>the Colombian government and a leading paramilitary force, the United
>Colombian Self Defense Leagues (known by its Spanish acronym, AUC) which
>the FARC has been fighting. The meeting was held ostensibly to gain
>release of a group of congressmen kidnapped by paramilitary forces last
>month. The FARC has claimed that in meeting with paramilitary leaders,
>the Colombian government shows a lack of interest in curbing
>paramilitary terrorism.
>
>FARC spokesmen even accused the half-dozen congressmen reportedly
>kidnapped last month by the AUC of having staged their own kidnappings
>in order to facilitate the meeting between Interior Minister Humberto de
>la Calle and AUC head Carlos Castano.
>
>But the FARC also places blame on U.S. policy in the region and said its
>decision to cut off peace negotiations was influenced by the U.S. Plan
>Colombia. Though the U.S. calls that absurd, it's clear that the future
>of the peace process will have a serious impact on the success or
>failure of the counter-narcotics campaign .
>
>Warring factions have not spared U.S. representatives from their
>terrorizing activities, either. A bomb was found along the road last
>week hours before U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., and U.S. Ambassador
>Anne Patterson were to visit the notoriously violent town of
>Barrancabermeja, in what officials called an apparent assassination
>attempt.
>
>The peace freeze came as the U.S. also announced it was delaying the
>implementation of the Plan Colombia until January and a high level State
>Department delegation visited Bogota to finalize points in the plan.
>
>Originally the plan was expected to start early this month.
>Undersecretary of Defense Brian Sheridan in Bogota said U.S. and
>Colombian authorities had agreed to postpone the plan until January,
>when 33 of 60 helicopters included in the $1.3 billion aid package
>approved by Congress will arrive in Colombia and will be available for
>the Colombian armed forces.
>
>Fierce fighting between guerrillas and paramilitaries has raged
>throughout the last two months in Putumayo, where most of Plan Colombia
>will be concentrated. Hundreds of residents have fled for Ecuador, since
>all roads to central Colombia are dangerous and controlled by one side
>or the other. Some who haven't left remained trapped by the rebels or
>the paramilitaries.
>
>Putumayo was selected as the primary site of Plan Colombia because an
>estimated 216 square miles are planted with high-yield coca plantations,
>and over half of the entire Colombian coca production is harvested in
>this province. About 300,000 people are employed in jobs related to
>cocaine production.
>
>"Putumayo is the FARC's Wall Street," said a foreign diplomat. "This is
>not an area of small plantations, but of heavy cultivation."
>
>The area has practically been a war zone since Sept. 21, when
>paramilitaries took over important coca producing towns, killing those
>citizens they knew were guerrilla collaborators. In La Dorada, a key
>drug-producing town, the paramilitaries had killed up to 40 people
>suspected of leftist sympathies as of late October. U.S. and Colombian
>officials say the drug traffickers who depend on the crops produced in
>Putumayo had grown unhappy with the guerrillas and their control over
>the coca production prices. "The narcos brought the paramilitary because
>they didn't like the FARC controlling the market," said a U.S.
>government official.
>
>The area's residents have been living at the mercy of the warring
>parties. The government has airlifted supplies, but the needs are still
>greater. It took 56 days after the guerrillas took over Pasto Mocoa
>highway for the Colombian army to reopen it. The road, an important one
>that connects Putumayo with the rest of the country, was littered with
>abandoned vehicles left after combat had stopped their owners on their
>routes. Even after the army asked for the vehicle owners to return, the
>cars remained.
>
>Plan Colombia is expected to unleash the biggest military offensive to
>date in Southern Colombia. Fumigation planes protected by helicopters
>will spray bountiful coca plantations in the region, which is controlled
>by the FARC. Colombian mobile military units, trained by the U.S., will
>push into the territory and try to clean the area.
>
>But how well the Colombian military will fare is not known. They have
>faced several military setbacks recently. The guerrilla ambush that left
>53 soldiers dead and one destroyed Black Hawk helicopter last month has
>left foreign diplomats and Colombian military experts wondering what
>they can expect in the next few months, when the war is expected to get
>worse. "Putumayo is going to be one of the toughest areas militarily,"
>according to Alfredo Rangel, a respected military analyst who advises
>the Colombian armed forces.
>
>"When the army goes into that area to fight the FARC and end the coca
>plantations it will ignite the conflict beyond anything we have seen,"
>he added.
>
>Looming in the background of the decision to freeze negotiations are
>reports that all the fighting forces involved in this conflict have been
>making preparations to increase their troop size. Military experts and
>foreign diplomats say the FARC has been recruiting new soldiers, and
>expect the force to grow from 17,000 to up to 40,000. Police
>intelligence reports also show that the flow of weapons to the guerillas
>has intensified in the last few months, including the shipment of
>handheld missiles that could down helicopters. The Colombian army this
>week announced it would recruit 10,000 more men for three additional
>anti-guerrilla mobile brigades, but these troops won't be available for
>combat until next year. Meanwhile right-wing paramilitary groups have
>been pushing to be given political recognition by the government.
