Juan Forero has a good article in today's New York Times about the AUC leaders appearance before Colombia's congress. It appears that the demonstration of support for the AUC was stage managed:
Outside, in the giant Plaza Bolívar, anchored by the stoic statue of the Liberator that has served as a meeting place for protesters and lovers for decades, hundreds of people bused in from the countryside shouted, "Viva La Paz," or long live peace, in an orchestrated show of support. Participants said they were given T-shirts that read, "We are builders of peace," and long banners proclaiming allegiance to the peace process."They got us together, they organized us," said Luis Parrado, 50, a street vendor, pointing to several men in bright windbreakers who bused Mr. Parrado and others from the southern city of Villavicencio.
and the stagemanaging was aided by the authorities:
But there were also relatives of people killed by the paramilitaries, carrying coffins and photographs of their loved ones. Some yelled, "Mancuso, fascist, you narco-terrorist."Heavily armed police officers, dressed in black antiriot gear, quickly removed the protesters, who went peacefully.
Hundreds who supported the paramilitary presence were permitted to remain, hailing President Álvaro Uribe and Mr. Mancuso.
"We want to support the president's peace talks," Rafael Quintero, 45, an indigenous leader who lives in the heart of paramilitary territory in northern Colombia. "It's a good process."
I shudder to think what would have happened to Mr. Quintero if he had expressed a different opinion.
Comments