[lbo-talk] New military offensive in Colombia

Michael McIntyre mcintyremichael at mac.com
Thu Feb 22 11:23:24 PST 2007


Colombia has, sadly, been only marginally on my radar screen since 2001, but this article in Le Monde today does not augur well. (The translation is mine; apologies in advance for any infelicities). A little background: Alvaro Uribe's links to the paramilitaries, long obvious to anyone who cared to know, have recently been reported in venues that long wished not to know. (Juan Forero, the NYT reporter there, was virtually a mouthpiece for Uribe). Faced with a crisis of legitimacy at home, he's now threatening his own "surge" against the guerrillas, especially the FARC.

Colombia Announces a New Offensive against the FARC February 22, 2007 Le Monde with AFP and Reuters

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe announced Thursday, February 22, the beginning of a new offensive against "the FARC bandits" after the failure of a meeting between a government mediator and guerrilla representatives on a humanitarian agreement to free hostages.

"The government's reaction is as following," explained Mr. Uribe, "faced with these bandits who menace us every day, we must redouble our efforts." The guerrillas, according to the president, told the mediator that they would not negotiate with an illegitimate government tied to far-right paramilitary militas. The FARC's international spokesperson, Raul Reyes, as quoted by the Colombian daily El Espectador, added that no humanitarian agreement would be possible as long as the municipalities of Florida and Pradera in the west of the country are occupied by the Colombian army.

The FARC is calling for the liberation of five hundred of their men held by the government in exchange for fifty-seven hostages, political and military, including three Americans and the Franco- Colombian, Ingrid Betancourt, former Green candidate for the Colombian presidency.

Michael McIntyre mcintyremichael at mac.com

http://morbidsymptoms.blogspot.com

(PS - If you haven't seen the blog recently, come by and take a look. It now features much more frequently updated content and a news feed that I update a few times a day).



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