Colombian President: FARC is "not a narco-guerrilla group"

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From "IN COLOMBIA, AN OPENING TO PEACE," Boston Globe, Jan. 22, 2000

BYLINE: By John Donnelly, Globe Staff

The rebels, numbering about 15,000 and known by the Spanish acronym FARC,
are believed to reap hundreds of millions of dollars through taxing
traffickers.

The rebels' cooperation in fighting drugs is doubted in several quarters,
including the Narcotics Affairs Section at the US Embassy in Bogota, which
runs drug eradication programs. The US-donated OV-10 planes that spray
pesticides on coca and poppy fields have come under frequent fire from
guerrillas. American citizens, working for private companies, fly the
planes, one of which was struck by three bullets this week.

Pastrana launched the peace process more than a year ago after he agreed to
a guerrilla demand to demilitarize an area in Colombia, essentially ceding
control of more than 30 percent of the country. But since then, the process
has stalled, sparking massive peace marches and demonstrations by civilians.

After hosting a lunch this week for a delegation of four US congressman,
including Delahunt, Pastrana said the guerrillas have been unfairly linked
with drug traffickers.

"It's one of the starting points to say that they are not a narco-guerrilla
group. They are really a guerrilla-insurgency group and they are willing to
fight drugs," he said.


Louis Proyect

(The Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org)