Colombian Guerrilla Groups Allying
By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press
Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Setting aside animosity and
ideological
differences, Colombia's two largest guerrilla groups
are increasingly
joining forces on the battlefield.
Some observers predict a short-lived alliance against
rightist
paramilitaries and counter-drug operations. But others
said a
frighteningly potent merger may be on the way between
the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and
the National
Liberation Army, or ELN.
In the latest evidence of cooperation, the army says
18 guerillas killed in
a battle over the weekend were rebels from a
joint-operation involving
the two groups and a smaller insurgent faction.
``They were fighting alongside one another,'' said
Gen. Martin Carreno
of the army's 5th Brigade in northern Colombia. ``That
has to be a
concern.''
Colombia's 37-year war has been escalating as
right-wing paramilitaries
challenge guerrillas for territory, and the United
States provides the
armed forces with helicopters and Special Forces
training under the Plan
Colombia anti-drug scheme. At least 3,000 people are
killed every
year.
Last week, top ELN commander Pablo Beltran said close
ties between
Colombia's army and paramilitary groups have left his
group with no
choice but to ally with the FARC at different
strategic points throughout
the countryside.
One such area is southwestern Cauca State, where the
two groups are
reportedly teaming up against paramilitary fighters
who killed up to 40
villagers in an Easter Week massacre.
Some say these joint military offensives foretell a
frightening change of
heart for the rebel factions.
It could end ``with the two groups joining together
under one
administrative and military front that will be very
powerful and very
dangerous,'' said Alejo Vargas, a history professor at
Colombia's
national university
Gains by paramilitaries may not be the only reason
for the newfound
friendship between the 16,000-strong FARC and the
5,000-member ELN.
Some experts speculate the move could help the FARC
gain new
territory in the face of U.S.-backed Plan Colombia,
which has targeted
some of its most important strongholds.
``The FARC is expecting that Plan Colombia's offenses
are going to
push them out of the south where the coca is grown,''
said Walter J.
Broderick, an Australian who has written two books on
the ELN.
``Now they want to concentrate their efforts in the
rest of the country
where the ELN is strongest.''
For the ELN, teaming up with its once-bitter rival
could mean the
faction is too weak to continue fighting on its own.
``Their tank is empty,'' Alfredo Rangel, a former
national security
adviser, said. ``They want to get out with honor, they
want to make
peace. Until the government listens to them they will
be ready to join
with the FARC just to stay around.''
Although both have been fighting for power since the
1960s, and each
has turned to kidnapping and drug profits to sustain
their operations, the
FARC and the ELN are very different.
Centered in the south, the FARC is officially
Marxist, but its leaders are
mainly aggrieved peasants who claim to be fighting for
land reform and
an end to corruption.
The ELN began as a combination of radical university
students and
priests inspired by the Cuban revolution. The group
opposes foreign oil
exploitation and frequently bombs pipelines.
The factions have generally avoided battles with one
another. They have
even worked together and staged a 1990 summit to
announce they were
forming a united front, which quickly collapsed.
``They don't like taking orders from each other very
much,'' said
Broderick. ``That will make any alliance they have now
hard to maintain
forever.''
Their relationship has never been cozy. Last summer,
ELN forces and
the FARC clashed violently in the Cauca region where
the two now
claim to be working together.
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