Weekly Report - 13 March 2008 (ISSN 1741-7422)

On 6 March, several hundred thousand people in cities across Colombia, as well as abroad, took to the streets to participate in a rally denouncing paramilitary violence. The march against the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) did not attract quite the attendance of an earlier demonstration against the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) on 4 February, but this was partly to do with the timing. Some clearly felt that taking part would appear unpatriotic and inappropriate against the backdrop of rising tensions with Ecuador and Venezuela.