COLOMBIA,
A POSITIVE COUNTRY
Prepared by:
Affairs Coordinator
Internal and External Communications
Ministry of Foreign Relations
ON THE FRONT PAGE
· GREATER CONFIDENCE IN THE
COUNTRY: United States Commercial
Representative, Robert Zoëllick, praised the work being
done by the Uribe government in the areas of the economy and
security, while at the same time he rejected the terrorist acts
by illegal armed groups. Zoëllick announced that the Board
of Directors for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
has earmarked US$54 million dollars — subject to approval
by Congress — for a large-scale financial initiative to
benefit Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. For the Commercial
officer, this project will contribute to the creation of employment
and economic growth in those countries, and will provide tangible
benefits for the FTAA negotiations between Colombia and the United
States.
· SOUTH AMERICA JOINS FORCES: with the desire to follow
the example of integration and consolidation of the European
Union as a great economic and political block, South America
seeks to become a world power. For that reason, next July 1st
an accord should be reached that seeks integration between the
Andean Community of Nations —ACN — and the Southern
Common Market —Mercosur— as a first step toward following
the road to a South American Community. This great continent
will be represented in the formation of a region with political
and economic unity, following the model of the European Union,
involving commercial and economic issues, and political ties
will be made that, after a long process, will lead to a common
parliament and a common currency.
SOCIAL EQUITY
·
TOWARD A MILLION: the program Desayunos Escolares del ICBF (School
Breakfasts from ICBF) is reaching and improving the nutrition
of 322 thousand children under five years of age, from low-income
families, who live in 367 Colombian towns. Next August the program
will benefit 500 thousand children, thus reaching 100% of the
goal that was fixed for the current presidential term. With the
President’s expectation met, the administration has set
a new goal to provide this attention to a million minors by the
end of his term.
· TO TILL THE SOIL!: The national government will deliver six properties
expropriated from the alleged drug trafficker Jairo Correa Alzate
next May 27th to 60 low-income farming families. The lands were
handed over by the National Council of Narcotics to the Ministry
of Agriculture on May 4, 2003. Twenty-one families will be in
charge of managing the livestock on these lands, while 39 families
will develop agricultural projects on the properties, including
fruit trees and corn.
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT
· WELCOME!: the call from the government to use more
compressed natural gas in vehicles is having an effect. Between
March and April of this year, 1,129 vehicles installed natural
gas. This record figure, showing a growth of 329%, was achieved
two months after the campaign Incentivo un Millón (Incentive
One million) was begun by means of which ECOPETROL, ECOGAS y
GAS NATURAL S.A., awards a benefit of $1 million Colombian pesos
to vehicle owners in Bogotá and Soacha who convert their
cars to natural gas. In the first four months 1,636 installations
were made, a figure never before reached in the history of natural
gas-powered vehicles in the country.
· COFFEE FROM HOME: with the inauguration of at least
eight stores this year in the US, including one in Seattle — birthplace
of STARBUCKS — the National Federation of Coffee Growers
will enter the US market. According to projections, in 2007 there
will be 300 stores in the world with the figure of Juan Valdez,
still few if compared to the more than six thousand STARBUCKS.
Colombia is the second largest coffee producer in the world,
and with the opening of the stores, the growers seek to increase
the value added for their coffee by using the chain, thereby
benefiting thousands of producers whose income has been reduced
by declining international prices.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
· DEMOBILIZED: as a result of the military operations
being developed by the Police and Armed Forces across the entire
country, in the first week of the this month 59 members of illegal
armed groups voluntarily laid down their weapons. Forty-four
of them belonged to the FARC, 10 to the AUC and 5 to the ELN.
The combination of an operational offensive together with a demobilization
strategy has weakened the violent groups in 19 Departments during
this week. The Departments that reported the most demobilizations
are Chocó with 11 cases, Antioquia and Tolima with 6 cases
each, and 5 in Caquetá.
· STRUGGLE AGAINST THE DRUG TRAFFIC: in the 21 months
of President Alvaro Uribe’s term, 79,537 people have been
arrested for the crime of drug trafficking. This is 52.4% more
than between November 2000 and July 2002, in which 52,192 alleged
drug traffickers were detained. Of those 79,537 people, 52,209
were arrested in the last twelve months, representing an increase
of 44% over the results obtained between May 2002 and April 2003,
when 36,162 people were arrested.
· HOME AGAIN: After two years of being displace from their land, 185 families
from La Junta
(Guajira) returned home.
These people had left their area after receiving threats from
illegal armed groups. The Solidarity Network indicated that 137
of the families have gone to live in the area of San Juan, while
the other 48 families will live in Valledupar. The families received
food supplies to guarantee they can eat for one month, as well
as agricultural kits with seeds and tools. To guarantee the security
of the returnees, the Police and the Army moved more than 300
uniformed personnel into the area of La Guajira.
