Free Republic

Reporting from Tumaco, Colombia -- Squat, bull-necked and sullen-looking, Enrique Portocarrero hardly seems a dashing character out of a Jules Verne science fiction novel. But law enforcement officers here have dubbed him "Captain Nemo," after the dark genius of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

December 8, 2008 Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/December/08-nsd-1072.html Colombian Terror Organization Leader Indicted for Two Separate Hostage Takings of U.S. Citizens in 1999 and 2003 WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in the District of Colombia has indicted Carlos Marin Guarin, also known as "Pablo," also known as Gustavo Anibal Giraldo Quinchia, a high-ranking member of the terrorist group the National Liberation Army (in Spanish the "Ejercito De Liberacion Nacional," or "ELN" for short), in connection with two separate hostage takings of United States citizens which took place in Colombia in 1999 and 2003, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey...

Obama's Years at Columbia Are a Mystery He Graduated Without Honors By ROSS GOLDBERG, Special to the Sun | September 2, 2008 SHARE|PRINT|EMAIL Senator Obama's life story, from his humble roots, to his rise to Harvard Law School, to his passion as a community organizer in Chicago, has been at the center of his presidential campaign. But one chapter of the tale remains a blank � his education at Columbia College, a place he rarely speaks about and where few people seem to remember him. Contributing to the mystery is the fact that nobody knows just how well Mr. Obama,...

International Arms Dealer who was involved in the Achille Lauro terrorist incident is convicted http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=20206164&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=623508&rfi=6

OUR OPINION: Obama, Democrats should support deal with close ally Now that leaders of the European Union have expressed interest in moving ahead with free trade talks with Colombia, lawmakers in Congress should rethink their own refusal to finalize the pending trade agreement with the strongest U.S. ally in South America. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues voted to put the deal on ice back in April, Rep. Rahm Emanuel suggested that a vote was still possible before the end of the year. Well, Mr. Emanuel, how about it? The Illinois congressman is now President-elect Obama's designated...

Pelosi's ties to Chavez have real consequences

Hugo Chavez, Iran, Russia, China, FARC, and drug cartels have a new ally: the United Auto Workers. The UAW's chief lobbyist announced they would put on a full court press in the hopes of preventing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, saying, "We don't think we should be doing free-trade deals with countries that are murdering people because they're engaged in union activity." The UAW, Democrats, and leftists of South America seem to ignore one very important fact: the unions in Colombia desperately want the FTA to go through!

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez can’t wait to have the results of the presidential elections in the United States. He is already saying that he is willing to talk with Barack Obama if the Democratic candidate wins Tuesday’s election (Chavez says Obama win could spur talks with US). No wonder freedom-loving Latin Americans see an Obama victory as a Chavez victory that will destroy any hopes for freedom, democracy and progress in Latin America and will empower the Marxists, violent guerrillas and Islamic terrorists who are working with Chavez. While stealing millions from his compatriots, Chavez has been investing heavily in...

BOGOTA, Colombia — A 62-year-old lawmaker held captive eight years by leftist rebels walked to freedom in a western Colombia jungle on Sunday along with the young guerrilla commander who had been his jailer. President Alvaro Uribe said the rebel and his girlfriend would be rewarded with asylum in France.

Colombia smashes drug ring with Hezbollah ties Reuters South Africa, South Africa - 21 Oct 2008Among those arrested in Colombia were three people suspected of coordinating drug smuggling to send some of their profits to groups such as Hezbollah, http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE49L0GQ.html

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

As I was live blogging the third debate, I noted that Obama was not telling the truth about the union organizers being assassinated in Colombia. I did not elaborate too far except to say that such murders were down %80 since Uribe came to office and that it was not legitimate for the Democrats to continue to hold past assassinations against him in light of his fantastic efforts to stop it. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal also noted this Obama lie and noted that it was a lie pushed by unions in the USA.+++++++Obama Makes It Up  Repeating union distortions....

