Pubdate: Sun, 30 May 2004
Source: Scotland On Sunday (UK)
Copyright: 2004 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/405
Author: Jeremy McDermott, In Medellin

DEFIANT AFTER 40 YEARS OF DRUG WAR

THE rebels have seen 11 presidents come and go and have no fear of the 
latest counterinsurgency, backed by the US.

The Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, marked its 40th 
anniversary promising to continue its ?200m-a-year business of drug 
smuggling, kidnapping and extortion.

Colombia was in lockdown this weekend, with police and army checkpoints in 
place around all major towns and cities. The government of Oxford-educated 
Alvaro Uribe ordered the security operation to prevent bloodshed. It was 
relatively successful with only 20 people being killed across the country 
in rebel attacks.

President Uribe, whose father was killed by Farc rebels in a botched 
kidnapping, has vowed to crush the guerrillas.

"This is not the moment to speculate over who will sit at a negotiating 
table," Uribe recently told army commanders. "This is the moment of 
military definition to defeat the rebels."

The United States, as well as bankrolling the army to the tune of more than 
?300m, is also providing real time intelligence from satellites, spy planes 
and listening stations dedicated to Colombia, which is crucial in the 
planning and execution of military offensives against the rebels.

The Farc has responded by withdrawing into its mountain and jungle 
strongholds. Many observers insist there is a reality gap between the 
government propaganda and the situation on the ground.

"The government has made advances against the Farc, without doubt," said 
analyst Alfredo Rangel, "but their core strength has not been damaged, and 
for them, lying low for a couple of years is no problem."

The current US aid package is due to end in 2005. There are up to 500 US 
troops in Colombia, although they are prohibited from getting directly 
involved in combat, along with another 400 civilian contractors working as 
mercenaries for military-related companies.

There have been US casualties in the fighting, with several pilots of 
planes spraying to destroy drug crops being shot down, and the kidnapping 
of three intelligence operatives by the Farc in February last year. The 
three were captured after their plane crash-landed in a 
guerrilla-controlled region. Of the five crewmen, two were shot by the 
guerrillas as they were hurt and would slow the escape.

With the escalating situation in Iraq, policymakers in Washington are 
getting nervous about continuing their deep commitment in Colombia, a war 
that claims more than 3,500 lives each year. In 40 years Farc has gained 
control of thousands of square miles of rural areas particularly on the 
borders with Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador. But its aim of taking control of 
the whole country has eluded it.

"The US is scared of entering another internal conflict in the moment that 
the situation in Iraq is going out of control," said Kimberly Stanton of 
the Washington Office on Latin America thinktank.

Should the US withdraw or scale down its military involvement in Colombia, 
the government offensive will be seriously undermined and the Farc could 
quickly bounce back.

Washington has placed the Farc on its terrorist list not because it fears 
the guerrillas could ever launch attacks on the mainland US, but because of 
their involvement in the drugs trade and the supply of Colombian cocaine 
and heroin that goes towards feeding America's ?40bn-a-year drug habit.

The Farc is arguably the most powerful drug cartel in the world, and 
certainly the richest guerrilla army. It is estimated to control almost 
half of the 800 tons of cocaine that leaves Colombia every year.

It has the majority of the drug fields in its territory and controls the 
porous jungle borders with Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, where the 
drug consignments start their journey to the US and Europe.

The US recently put 19 Farc commanders on its list of 'Narcotics Kingpins' 
and has issued extradition requests for the Farc field marshal Jorge 
Briceno, alias 'El Mono Jojoy', along with three other senior figures.

Another source of guerrilla income is kidnapping. There is one abduction in 
Colombia every four hours. A quarter of those are attributed to the Farc, 
making it the world's most prolific kidnapping organisation.

Last year Briton David Hutchinson, a retired bank manager of Lloyds TSB, 
spent nine months held hostage by the Farc until an undisclosed ransom was 
paid. The first three months were spent in the freezing Andes mountains and 
the last six in the sticky heat of the jungle, watched over every minute by 
heavily-armed guerrillas. Hutchinson said he had not been abused, but 
neither was he well looked after - just treated as a piece of merchandise. 
For him the worst thing was the boredom.

"During the day, in true British style, we would invent silly games to keep 
ourselves occupied," Hutchinson said. "But it got dark at 5.30pm and the 
sun did not filter through the jungle trees until the same time the next 
morning. There was no light, no candles, no nothing, just that endless night."

As well as kidnap for ransom, the Farc has been abducting security force 
officers and politicians, some of whom have now spent six years in 
captivity. The guerrillas are planning to release these people only in 
exchange for hundreds of rebels held in prison, convicted of crimes ranging 
from kidnapping to murder.

The government has so far refused to consider the exchange and the captives 
are condemned to many more years in their jungle prisons.

While the Farc has not launched any major offensives over the past three 
years, it has moved its war, once restricted to the countryside, into the 
cities. The security forces have insisted that the Farc received expertise 
from the IRA in urban operations, although the Irishmen accused of training 
recruits were acquitted last month of terrorist charges. The case is under 
appeal and the three Irishmen are still in prison.

A car bomb in Bogota's most exclusive social club in February last year 
killed 37 and wounded 160, announcing the arrival of the Farc's urban war. 
Since then bombs have become commonplace in the nation's cities.

The Farc has been quiet, but is not defeated. Instead of taking on the 
newly invigorated Colombian military and the US, it has decided to sit back 
and wait, concentrating on building its urban networks and finances, and 
acquiring new weapons.

With 16,000 fighters spread across the country, the rebels could launch an 
offensive at any time.

"We've been fighting for almost 40 years," Farc commander Fabian Ramirez 
told Scotland on Sunday. "And we will keep fighting until we bring about a 
new Colombia, even if it takes another 40 years."
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