The war against the people continues in Colombia: new threats against journalists and activists

March 6, 2009

The war against the people continues in Colombia: new threats against journalists and activists

Emails from the magic laptops found in a FARC camp that was bombed in Ecuador last March have surfaced yet again.

Accusations linking Hollman Morris, one of Colombia's top investigative journalists, to the FARC were published in Cambio Magazine* yesterday.

"In October, "Sara" says to "Reyes" that "Aníbal" - the apparent leader of the front - is worried because the ELN is taking his territory and because some of his recruits are touring around with [Hollman] Morris and Manuel Rozenthal [sic], a friend of [Morris]. In these moments, the FARC and the ELN are waging a bloody battle for territorial control in Cauca and Arauca."

The alleged emails from the magic laptops have led to threats against Morris which put him and his colleagues in danger.

Manuel Rozental, named in the above passage in Cambio, is active with Indigenous movements in Northern Cauca, and has played a high profile role in opposing the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

The public linkage between Rozental and the FARC is utterly baseless, and designed with silencing him in mind. It comes at a time when state, paramilitary and guerrilla violence against Indigenous People, workers, activists, and journalists is on the rise.

The same magic laptops, which somehow emerged without a scratch from the otherwise destroyed camp, have been used to link many other Colombians to the FARC in order to threaten and criminalize them, including economist Hector Mondragon.

* Cambio magazine is owned by Grupo Planeta, Spain's largest media and publishing conglomerate. The interests of the Cambio, as well as El Tiempo, Colombia's largest paper which is also owned by Grupo Planeta, are clearly aligned with the Colombian elite.

Photo: The magic laptops.