<p>In Wednesday night's debate with John McCain, Barack Obama defended his opposition to the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement this way: "The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination, on a fairly consistent basis, and there have not been any prosecutions." Among the many falsehoods in this Presidential campaign, this is one of the worst.</p>

In Wednesday night's debate with John McCain, Barack Obama defended his opposition to the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement this way: "The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination, on a fairly consistent basis, and there have not been any prosecutions." Among the many falsehoods in this Presidential campaign, this is one of the worst. It is true that Colombia has a history of violence. But since President Álvaro Uribe took office in 2002, that violence has been substantially reduced. The homicide rate through the end of 2007 was down by 40.4% and the...

A Colombian associate of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is once again linked to FARC terrorists and Marxist Dictator Hugo Chavez with the revelation of damning new messages concerning Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba that are currently being investigated by Colombian military officials. Once again we have a powerful American politician, this one the Speaker of the House of Representatives, linked to those attempting to institute Marxist regimes to our South. Why does the U.S. media steadily ignore the ties Speaker Pelosi has to Chavez and the terrorist group FARC through her association with Senator Córdoba? Isn't it awfully big news...

A Columbian associate of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is once again linked to FARC terrorists and Marxist Dictator Hugo Chavez with the revelation of damning new messages concerning Columbian Senator Piedad Córdoba that are currently being investigated by Columbian military officials. Once again we have a powerful American politician, this one the Speaker of the House of Representatives, linked to those attempting to institute Marxist regimes to our South. Why does the U.S. media steadily ignore the ties Speaker Pelosi has to Charvez and the terrorist group FARC through her association with Senator Córdoba? Isn't it awfully big news...

Election '08: Bill Ayers isn't out bombing anymore, but he has never stopped being a radical. His ties to hostile Marxist regimes remain, raising more questions about Barack Obama's refusal to fully repudiate him. Distancing himself, as Obama did, from the "detestable acts" of the founder of the Weather Underground terror organization, is one thing. Ayers' terror attacks — in armed robbery, police murder, attempted killings of U.S. troops, and bombings of U.S. democratic institutions to advance a Marxist revolution — were quite easy to disavow. But Ayers' supporters say his violence was all a long time ago.

For those with questions about Gov. Sarah Palin's competence in the area of foreign policy, consider this: She has already demonstrated more leadership on foreign policy know-how and savvy than the entire Democratic party leadership put together. If this was a sports event in the contest of Gov. Palin versus the Democratic party leadership, it was a blowout with an easy win for Gov. Palin with a score of about 100-0. The incident I'm about to relate demonstrates Gov. Palin's competence, but it more dramatically demonstrates the incompetence of the Democratic party's foreign policy leadership, including the total incompetence of...

Election '08: The press spent so much time sniping at Sarah Palin for her visits with global leaders that in the end it babbled about itself. What it missed was news on John McCain's foreign policy. Who are the real rubes?Palin's meetings with foreign heads of state in New York this week sent a stark message to the world's tyrants: If she and John McCain are elected to the highest office in the land, America will stand by the embattled nations it calls friends. Not those nations with the most money, prestige or radical think tanks lobbying Congress on their...

175 Alleged Gulf Cartel Members and Associates Arrested in Massive International Law Enforcement Operation "Project Reckoning" Leads to the Seizure of $60 Million and More Than 40 Tons of Illegal Drugs From One of Mexico's Largest Drug Trafficking Cartels NEW YORK - Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced that 175 individuals were arrested on Sept. 16, 2008, on charges related to an international drug trafficking cartel in a coordinated enforcement action by hundreds of international, federal, state and local law enforcement officials throughout the United States and Italy. Including the operations announced today, a long-term investigation of one of Mexico's...

Leadership: If anything shows how Democrats are beneath their office, it's how they snubbed the visiting leader of Colombia on his current trip. Sarah Palin, by contrast, shows respect.Based on their treatment of President Alvaro Uribe, who is here to plead for a free trade pact, it's almost as if Democrats don't want the U.S. to have allies. Uribe made a rare visit to Washington, and shamefully few Democrats agreed to meet him. Uribe didn't come asking for much — only that Congress keep its word on an agreement that will drop tariffs on American goods sold in Colombia and...

