I saw this earlier today on Noticias24; my officemate told me that a vein popped out in my forehead. For those who don't read Spanish, check out this AP article.
Late rebel leader to get monument in Venezuela
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A monument to the late Colombian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda, who died in March at age 78, is going up in a poor Caracas neighborhood.
Members of a leftist group announced plans Wednesday to place a bust of the founding leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in a plaza that is still under construction.
Marulanda, nicknamed "Sureshot," led the FARC for more than four decades and was considered an arch-terrorist by the Colombian government. At the time of his death by apparent heart attack, he was wanted by Colombia's chief prosecutor in more than 100 cases on charges including rebellion, kidnapping and homicide.
In Bogota, Colombian armed forces chief Gen. Freddy Padilla criticized the monument to Marulanda, calling him "a terrorist who murdered, blackmailed, trafficked drugs and led a series of activities that for more than 50 years have caused suffering, terror and misery for Colombians."
The effort to erect the monument is being led by the Venezuelan chapter of a group known as the Continental Bolivarian Coordinator, which says it supports the aims of the FARC, including overthrowing Colombia's government.
Members of the group have promoted the FARC continentwide, according to documents the Colombian government says it found in March in the computer of a slain rebel commander. Colombian officials accuse it of being a rebel tool for gaining international support.
Group member Frank Leon said the monument is an independent effort by Venezuelans to honor Marulanda, and that neither President Hugo Chavez's government nor the FARC were involved. The project was approved by the neighborhood council in the pro-Chavez 23 de Enero district.
"Maybe it's going to stir up controversy, but that's fine with us," Leon said Wednesday in a community center next to the unfinished plaza. Leon was among group members who said they were associated with the Venezuelan Communist Party.
On the center's walls hung posters of Marulanda, slain FARC commander Raul Reyes and Basque separatist group ETA, along with a painting of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar — the inspiration of Chavez's socialist movement.
New concrete has been laid in the 23 de Enero neighborhood, where the bust is to be placed as soon as Friday. Resident Maria Gonzalez said she doesn't object to the monument because the plaza is being cleaned up.
Among those attending a news conference to announce the project were six young men wearing olive-green caps and T-shirts bearing a symbol of ETA.
"The struggle continues, and Marulanda lives on," they chanted at one point.
In Colombia, Conservative party Sen. Manuel Ramiro Velasquez called the monument "the greatest homage to international terrorism and barbarity, and the worst offense to the dignity of Colombians."
The Continental Bolivarian Coordinator says it considers armed revolutionary struggle justified in order to achieve social justice. It claims to comprise some 100 leftist organizations and have members throughout Latin America.
Now, for those of you who have followed this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I am not exactly a huge fan of the FARC, for myriad reasons, many of which I will never discuss on this medium. I saw this and actually felt nauseated. I am more than well aware that the barrio 23 de enero is a chavista stronghold, but it is things like this that honestly just make me sad: sad that people can be so easily manipulated, sad that a man who dedicated his life to what at one point decades ago may have been a well-intentioned cause destroyed an entire country one said cause became a mere facade, sad that this terrorist is being praised as a freedom fighter.
In a country where up is down and right is left, this sort of thing should almost be expected. Orwell couldn't have made this up if he tried.
2 comments:
Kate, I agree with you 100%. That asshole Chávez had to have been involved, no matter what this article says. Idiots.
I expect nothing from a government which has actively supported terrorism in my home country; this was to be expected, but it does not at all temper my anger.
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