>
>The FARC is playing a tough game that could backfire. Last week,
>Colombian police released an intercepted radio address broadcast to FARC
>troops by Jorge Briceno, aka Mono Jojoy, the FARC's top military
>strategist, in which he said he did not believe the peace process would
>work. Briceno told his troops that FARC was not "going to agree to peace
>because it doesn't exist" and that even if the FARC was able to seize
>power, there would not be peace "because there will then be war with the
>gringos and other powers."
>
>The U.S. State Department in turn has said it is "ridiculous" for the
>FARC to use Plan Colombia as an excuse to stop all dialogue, and urged
>the rebels to return to the negotiation table. But the U.S. seemed to
>take a cautious approach too in announcing a postponement of the
>launching date for Plan Colombia. Some analysts say the FARC could use
>similar tactics as they used in 1996 to face the army. "The guerrillas
>have the possibility of provoking civilian uprisings and make them
>confront the army. What will that do for the international opinion to
>see a soldier facing a starving looking peasant. I think the potential
>in Putumayo could be terrible for us. At this moment, militarily, Plan
>Colombia is teetering," said Rangel.
>
>But a U.S. government official rejected that scenario. Information in
>the press suggests that peasants in Putumayo are leaving rather than
>submitting to the FARC's pressure to arm themselves against Plan
>Colombia."
>
>Nevertheless, even high military officials understand that the role of
>civilians will be critical to how Plan Colombia will play out. "The only
>way that the FARC will be convinced that they cannot win the war will be
>to have a strong, solid, professional army that has the support of the
>civilian population," Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez said.
>
>Ana Arana is an investigative journalist who focuses on criminal
>organizations in Latin America and a senior fellow at the Center for
>War, Peace and the News Media.
>
> Copyright 2000 SALON.COM
>
>
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><a href="#1">1. Venezuela's Chavez urges Colombia to revise anti-drug strategy
>12/8</a>
><br><a href="#2">2. Rebel Control of Large Zone in Colombia Is Extended
>12/7</a>
><br><a href="#3">3. Colombia Approves Prisoner Exchange 12/7</a>
><br><a href="#4">4. Colombian military chief calls for state of emergency
>12/6</a>
><br><a href="#6">6. UN Human Rights Chief Urges Colombia To Stop Right-Wing
>Militias 12/5</a>
><br><a href="#7">7. Ground zero in the Colombian drug war 12/5</a>
><br> _____________________________________________________
><br><a NAME="1"></a>
><br>December 8, 2000, Associated Press
><p><b><font size=+2>Venezuela's Chavez urges Colombia to revise anti-drug
>strategy</font></b>
><br>By Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press
><p>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) � A U.S.-backed anti-drug offensive in Colombia
>will ruin any chance for peace in that country, Venezuelan President Hugo
>Chavez said while urging Colombia to "reflect'' on its strategy.
><p>"Does anyone think that negotiations for peace will be strengthened
>with more weapons, armed men and munitions?'' said Chavez, an outspoken
>leftist president who has ruffled U.S. feathers since taking office last
>year. His comments Thursday stepped up criticism he claims has made him
>the target of a campaign to link him with leftist rebels and dissidents
>in several countries.
><p>Washington is slated to contribute $1.3 billion to Colombia's anti-drug
>plan, which calls for U.S.-trained troops using U.S.-made helicopters to
>wrest away rebel-held areas producing cocaine and heroin.
><p>Chavez says the plan will force rebels, refugees and drug traffickers
>into neighboring countries, including his own. He suggested one way to
>end Colombia's 36-year conflict would be to recognize its leading leftist
>rebel groups as political parties.
><p>Chavez has allowed Colombian rebel leaders to travel and meet in Venezuela.
>Colombia recently recalled its ambassador for several days to protest.
><p>But Chavez said his government does not sustain relations with the rebels.
>During a three-hour press conference, he claimed the foreign media are
>involved in a smear campaign to connect him to the Colombian guerrillas
>and dissidents elsewhere in South America. He accused news outlets with
>"connections in Washington and Miami'' of demonizing him because he opposes
>the military component of Plan Colombia.
><p>Recent news reports in Colombia and the United States have accused Chavez
>of having contacts with separatists in Bolivia and supporting rebellious
>army officers in Ecuador.
><p>The president singled out the Colombian magazine Semana, which reported
>that a cache of Venezuelan arms was found recently in the hands of rebels
>and that Venezuelan officers visit the guerrillas inside Colombia. He said
>no Venezuelan weapons have gone to the rebels since he took office.
><p>Chavez also denied a report by The Miami Herald that he met with Bolivian
>rebel Felipe Quispe in August � shortly before separatist violence in Bolivia
>� and that he gave financial support to Ecuadorean military officers who
>staged a coup in January.
><p>In the Herald report, Peter Romero, the State Department officer in
>charge of Latin America, was quoted as saying there were "indications of
>Chavez's government support for violent indigenous groups in Bolivia. In
>the case of Ecuador, it included support for rebellious army officers.''