President Bush on Saturday used the visit of Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe to urge Congress to pass a free trade agreement with the South American country. In remarks to reporters alongside Uribe at the White House Rose Garden, Bush said it is vital that Congress considers the trade pact before adjourning. “It is a statement of friendship, it's a statement of common values. And if this agreement were not to pass it would embolden the voices of populism in the neighborhood, to the detriment of a government which has been very strong in dealing with human rights and human dignity...

The President delivered his Weekly Radio Address from the White House. The subject was the economy. President Bush welcomed President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia to the White House on September 20, 2008. Colombia is a strategic ally of the United States, and this visit underscores the deep friendship and extensive cooperation between the United States and Colombia. The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including their shared commitment to the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, continuing to reduce violence and increase peace and security in Colombia, and strengthening democracy throughout the region. The President is hosting a White House...

Energy: As Congress futzes around on offshore drilling, Colombia is doing the exact opposite — discovering and producing lots of new oil. So why does Congress withhold free trade from such a helpful ally?t's not talked about much in the context of free trade, but it ought to be: Colombia is a rising energy producer that has just discovered huge new oil deposits in its Meta jungle, more than doubling its reserves to 4 billion barrels overnight. An official reserve count is pending, but this first estimate equals official U.S. figures on federal offshore proved reserves, or the oil in...

Trade: Never thought we'd say this, but Jimmy Carter finally got something very right. From Plains on Sunday, he urged Congress to pass the free-trade pact with Colombia. Fellow Democrats should take heed.It was good to see President Carter assuring Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that he'd "prudently but effectively" try and persuade Congress to end its moratorium on free trade with Colombia. On his Web site, Uribe said Carter's help "is going to be very useful." Along with offshore drilling, Colombia's treaty has languished in Congress without a vote since April. Speaker Nancy Pelosi altered House rules to block a...

The bizarre remarks and actions of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continue to concern anyone who is interested in the peace and security of the Caribbean region. Chavez has recently purchased $4 billion worth of military equipment from Russia, including 24 Sukhoi combat aircraft with missiles, Main battle tanks, transport aircraft, air defence systems and Kalashnikov AK automatic assault rifles. This latest purchase follows a 2005-2006 agreement with Russia to buy over 50 combat helicopters, 12 Tor-M1state-of-the-art defence anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile systems and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles. Having purchased all this heavy-duty weaponry, Chavez boasted that his air force could...

NGOs: Europe once urged Colombia to pay any price to free hostages. Now it pitches a fit when its own bill comes due. The International Red Cross' fury at Colombia for improper use of its emblem to save 15 lives is out of line.The argument goes that Colombia shouldn't have let an undercover soldier use a Red Cross bib over his Palestinian keffiyeh (a get-up that FARC found perfectly credible) to rescue 15 hostages on July 2, because it might make the FARC and groups like it distrustful of future Red Cross efforts. "If authenticated, these images could clearly establish...

Nicaragua's leftist president, Daniel Ortega, who led Latin America's last successful armed Marxist revolution, is billing himself as peacemaker between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Colombia says Ortega's help is not needed, nor is it welcome. "I tell our brothers in FARC that I am willing to offer my support for a serious peace initiative in Colombia," Ortega told a political rally last month Ortega made the offer despite strong objections from Uribe's government, which has scored a string of victories against the Marxist-inspired FARC. Nicaragua's main newspaper reported ......

After six years in captivity Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian hostage, was rescued by Colombian special forces. Her first action was to arrange to go to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris. In an interview earlier this month she spoke to Pèlerin magazine about her faith and how it saw her through her ordeal. Mrs Betancourt's first gesture on being rescued was the sign of the cross. "Why? Because without Him at my side I would never have managed to survive the pain," she said. She went on to say that "being a hostage places you in a situation...

