Palmera Trial Delayed
Washington D.C. - Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera is sitting in a U.S. prison awaiting trial. Palmera is not allowed private meetings with his own lawyer; the U.S. government chose his lawyer; he has no access to the media; he is not allowed to be present at his own trials in Colombia; he can have no visitors; he can communicate with no one. Hearings were held in February, but the federal trial of Palmera scheduled for this summer is being pushed back to until October 2006.
Palmera, a negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, was extradited from Colombia. The context for Palmera's imprisonment is the U.S. government's undeclared war in Colombia. The Bush administration has sent U.S. troops and U.S. mercenary contractors. Fighters in the 27,000 member FARC shot down a spy plane with three American mercenaries and is detaining them. This is the pretext U.S. prosecutors use to charge Palmera with 'kidnapping.'
Before the Bush administration and the so-called war on terror, both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and former Colombian presidents agreed the FARC has no involvement in drug trafficking to the United States. Under the Bush administration, however, the U.S. government came up with a drug trafficking case against Ricardo Palmera, along with another indictment naming around 50 FARC leaders. Bush is attempting to criminalize the Colombian national liberation struggle.
In Ricardo Palmera's legal case, the whole process to date is filled with bizarre judicial actions and rulings from Judge Hogan. Judge Hogan's antics include advertising in Colombia for the entire leadership of the FARC to show up in his Washington D.C. courtroom.
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