Sometimes the truth just can't help but come out:
Colombia's army has closely conspired with paramilitary death squads committing massacres and even drafted their rules of conduct, according to published remarks attributed to a former general on trial for collusion. Gen. Jaime Uscategui, who faces charges of helping paramilitary fighters massacre 30 Colombians in 1997, made the accusation in a tape-recorded conversation that was transcribed and published in the weekly magazine Cambio.
Lie down with dogs and you get fleas.
Justice moves slowly, but inexorably forward in Argentina:
Two former police officials were convicted Monday and sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of changing the identity of a girl born to dissidents during the past dictatorship.The ruling against Miguel Etchecolatz and Dr. Jorge Berges marked the first conviction in cases led by prosecutors probing a series of adoptions dating to the "Dirty War" era.
Officials are investigating whether the past military junta had a systematic plan for the illicit adoption of more than 200 children born during the military's 1976-83 crackdown against leftists and political opponents.
Unfortunately, thus far these sorts of prosecutions have been the most effective method to seek justice for those brutalized during the Dirty War, but if the cliché "any port in a storm" had any importance, this is a fine example.
Finally in Argentina, sometimes even symbolic gestures can have a healing effect:
President Nestor Kirchner and Defence Minister Jose Pampuro were present as General Roberto Bendini personally took down from the Academy’s hall of honour the portraits of Generals Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, the opening and closing leaders of the bloody Junta that ruled Argentina with an iron fist from 1976 to 1983 leaving thousands killed, tortured and disappeared.Addressing military officers and cadets Mr. Kirchner said that the withdrawal of the paintings signals the “clear ending a regrettable period" for the country, emphasizing that "I would have preferred never having to be here at this moment, because recalling March 24, 1976, is one of the most painful and cruel moments in Argentine history". "May March 24 become the living conscience of what should never be ever done in the fatherland".
"Never again must institutional rule be subverted in Argentina".
Amen.
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