*1. COLOMBIA: PEACE TALKS RESUME, REBELS KILL INDIGENOUS LEADER The peace process between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) resumed officially on May 31 after the government acknowledged that the FARC was not responsible for the "necklace bomb" that killed Elvia Cortez Gil and a police agent on May 15 [see Update #538]. The bomb appears to have been placed on Cortez by a criminal gang, and the attack may have been related to a conflict over land or business. [El Diario-La Prensa (NY) 6/1/00 from combined services; La Tercera (Chile) 6/2/00] The Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA) reported on May 31 that the FARC had abducted and murdered indigenous leader Hernando de Jesus Bailarin in the area of Murri, in the western region of Antioquia department. De Jesus was a teacher and one of the few Embera leaders with a university education. His name was on a list of seven people that the FARC had threatened to execute publicly; he was seized by rebels from a community meeting on May 24, and his body appeared two days later. The OIA also blamed the government for failing to respond to requests for a humanitarian commission to protect the threatened leaders. The OIA continues to demand the safe return of OIA adviser Jairo Bedoya Hoyos, abducted by rightwing paramilitaries in Medellin last Mar. 2 [see Update #528]. [El Tiempo (Bogota) 6/2/00] ======================================================================= Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139 http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/wnuhome.html * [EMAIL PROTECTED] ======================================================================= --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
