Internal Commotion, Internal Disruption On August 13, the new president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, declared, a "state of internal commotion" seven days after his inauguration. The measure was invoked through the Colombian constitution, allows the government to bypass normal legislative procedures, restrict civil liberties, and put into place security measures. The measure lasts 90 days, but can be renewed twice, and has been implemented numerous times in Colombia's history. The device was implemented after a week of intense fighting amongst the Colombian military, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and right-wing paramilitaries, which ended whith more than 100 hundred people dead. This latest round of fighting began with a bombing at Uribe's inauguration, which killed thirteen people and was attributed to FARC. Uribe is justifyng these provisons which divert finances and resources to the military in order "to counter terrorists and narco trafficants," and claims that the paramilitaries will be pursued with the same vigour as FARC. For more infomation, consult the August 3 feature about continent-wide economic "state of emergency" South America has entered, the June 25 feature on attacks on unions in Colombia, and Narconews. in italian: emergenza di stato [ Colombia CMI | News Agency New Colombia | Voz ] http://www.indymedia.org/index.php3?newswire=open