilitary wars
to control drug trafficking and extortion.

The police know the situation, and Fundacion Progresar, which studies
violence in the country, says that the homicides are similar to those
committed by the demobilized paramilitaries.

In the city of Santa Marta, the paramilitary group Aguilas Negras
(Black Eagles) has clashed with demobilized members of the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.

According to the director of the Security and Democracy Foundation,
Alfredo Rangel, the demobilization of the paramilitaries resulted in a
drop in crime, but similar experiences in Central America show that if
that process is not monitored closely, violence may escalate.

The Ministry of Defense presented a report to Congress on Tuesday,
according to which some 23 paramilitary groups, which it calls
"criminal gangs at the service of drug traffickers", operate in the
country.

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