Arcadia Foundation

Colombian officials stated yesterday that FARC guerrillas slit a state governor’s throat hours after they kidnapped him during a brazen raid in one of worst rebel strikes during President Alvaro Uribe’s government.

Armed rebels, dressed in military uniforms, blasted through the door of Luis Cuellar’s house in a southern Colombian city late on Monday, killed a police guard and dragged the governor away from his wife and into a waiting jeep.

Cuellar’s body was found on Tuesday as troops scoured the remote jungle in hopes of rescuing him. The kidnapping was a reminder of the darker days of Colombia’s conflict when lawmakers were easy prey for rebel squads.

“He had his throat cut, they slaughtered him miserably,” Uribe said in a national broadcast after Cuellar’s body was discovered near the vehicle abandoned by rebels as they fled into jungle near Florencia city.

“As the armed forces were in pursuit, the terrorists cut the governor’s throat to avoid firing any shots,” he said.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, had yet to issue an statement on the kidnapping.

The rebel group once controlled large parts of the country. But urban bombings and kidnappings have eased as Uribe sent troops to take back areas from armed groups who fund their war with cocaine trafficking.

Swiss multinational Nestle has suspended operations at its dairy plant in Zimbabwe, citing harassment.

After international criticism, Nestle announced in October that it would stop buying milk from a farm owned by President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace.

The company claimed since then it had come under pressure to accept milk from “certain non-contracted suppliers“.

It said government officials and police forced staff to accept such a delivery on Saturday.

“Two Nestle Zimbabwe managers were questioned by the police and released without charges the same day,” Nestle said in a statement.

“Since under such circumstances normal operations and the safety of employees are no longer guaranteed, Nestle decided to temporarily shut down the facility.”

In October, Nestle said it would stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate after human rights activists, including the Arcadia Foundation, had called for a boycott of Nestle products.

The farm, owned by Grace Mugabe, was seized from its white owner under controversial land reforms.

The company persisted that it had bought from farms such as Gushungo since February to help the country as its dairy industry neared collapse.

In February, Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party joined a unity government with the Movement for Democratic Change aimed at rescuing the country’s shattered economy – which has stabilised in recent months.
Mrs Mugabe is subject to international sanctions, along with her husband and dozens of other Zimbabwean officials.

But these cover travel to, and assets held in, the US, EU, Switzerland and other countries – they do not restrict trade, except arms sales.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Eligio Cedeno, a Venezuelan businessman who had been unlawfully jailed without trial for almost three years, confirm that he legally entered the United States, on Dec. 19th to voluntarily submit himself to U.S. jurisdiction. Cedeno was released from detention in Venezuela on Dec. 10th, and subsequently the judge who issued the release order, Maria Lourdes Afiuni, was imprisoned and personally denounced on state television by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Defense counsel for Cedeno firmly deny false claims made to the media today by the Venezuelan government, which is alleging that their client had been “arrested” in the United States or that he had committed a crime.

“Eligio Cedeno, a victim of political persecution by the government of Hugo Chavez, arrived to South Florida on Saturday, Dec. 19th, and is currently in the U.S. after voluntarily submitting himself to U.S. jurisdiction,” said Robert Amsterdam, an international lawyer representing Cedeno. “In spreading misinformation about arrests, extraditions, and alleged illegal acts, the Chavez administration is clearly making moves to stake out a position as an aggrieved party, and invent a hyped-up dispute with their favorite imaginary enemy, the United States of America.”

Venezuela’s attorney general says it’s going to be difficult convincing the U.S. to extradite a wanted banker who was detained this week in Florida in what has become a highly charged case, El Nacional reported Wednesday.

Venezuela has asked the U.S. to deport Eligio Cedeno, who was arrested in early 2007 but not convicted with fraud related to a multi-million-dollar foreign currency transaction. He was freed on parole but is now a wanted man in this South American country.

“No nation is obligated to deport and in this case we have even less of a chance to demand that they do so,” said Luisa Ortega Diaz, Venezuela’s top prosecutor, according to the newspaper.

Part of the problem in convincing U.S. authorities to send Cedeno back to Venezuela may be that he was legally released by a judge before surfacing in the U.S.

The judge, Maria Afiuni, decided that since more than two years of pre-trial detention is not allowed under Venezuelan law, he should be granted conditional freedom. A trial began for Cedeno in early 2008, but was suspended after a few months amid procedural issues, with no verdict ever delivered. He was behind bars for 34 months without any conviction.

President Hugo Chavez quickly stepped into the case, saying that, despite his long detention, Afiuni nonetheless should not have freed Cedeno because prosecuting attorneys were not present during the hearing.

Afiuni has been arrested due to her ruling, charged with corruption and placed in a women’s prison on the outskirts of Caracas. Chavez says she should spend 30 years in jail for improperly freeing Cedeno.

A manhunt in Venezuela began for Cedeno began immediately after his release, but his lawyers then indicated he had left the country.

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