The Colombian TV released footage taken by the army during the rescue operation of July 2, 2008 where several hostages were freed, including presidential hopeful Ingrid Betancourt and 3 American citizens. American CIA and Israeli Mossad were involved in this operation.

Mr. Ortega refers to the FARC as "brothers." His help would be welcomed by the rebels, who have suffered a string of recent setbacks, including the deaths of three of its top members and the recent rescue by Colombia's military of some of the group's most prized hostages. Latin America's oldest and largest insurgency, the FARC funds itself through drug trafficking and kidnapping. It holds about 700 hostages, most for ransom. ... Mr. Ortega agreed to mediate the conflict, much to the annoyance of the Colombian government, which resents the sympathy with which Mr. Ortega and some other Latin American...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

MADRID (AFP) - Spanish police said Saturday they had arrested a 57-year-old Spanish woman they claim is the leader of the Spanish cell of Colombian Marxist rebel group FARC. Maria Remedios Garcia Albert was arrested at her home in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, northeast of Madrid, they said. The interior ministry said Garcia Albert had provided logistical support for FARC and had direct contacts with Raul Reyes, the FARC number two who was killed by Colombian troops inside Ecuador earlier this year. Analysis of Reyes' computer passed on to Spanish investigators by Colombian authorities had led...

Bogotá (ICRC) – Yesterday, 23 July, in a rural area of Vigía del Fuerte, Antioquia department, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) received eight civilians who had been held by the FARC-EP since 17 July 2008. The operation was the outcome of a strictly confidential dialogue between the parties concerned and the ICRC’s neutral and independent humanitarian action. The civilians were released following a request made by the FARC to the ICRC. The ICRC will continue to support efforts to find means of obtaining the release of other hostages and detainees in the hands of armed groups....

What nice things oil buys.

In any partnership, the coin of the realm is trust and responsibility - in other words, saying what you mean and doing what you say. In the dramatic rescue on July 2 of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held captive for many years by guerrillas and terrorists, deep in the Colombian jungles, we saw a powerful reminder that the United States has no better partner in South America than the government and people of Colombia. Colombia's leaders, especially President Uribe, had promised us that our three abducted citizens would be treated no differently than the many Colombian men and women...

At least 80 people were injured during a bullfight in Colombia when stands in an overcrowded stadium collapsed underneath the crowd. Some 500 spectators screamed in panic and scrambled for safety as, following the collapse, the bull charged towards crowds at the stadium in Planadas, in the south of the country. Two men dressed as clowns tried to distract the bull and tempt it away from the mass of people before others joined them in trying to pin it down. The dramatic events at the annual fiesta were caught live on television and an investigation into how it happened has...

President Bush honored Columbian Independence Day in the East Room TranscriptPresident Bush traveled to Georgia to attend a Republican fundraiser Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

Chevron Pipelines Attacked In Nigeria and Columbia; FARC May Be Responsible In Columbia Monday, July 07, 2008 In the ongoing matter of Chevron and Nigeria comes a report from UPI declaring that "Nigeria attack cripples Chevron". Moreover, the same report points a finger at militant groups like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). And while there's no recorded link between MEND and Chevron accuser Larry Bowoto, it seems the two have similar aims: to cripple Chevron's presence in the region, as well as that of Royal Dutch Shell. Consider this UPI report: Chevron Corp. has declared...

The Mossad secret was involved in the operation to free hostage Ingrid Betancourt from Colombian rebels, AFP quoted a Spanish newspaper as reporting on Sunday. Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, right, greets her daughter Melaine Delloye after Melanie arrived from France to a military base in Bogota. Photo: AP Slideshow: Pictures of the week According to the report, American and French secret services were also involved. "Mossad, the US, and French intelligence services worked for more than a year with the Colombian authorities to develop the plan," the story run by Vanguardia claimed, citing an Israeli secret service source. The Jerusalem...

