THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA - PEOPLE'S ARMY FARC-EP SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL GENERAL STAFF NEW YEARS MESSAGE We greet the Colombian people in the midst of the paralysis of the = Dialogue and Negotiation Process caused by the conditions imposed by the = President in his October 7th statement on the occasion of the extension = of the demilitarized zone, two days after the signing of the San = Francisco de la Sombra Accord. The results produced after three years of joint efforts are not what the = immense majority of Colombian hoped for, fundamentally due to the = regime's lack of political will to undertake the structural changes = Colombia requires for solution of the social and armed conflict. On the = contrary, through the information media the enemies of peace are = mounting a morbid campaign, the aim of which is to disparage the FARC-EP = making use of the drama of a sick child whose father would have returned = home if the government had accepted our proposal of a humanitarian = exchange for the guerrilla prisoner Ignacio Gonzalez Perdomo, who = suffers from a painful illness. On the other hand they say nothing about = the situation of state abandonment of 300,000 Colombian children = suffering grave illnesses.=20 Paramilitarism, the expression of state terrorism against the people = continues dominating cities and areas of the countryside, leaving in its = wake a toll of cadavers, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and = the economic ruin of the regions, in the midst of total impunity. = Meanwhile, the intellectual, material and financial authors of this form = of dirty war are in power and in the bases of the armed forces of the = state.=20 The economic crisis is sharpening due to the impositions of the = International Monetary Fund, which are keeping the country in its most = severe recession of recent decades. As a consequence of this, three and = one half million Colombians do not have work; five and one half million = more subsist on the informal economy and gleaning; we, the poor of = Colombia, now number twenty five million. Of these, eight million live = in absolute poverty. The circumstances in Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia = and Brazil present a similar panorama, countries that do not have = guerrilla movements to be blamed for every evil in order to hide the = real causes of the crisis generated by the economic system. Argentina is = the most recent example where the people have now risen up in rebellion = against their rulers, causing the fall of President Fernando de la Rua. Due to the imposition of U.S. interests, the Colombian state is carrying = on a chemical and biological war against the plantings of coca and opium = poppies, ignoring the socio-economic problems of the campesino = cultivators. A real agrarian reform that involves manual eradication = together with social investment, in agreement with the communities and = not via repression, is the path to the solution of the problem of the = illegal crops, as was stated in the Accord of Los Pozos signed by = President Pastrana and Commandant Marulanda. The so-called "Plan = Colombia" is the military instrument of the imperialist economic = annexation scheme known as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas).=20 Our attention is drawn by the silence of the presidential candidates = who, in the face of the large and profound economic, social and = political problems affecting Colombians, present themselves bereft of = proposals and programmes that go to the root causes of this grave = situation. Likewise, the electoral campaign is proceeding without = guarantees of rights for the democratic opposition and alternative = movements.=20 Before the Colombian people the FARC-EP affirm their will to continue = contributing initiatives to free the Dialogues of obstacles. The = proposed meeting next January 15 with the presidents of the three powers = of state and other representatives of the establishment so they explain = what it is they are ready to negotiate in favour of peace with social = justice and sovereignty, is such an initiative. On the occasion of the = New Year, we call upon the Colombian people to organize and fight in = co-ordination to win decent conditions of life and work and achieve the = objective of a Government of National Reconciliation and Reconstruction = that would implement the Ten Point Programme of Government contained in = the Political Platform of the FARC-EP.=20 CENTRAL GENERAL STAFF REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA - PEOPLE'S ARMY FARC-EP Mountains of Colombia, December 27, 2001 _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: anti-imperi