><p>Chavez said he had asked U.S. Ambassador Donna Hrinak to determine whether
>the comments attributed to Romero represented official U.S. policy. He
>called Romero an "international agitator'' and said he hopes the next
>administration
>in Washington "rectifies these things and doesn't have agitators, professional
>liars ... as high officials.''
><p>Bolivian President Hugo Banzer recently approached Chavez to express
>"his concern about Chavez's intrusion in the internal affairs of the country,''
>Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Walter Guiteras said.
><p>But rebel leader Quispe denied any contact with or support from Chavez.
>And former Ecuadorean Col. Lucio Gutierrez, who led the coup that helped
>topple former President Jamil Mahuad in January, said he admired Chavez
>but has never met with him or received financial support.
><p> _____________________________________________________
><br><a NAME="2"></a>
><br>NEW YORK TIMES, Thursday, 7 December 2000
><p><b><font size=+2>Rebel Control of Large Zone in Colombia Is
>Extended</font></b>
><br>By Juan Forero
><p>BOGOTA - Despite flagging support for his peace efforts, President Andres
>Pastrana opted today to give the nation's largest rebel group an eight-week
>extension on the demilitarized zone that the government ceded to the rebels
>two years ago.
><p>Mr. Pastrana had until midnight to decide whether to let the rebels
>keep control of the zone - totaling 16,000 square miles in southern Colombia,
>the size of Switzerland -or retake it by force. With the extension, Mr.
>Pastrana is banking that government negotiators will be able to restart
>peace talks that have been all but dead since mid-November, when the rebels
>froze the talks to protest what they said was the government's inability
>to control right-wing paramilitary forces.
><p>The extension will last until January 31, said Camilo Gomez, the
>government's
>lead negotiator. "It is clear the extension is aimed at resolving the frozen
>dialogues and to advance humanitarian accords that we had been working
>on," he said.
><p>Mr. Gomez cautioned, however, that the extension came with conditions,
>namely restrictions on the entry of people and supplies into the demilitarized
>zone.
><p>News of the extension was made public about 15 minutes before midnight,
>after Mr. Pastrana met with members of the Colombian Congress, government
>ministers and foreign ambassadors, including Anne Patterson of the United
>States.
><p>"It's not an easy decision, but the president has a strong commitment
>to the peace process," Ms. Patterson said. "We all agree that a negotiated
>peace is the only way for Colombia."
><p>Mr. Pastrana's decision comes two years after his government, hopeful
>that the 36-year war could be ended, created the zone for the Revolutionary
>Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. In November 1998, the government pulled
>2,500 troops out of the area in Caqueta Province.
><p>But that area has become a political liability for Mr. Pastrana. As
>peace talks sputtered, rebel attacks across the country mounted, many of
>them started from inside the territory, the government has said.
><p>The rebels are also accused of forcefully recruiting teenage fighters
>who lived in the zone and using the territory as a safe place to hold
>kidnapping
>victims. This week, a Colombian newsmagazine reported that Venezuelan military
>officials visited FARC leaders inside the zone, without Colombian government
>approval. Colombian and United States government officials have also accused
>the FARC of reaping millions of dollars inside the zone by taxing coca
>farmers and drug traffickers and running coca-processing labs.
><p>During his visit to Colombia last month, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, the
>United States drug policy coordinator, said that what happened in the
>FARC-controlled
>area was predictable.
><p>"It has been turned into an armed bastion of the FARC," Mr. McCaffrey
>said. "They're building roads, airfields. They're processing cocaine."
><p> Copyright 2000 New York Times
>________________________________________________________________
><br><a NAME="3"></a>
><br>ASSOCIATED PRESS, Thursday, 7 December 2000
><p><b><font size=+2>Colombia Approves Prisoner Exchange</font></b>
><br>By Jared Kotler
><p>BOGOTA -- Colombia announced an imminent prisoner exchange with leftist
>guerrillas Thursday, a day after renewing a much-criticized concession
>granting rebels a huge southern territory where peace talks are being held.
><p>The exchange would be the most significant advance in nearly two years
>of largely fruitless negotiations between President Andres Pastrana's
>government
>and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
><p>``We have an agreement and we are going to continue working on its
>implementation,''
>presidential peace commissioner Camilo Gomez told a congressional session
>in Bogota. ``The exchange could take place at any moment.''
><p>The FARC, the largest rebel group fighting the government, holds more
>than 500 police and soldiers captive and have hundreds of its members in
>government jails.
><p>Gomez said the exchange would involve prisoners who are seriously ill,
>but could expand into a broader swap. He did not indicate when the swap
>would occur, nor how many security force members and rebels it would include.
><p>There was no immediate comment from the guerrillas. However, U.N. peace
>envoy Jan Egeland, of Norway, said after a three-hour meeting with FARC
>chief Manuel Marulanda Thursday that the prisoner exchange appeared to
>be ``well on its way.''
><p>Both sides had been under pressure to produce some sign of progress
>
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