In Defence of Marxism

Two Colombian Senators and one Member of Parliament were arrested on March 31, accused of having links with right wing paramilitary groups. Two of them belong to the coalition which supports Colombian president Uribe, while one belongs to Uribe's former party, the Liberal Party. These arrests are part of a judicial process against the "parapolítica", that is, the links between politicians and paramilitary groups, in which six political leaders have been found guilty and 14 others are undergoing trial, including several Members of Parliament belonging to Uribe's coalition.

According to the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, "today Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist or social movement leader. In 2001 90% of all trade unionists killed worldwide were Colombian. Since 1986, 4000 trade union leaders have been killed by paramilitary groups". The paramilitary groups form part of a mafia-like criminal network in Colombia and are largely financed through drug-trafficking. They carry out massacres, killings, forced disappearances, displacements, kidnappings, torture and extortion and serve a useful purpose for the state and the multinational corporations in carrying out activities where responsibility can be officially denied. The paramilitary groups are in fact institutionally linked to the state. Human Rights Watch reports "abundant, credible evidence of continued collaboration with and support for the paramilitary groups responsible for most human rights violations in Colombia" by the state's security and armed forces.