-Caveat Lector-
Former Colombia official found slain
Copyright APonline
By JARED KOTLER, Associated Press
BOGOTA, Colombia (September 30, 2001 11:21 a.m. EDT ) - The body of a
popular former minister who was allegedly kidnapped by leftist guerrillas a
week ago was found near a northern town, family members said Sunday, in
a death that could jeopardize Colombia's fragile peace process.
Former Culture Minister Consuelo Araujo, the wife of Colombia's
inspector-general and a friend of Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia
Marquez, was shot to death and her body found near Valledupar, said family
members, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.
President Andres Pastrana called the family to let them know the
62-year-old Araujo was dead, they said.
The killing of the high-profile figure threatened peace talks that Pastrana
initiated nearly three years ago with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, the strongest of Colombia's rebel armies.
The talks have produced few results and the rebels have been accused of
abuses, including kidnappings, extortion, murder and drug trafficking,
generating strong pressure for Pastrana to abandon the negotiations.
Araujo was a popular figure. She had organized Colombia's main music
festival, which is held in Valledupar.
Authorities and witnesses said the FARC kidnapped Araujo and 10 other
people at a roadblock on a rural road outside Valledupar, about 420 miles
north of Bogota, on Sept. 24. Most of the others had been freed.
Security forces had been trying to find her since then in the mountainous
region near the Caribbean coast.
She was Pastrana's culture minister and the wife of Edgardo Maya,
Colombia's inspector-general, a watchdog agency in charge of investigating
government officials.
On Saturday, FARC fighters wielding AK-47s and submachine guns blocked a
peaceful caravan from entering a rebel-held demilitarized zone , forcing
leading presidential candidate Horacio Serpa to call off a demonstration
aimed at demanding rebel peace concessions.
Pastrana called the rebel blockade of the convoy a blow to the peace
process and said he had instructed his peace envoy to seek an immediate
meeting with the FARC.
Pastrana was to have gone on Sunday to the Switzerland-sized demilitarized
zone he granted the FARC three years ago as a pre-condition for peace
talks, but canceled the trip late Saturday.
"With its attitude, the FARC is putting in doubt its word and its desire
for peace," said Pastrana, before the announcement of the discovery of
Araujo's body.
The caravan was heading to San Vicente, the main town inside the FARC's
southern stronghold, where Serpa had planned to deliver a speech.
FARC chief Manuel Marulanda had accused Serpa of using the march to gain
votes in the next year's presidential election, which is shaping up as a
referendum on a peace process that many Colombians have grown disillusioned
with.
News Copyright � 2001 Interest!ALERT All rights reserved.
Copyright � 1996-2000 Nando Interest!ALERT Inc.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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