Residents of Medellin's poor district consider elections

Описание: (18 May 2002)

1. Wide shot paramilitaries in the poor district of Medellin
2. Paramilitaries putting on masks
3. Paramilitaries walking down a path through the poor district
4. Close-up AK-47, with clothes drying on the roof of a house in the background
5. Close-up of AK-47s and a paramilitary passing alongside
6. Paramilitary walking with a revolver down a path
7. Paramilitary putting on a balaklava
8. Close-up of a revolver
9. Shot of the back of a paramilitary soldier with a wooden house in the background
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) district resident:
"No. Things are normal. (Question: Do you feel safe with them?) (Answer): Fine. Things are normal, everything's fine. These guys are fine."
11. Paramilitaries walking up a path in the district
12. Close up of a paramilitary with a tattoo of a Nazi swastika
13. Paramilitaries patrolling outside the district
14. Paramilitaries with a child walking between them
15. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Political chief of the metropolitan block of the A-U-C (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia- United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia ) of Medellin
"Directly, the metropolitan area most affected by guerrillas and gangs of militias of the E-L-N (National Liberation Army ) and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) . So, our relationship with this part of Medellin isn't just to consolidate our zones, but also to come and save the civil population from the bad treatment they were given from the guerillas."
16. Close-up revolver
17. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Political chief of of the metropolitan block of the A-U-C. of Medellin:
"The control is military. We work for the political and the social issues about 75 percent, the military is about 25 percent. We're not working against the civilian population, but instead against the gangs of guerillas."
18. Night shot Medellin
19. Paramilitaries patrolling
20. Man watching the paramilitaries patrolling
21. Shot of an old man passing between the paramilitaries
22. Shot of a child watching the paramilitaries patrolling
23. Close-ups of guns used by the paramilitaries
24. Shot of paramilitaries running
25. Residents of the district saying they hear shots

STORYLINE:

As Colombia prepares for presidential elections next weekend, campaign promises for an end to Latin America's longest-running guerrilla conflict seem a distant hope from residents of the poor district of Medellin.

Up to nine months ago, the second-largest leftist rebel group the E-L-N (National Liberation Army ) controlled this district.

The Marxist-inspired guerillas say they are waging their war to seize power and rid Colombia of its chronic poverty and corruption.

But then the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia, better known as A-U-C, forced them out in fierce combat.

The landowner-backed right-wing paramilitaries started an insurrection to combat the leftist guerrillas and are now fighting over control of land.

Now, the sight of A-U-C paramilitaries patrolling through narrow alleys of Medellin's poor districts is a common sight.

Despite their claims of protecting civilians, the A-U-C paramilitaries have massacred thousands of suspected leftist collaborators.

At least 3,500 people die annually in Colombia's ongoing civil war.

Human rights monitors accuse Colombia's US-backed security forces of collaborating with the paramilitaries.

President Andres Pastrana's government, seeking wider US military aid, claims it is battling both outlaw groups with the same intensity.








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