Other results show the Conservative Party, another pro-Uribe party, with 23 seats in the Senate, the opposition Liberal Party with 18 seats and the Democratic Pole with 8 seats.
Of the 102 seats in the Senate, the AFP reports that at least 25 were awarded to candidates who in some way are linked to paramilitary groups. The controversial Party of National Integration (PIN), led by ex-Senators Luis Alberto Gil and Juan Carlos Martinez who are currently in jail for their links to paramilitaries, won 8 Senate seats and is now the fourth strongest political force in the Senate. The party's legal representative, Alvaro Caicedo, denies reports that former Senator Luis Alberto Gil leads the party, and insists that each of the more than 80 congressional candidates the party ran were "assiduously vetted." Though he did admit that he visits Gil and other jailed politicians regularly at the La Picota penitentiary.
The Associated Press' Frank Bajak noted that the victory of pro-Uribe parties as well as that of the PIN, "highlighted the popularity of his administration's vigorous U.S.-backed military campaign against the drug-funded rebels, [but] it also underlines the failure to curtail the power of the paramilitaries."
La Silla Vacia published a list of 10 trends from Sunday's elections in Colombia, which is worth checking out (in Spanish).
On Mexico:
In the wake of the murder of 3 people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, President Felipe Calderon is traveling to the border town for a third time this year to promote new social programs aimed at rebuilding the social fabric in the violent city. "We are all Juarez" was launched in January after 15 people were killed at a teen's birthday party, though so far "it has been more promise than action," according to the Christian Science Monitor.
The Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by John Ackerman, which calls on the Obama administration "to transform its approach [in Mexico] by replacing military aid and blind confidence in Mexico's sitting government with support for public institutions and broader citizen diplomacy." Ackerman continues, "In the end, restoring order depends not on soldiers in the street and strongman tactics but on a more transparent, effective rule of law."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement on the recent murders in Ciudad Juarez did not mention a change in strategy, though reinforced the United States' commitment to working with the Government of Mexico:
These appalling assaults on members of our own State Department family are, sadly, part of a growing tragedy besetting many communities in Mexico. They underscore the imperative of our continued commitment to work closely with the Government of President Calderon to cripple the influence of trafficking organizations at work in Mexico. This is a responsibility we must shoulder together, particularly in border communities where strong bonds of history, culture, and common interest bind the Mexican and the American people closely together.Tim Padgett's article, "The Juarez Killings: Are the Narcos Fighting Scared?," suggests that the real reason the narcos are turning even more vicious in Ciudad Juarez "has less to do with Calderon's military crusade than with a murderous blunder the drug cartels made shortly after midnight on Jan. 31 that may well have changed the course of the drug war." Padgett concludes:
Emptying the U.S. consulates, of course, won't brake Mexico's ever spiraling drug violence. But like January's teen massacre, the March 13 assault on Americans may well turn out to be another big mistake by the narcos - especially if it gets both Washington and Mexico City to work together on the less militaristic but more effective long-term strategies that could eventually leave the cartels crying for once.In other recent news:
- On Monday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defended the group of Basque separatists recently accused by a Spanish judge of belonging to the armed ETA rebel group, saying he is certain they are not involved in terrorism. "They're Venezuelans now. They were married here, had children and even grandchildren, and we're sure they aren't participating in any terrorist activity," Chavez said. Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco claims he has evidence that Chavez's government facilitated collaboration between the ETA and the FARC, though Chavez has denied any links and warned that "if they let themselves be taken by those pressures [from the Spanish right] and they disrespect us in some way, well that would harm relations again like when the king told me to shut up."
- President Chavez also admitted to meeting with Raul Reyes, the FARC leader killed in Ecuador in March 2008. According to Chavez, he was asked by then Colombian President Andres Pastrana to talk to Reyes "to try to find peace" in Colombia. However, in Colombia, former Commissioner of Peace Camilo Gomez argued "neither former President Pastrana, nor the government of Colombia, nor the foreign minister at the time, nor I, as the Commissioner of Peace, authorized any meeting."
- On Haiti, the Wall Street Journal reports that Haitian authorities calculated they would need $11.5 billion over the next three years to rebuild the nation. This number comes from the analysis prepared by the Haitian government, with the United Nations and other international organizations, to assess the financial impact of the January 12 earthquake. "The report said that in the next three years, Haiti would need $3.25 billion to rebuild houses, $600 million for schools, $294 million for hospitals, $100 million for city roads and $50 million to repair the Port-au-Prince port."
- The New York Times reports that few Haitians have applied for temporary protected status in the United States. "Two months after the earthquake, and a third of the way to the July deadline to file for the special status, just 34,427 of the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented Haitians who were in the United States before Jan. 12 have applied."
- The Christian Science Monitor has a short article on Argentina's coin shortage, which has "turned normally mundane tasks - like buying a newspaper or a snack - into a big hassle" and has left "buskers and the homeless short-changed."
- EFE reports that over the past four years, 140 opposition leaders have fled Bolivia. These civic, political, and business leaders, who oppose leftist President Evo Morales' "process of change," face various legal accusations for crimes such as genocide, terrorism, and corruption. However, they claim to be victims of political persecution and argue that they would not receive a fair trial in Bolivia.
Today's Hemispheric Brief was written by Abigail Poe
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