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Rio Group backs action against
three Costa Rican ex-presidents
The
Rio Group said Friday that it
supports Costa Rica's action
against three ex-presidents for
corruption.
"We support the efforts taken by the Costa Rican
government to investigate corruption cases and vigorously control
all of them," said the presidents of the group at a summit here.
The three former presidents involved in corruption scandals are
Rafael Calderon, Jose Figueres and Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who ruled
over the country in consecutive administrations from 1990 to2002.
Calderon and Rodriguez have already been detained.
The Rio Group reaffirmed its support for Argentina's legitimate
rights over the disputed sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, known
as Falklands in Britain, and hoped for a prompt solution.
The 19-nation Rio Group was created in 1986 to consolidate democracy
in Latin America through economic and social development, and to
spur cooperation and integration between member countries.
Brazil calls
for more cooperation in region
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday called on
Latin American and Caribbean countries to strengthen cooperation in
dealing with challenges in development and poverty reduction.
At the opening ceremony of the 18th Summit of the Group of Rio, Lula
said that conflicts and problems ahead of Latin American and
Caribbean countries are serious and complex, and therefore, no
country can solve them alone.
Lula pointed out that they must strengthen cooperation and resort to
united operations in dealing with these challenges.
In addition, "our solidarity is being tested by the Caribbean crisis
in Haiti," said Lula, adding that the international community must
take united actions in order to help Haiti solve practical problems
in reconstruction.
The two-day summit, a sub-continental political forum formed by19
countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and attended by over 12
presidents, discussed multilateralism, international cooperation,
reduction of famine and poverty, the Haiti crisis and innovation of
financial systems.
The Group of Rio was founded in 1986 to consolidate democracy in
Latin America through economic and social development, and by
spurring cooperation and integration among member countries.
The member countries are Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay,
Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Chilean army chief admits torture during Pinochet's rule
Chilean Army chief General Juan Cheyre has admitted to torture in
the army committed during the military regime of Augusto Pinochet
from 1973 to 1990, local media reported Friday.
"The Chilean army took the hard but irreversible decision to accept
its responsibility for the acts of the past" that are morally
unacceptable and are of criminal nature, Cheyre said in a report
called "The end of a Vision" published by the daily La Tercera
daily.
Cheyre admitted there were torture, assassinations and
disappearances of dissidents by the law-enforcement institutions
under Pinochet's rule.
He said that under the Cold War circumstances, the logic of
confrontation affected Chile, but added: "Human rights violations
never, and to nobody, could have an ethical justification
whatsoever."
Cheyre made these remarks days before the release of a government
report on torture and imprisonment of dissidents during the military
regime of Pinochet.
The abundant cases of torture recorded in the report contradicted a
claim in the past by the military that there was no systematic
policy of human rights violations in Chile, analysts said.
The government report will be handed over to President Ricardo Lagos
on Wednesday.
Colombian govt lifts arrest warrants for paramilitary chiefs
The Colombian authorities Thursday lifted arrest warrants for three
leaders of the right-wing paramilitary organization the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
This measure is aimed to let them cooperate in the demobilization of
nearly 3,000 AUC combatants by the end of the year.
The cancellation was signed by President Alvaro Uribe and AUC
leaders Salvatore Mancuso, Ernesto Baez and Hernan Hernandez.
According to the presidential resolution, the paramilitary chiefs
will coordinate in the demobilization from Nov. 4 to Dec. 15.
On July 1, when the peace dialogue started in the demobilization
zone, the government ordered to cancel arrest warrants against the
paramilitary, but only within Santa Fe de Ralito.
The three men are among more than two dozen warlords holed up in a
small safe haven in rural northwest Colombia granted to them by the
government for peace talks, Peace Commissioner Luis Restrepo said.
The Colombian government has launched a process to demobilize at
least 3,000 right-wing militia fighters by the end of the year. A
total of 11 AUC factions deployed in regions throughout Colombia
will take part in this year's demobilization.
A second phase of demobilization is expected next year in other
parts of the country and will continue until all of the AUC's
fighters have been reincorporated into the civil society, according
to an agreement between the AUC and the government.
Since the demobilization began in late 2003, only 855 paramilitaries
in Antioquia have handed over their arms.
The main goal of the peace negotiations is the total demobilization
of the 20,000 AUC fighters, representing 95 percent of the
paramilitary groups of the Andean country.
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