Colombia's left-wing Farc rebels have kidnapped 10 people in the north-west of the country. Guerrillas forced a boat load of people travelling along the Atrato River in Choco province to the shore, before seizing the hostages. Kidnappings for ransom remain the main source of income for the Farc, along with drug trafficking. Earlier this month their best-known hostage, ex-presidential hopeful Ingrid Betancourt, was rescued by troops.

Former Colombian hostage Marc Gonsalves filed for divorce from his wife Alisa ''Shane'' Gonsalves Thursday in Key West. Gonsalves, a resident of Big Pine Key, was one of three Americans rescued from the jungles of Colombia on July 2 after being held captive for more than five years by FARC guerrillas. He returned to Big Pine Key on Saturday, flying into Marathon airport aboard a private plane. Gonsalves grew up in Connecticut. He and his wife have three teenage children: Joey, Cody and Destiny. Shane Gonsalves has declined all requests for interviews since her husband's rescue.

MEXICO CITY — The capture was worthy of an action thriller: elite Mexican troops rappelling from a helicopter onto the deck of a mysterious submarine. The 33-foot vessel turned out to be crammed with parcels believed to contain cocaine, possibly tons. Its disheveled crew of four emerged in stocking feet and baggy shorts, saying they had shipped out from Colombia a week earlier under threat of death. Mexico's military confirmed Thursday that the men are Colombian but offered little new information...Capt. Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for the Mexican navy, said authorities were hauling the "very well-constructed" vessel to shore...

Trade deals with Colombia, Korea, and Panama, all rife with political import, are stalled in Congress. In the meantime, some U.S. exports lag In its Decatur (Ill.) factory, Caterpillar (CAT) assembles a line of the heaviest-duty off-highway trucks, behemoths specialized for use in mining, quarry, and construction operations. One model, the $1.2 million, 163,089-lb. 777F truck, can hit a top speed of 40 mph even while carrying 100 tons of dirt, enough to fill 350 wheelbarrows. Caterpillar has seen a robust market in recent years for these monster trucks, but is worried that companies in other countries will start to...

President Rafael Correa rejected statements by ex-FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who supported the attack by the Colombian Army on a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory on March 1. In the letter, the Head of State said he was surprised by comments by Betancourt, who was rescued in an operation authorized by Álvaro Uribe. “We are surprised and deeply pained by these declarations that support and try to justify an illegitimate and illegal act, which has been recognized as such and rejected by every government in America” , said Correa in the letter sent to Betancourt, released yesterday by Carondelet. In...

Leave it to CNN to worry that the Colombian government committed a war crime in its recent rescue of FARC hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says one Red Cross symbol was used in a daring and successful hostage rescue mission that took place two weeks ago. What seems to be part of a red cross is seen on a bib worn by a man involved in the rescue in this official image. One of the rescuers was wearing the symbol on a bib, Uribe said Wednesday in a nationally televised announcement that was also carried on radio. He described the wearing of the symbol as a slip-up. Such a use of the Red Cross emblem could constitute...

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia misused the symbol of the Red Cross in this month's military rescue of politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other guerrilla-held hostages, the government said on Wednesday, admitting a possible violation of the rules of war. "We regret that this occurred," President Alvaro Uribe said in a speech following reports that the Red Cross emblem was displayed on a vest or T-shirt worn by a Colombian intelligence officer who took part in the rescue mission. Falsely portraying military personnel as Red Cross members is against the Geneva Conventions as it could put humanitarian workers at risk when...

Colombian military intelligence used the Red Cross emblem in a rescue operation in which leftist guerrillas were duped into handing over 15 hostages, according to unpublished photographs and video viewed by CNN. What seems to be part of a red cross is seen on a bib worn by a man involved in the rescue in this official image. Photographs of the Colombian military intelligence-led team that spearheaded the rescue, shown to CNN by a confidential military source, show one man wearing a bib with the Red Cross symbol. The military source said the three photos were taken moments before the...