And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Subject: Army offensive and U.S. role Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:50:28 -0800 (PST) From: Tom Goldtooth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >More than 50 rebels killed, Colombia says > >March 17, 1999 >Web posted at: 6:06 p.m. EDT (1806 GMT) > > >BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- The Colombian >government claimed Wednesday that at least 50 >leftist rebels were killed in an army attack on a >rebel stronghold in northwest Colombia. > >The attack began Tuesday in La Llorona, a canyon >in the foothills of the Cordillera Occidental mountains >where the FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, >maintains a compound. Fighting continued Wednesday, >and military sources said more deaths were expected. > >The fighting is along a highway linking Colombia's >main banana-growing region, Uraba, with >the country's interior. FARC and right-wing paramilitary >groups have long battled for control of Uraba. While >an official statement issued in Bogota said at least >50 rebels died, a commander in the area, Col. Diego >Gutierrez, said 40 to 50. He said four government >soldiers had also been killed. > >"The combat has been intense since" Tuesday, Gutierrez > told local radio. Troops backed by air force bombers >and helicopter gunships were pitted against a FARC force >thought to be at least 700 strong, he said. >There was no independent confirmation of the number killed. > >73 reportedly killed near Cartagena > >Tuesday, the government's human rights ombudsman said >73 people had been killed during a >week of clashes in a rural area south of Cartagena, >Colombia's leading Caribbean resort city. >The fighting there involved FARC and a right-wing >paramilitary group. Sixteen civilians >were killed, along with 26 FARC rebels and 31 >paramilitaries, according to the ombudsman's >office. Military sources would confirm only that >16civilians had died. > >Government steps up war > >The latest attacks indicate the government may be stepping >up its war against rebels, who have been battling the >government for more than three decades and have de facto >control over about 40 percent of the country. > >Peace talks between rebel groups and the government, begun >earlier this year, stalled almost >immediately. And the peace process was dealt a serious >blow with last week's revelation that >FARC was behind the recent slayings of three U.S. >humanitarian workers, whose bullet-riddled >bodies were found just over the Venezuelan border. > >The new offensive against the rebels has the backing of >the United States and Colombia's >neighbors. Peru and Ecuador have sent more troops to >their northern borders under a >U.S.-devised plan to contain drug traffickers. Both U.S. >and Colombian officials say the rebels are involved in >the drug trade. > >Throughout the region, U.S. military teams are training >armies. More than 470 American >servicemen are in Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru, according >to Steve Lucas, a spokesman for the >U.S. Southern Command. > >This month, Colombia began to overhaul its ill-equipped >and poorly motivated military and create a more professional >force that could move more decisively against the rebels >should the peace process break down irretrievably. > >Political observers believe the possibility of direct U.S. > intervention in Colombia's conflict is remote. But some >observers are troubled by Washington's ever-greater >behind-the-scenes role. > >"U.S. intervention is based on the deadly equation that >they give the military technology and the weapons and we >provide the dead," said Alejandro Santos, a columnist in >Semana, a leading news magazine. > > ------------------------- Indigenous Environmental Network - National Office P.O. Box 485 Bemidji, Minnesota 56619-0485 USA Phone: (218) 751-4967 Fax: (218) 751-0561 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://www.alphacdc.com/ien &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
