Tito Edmundo Rueda Guarín is a senator of the Congress of Colombia for the Liberal Party (Partido Liberal), serving in the Fourth Senate Committee (Cuarto Comité del Senado), which oversees state finances and assets, as well as other economic and commerce issues (Senado de la República 16 Jan. 2002).

The senator is widely mentioned in Colombian media as "Tito Rueda;" articles from 1997 mentioning him include references to his calls for the resignation of President Eduardo Samper in 1997 (El Universal 15 Aug. 1997; El Informador 14 Aug. 1997).

In mid-2001 he ran for the presidency of the Senate in the chamber's internal elections, but lost by a narrow margin (Noticias 15 Aug. 2001; El Espectador 4 May 2001). Tito Rueda was president of the Senate in 1993 (Secretaría del Senado 9 July 2002).

On 10 March 2002, Tito Rueda was re-elected to the senate with a relatively low number of votes (approximately 40,000, compared to more than 100,000 obtained by other elected senators) (El Tiempo 1 June 2002; Elecciones 2002 16 June 2002; Canal RCN 11 Mar. 2002). His electoral district was one of a few that were involved in a voting controversy during the March 2002 elections (El Tiempo 12 Apr. 2002).

More recently, Tito Rueda was mentioned as one of several Liberal congressmen who was not willing to support former Liberal and presidential candidate Alvaro Uribe (El Tiempo 9 May 2002). Instead, Tito Rueda expressed his support for Liberal presidential candidate Horacio Serpa (ibid.).

The only recent published reference found mentioning both senator Tito Rueda and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) is a report mentioning Tito Rueda's support for the candidacy of Horacio Serpa, with a separate reference to Serpa's opposition to the establishment of a demilitarized zone for the ELN as a pre-requisite for the group to initiate peace talks (ibid.).

No documents referring to a particular relation or situation specific to senator Tito Rueda with regard to the ELN or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) could be found among the sources consulted within the constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Canal RCN, Bogota. 11 March 2002. "Senado Nacional." http://www.canalrcn.com/elecciones/listado_gen_senado.htm [Accessed 18 July 2002]

Elecciones 2002 [Bogota]. 16 June 2002. "Debilidades en el sistema de representación política." http://www.terra.com.co/elecciones_2002/cubrimiento_especial/ financiacion/16-06-2002/nota60243.html [Accessed 18 July 2002]

El Espectador [Bogota]. 4 May 2001. "No habrá voto obligatorio." http://www.elespectador.com/2001/20010504/politica/nota2.htm [Accessed 18 July 2002]

El Informador [Guadalajara]. 14 August 1997. "Quieren enjuiciar a Samper por incapacidad; él rechaza cargos." http://www.informador.com.mx/Lastest/ago97/14ago97/INTERNAL.htm [Accessed 18 July 2002]

Noticias (Bulletin of the office of Senator Carlos García) [Bogota]. 15 August 2001. "La Nota Económica." http://www.senadorcarlosgarcia.com/noticias_agosto_2001.htm [Accessed 18 July 2002]

El Tiempo [Bogota]. 1 June 2002. "Conformación del nuevo Senado." http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/proyectos/elecciones2002/nuevocongreso/nuevosenado.html [Accessed 18 July 2002]

_____. 9 May 2002. "Álvaro Uribe contaría con el respaldo de 55 senadores." http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/elecciones/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-33462.html [Accessed 18 July 2002]

_____. 12 April 2002. "Así fue el fraude en las elecciones para Congreso." http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/elecciones/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-19672.html [Accessed 18 July 2002]

Secretaría del Senado de la República, Bogota. 9 July 2002. "Sentencia No. C-070/95: Ley Aprobatoria de Tratado Internacional-Constitucionalidad formal." http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/leyes/SC070_95.HTM [Accessed 18 July 2002]

Senado de la República, Bogota. 16 January 2002. "Comisión Cuarta." http://www.senado.gov.co/Senado/ARLEG/dtal15.htm [Accessed 18 July 2002]

El Universal [Caracas]. 15 August 1997. "Rebelión de congresistas de Samper se desinfla."http://www.el-universal.com/1997/08/15/15108FF.shtml [Accessed 18 July 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

Cronología Andina [Lima]. "Colombia." 2000-2002.

El Colombiano [Cali]. Searchable archives.

Informe Anual de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos 2000. 2001.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 2000-2002.

IRB Databases.

Latin American Regional Reports: Andean Group Report [London]. 2001-2002.

Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 2000-2002.

El País [Cali]. Searchable archives.

Radio Caracol, Bogota. Searchable archives.

Internet sites and search engines, including:

Actualidad Colombiana [Bogota].

Amnesty International, Lima.

AUColombia.

BBC News.

ELN-Voices.

Human Rights Watch.

Peace Brigades International (PBI)--Proyecto Colombia, London.

Presidency of Colombia, Bogota.

Proceso de Paz [Bogota].

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific publications available at the Resource Centre are not included.