Colombian president under fire for failed security measures, constitutional referendum

By Cesar Garcia, Associated Press, 5/19/2003 22:35

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) President Alvaro Uribe's attempt to control a violence-plagued state bordering Venezuela by giving authorities special powers has failed, two top officials concluded Monday in separate reports.

The reports by Inspector General Edgardo Maya and government Human Rights Ombudsman Eduardo Cifuentes found that violence was increasing in oil-rich Arauca state, which is being fought over by two leftist rebel armies, a right-wing militia and government troops.

Uribe created the special security zones in September, giving military and civilian authorities special powers, including to search and detain suspects.

But there have been 13 bombing attacks this year alone in Saravena, one of three towns covered in Arauca state by the security zone, Cifuentes noted. Another town, Arauquita, has suffered eight attacks this year. And the police have only arrested 69 suspected rebels and seized 17 arms since the security zones which expired this month were created.

''The central objective of re-establishing security was not achieved,'' Cifuentes said.

Even after the zones were decreed, the governor of Arauca state a former military commander appointed by Uribe himself resigned for his safety. The president of Arauquita's city council was murdered and the town's mayor resigned because of rebel threats.

Maya pointed out that in the five months before the special zones were created, there were 23 homicides in Saravena. In the first five months of the zone, there were 30.

Uribe, a hard-liner who took office in August on a law-and-order ticket, did not immediately respond to the findings.

Also Monday, leftist rebels in northern Colombia kidnapped dozens of workers from the El Cerrejon mine one of the world's biggest coal mines but were forced to let them go when army troops backed by warplanes converged on the scene.

The rebels, who have waged war in this South American country for almost four decades, kidnap thousands of people each year for ransom. They also capture politicians, police and soldiers in hopes of exchanging them with the government for jailed rebels.

Also Monday, Colombian authorities charged 147 soldiers with stealing money they seized from a rebel hideout, the president's office announced.

Officials have arrested 40 soldiers, including three officers, and arrest warrants have been issued for another 107 soldiers, the presidency said.