[Marxism] Colombia 'foiled attempt on Bush' (BBC News Report)

[Octob1917@xxxxxxx]

Last Updated: Saturday, 27 November, 2004, 04:00 GMT



Colombia 'foiled attempt on Bush'
By Jeremy McDermott
BBC, Colombia


The largest guerrilla group in Colombia ordered an assassination attempt on
US President George W Bush during a recent visit there, a senior official says.
Colombian Defence Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said Mr Bush was targeted in
the city of Cartagena last Monday.
Informers and other intelligence sources revealed the attempt, he said.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have long accused the US of
meddling in the country's 40-year civil war.
The Farc's seven-man ruling body ordered guerrilla units to make an attempt
on Mr Bush's life, Mr Uribe said.
Long list of reasons
The Colombian authorities insisted that the attempt was thwarted by the heavy
security net thrown up around the US president which, apart from his own
secret service details, included 15,000 members of the Colombian security 
forces.
The Farc have a long list of reasons for wanting Mr Bush dead, most pressing
is the fact that Washington provides over $600m in mainly military aid to
Bogota and supplies intelligence from US listening stations, satellites and spy
planes that are focused on Colombia.
Another reason is the issue of extradition.
The US has indicted much of the Farc high command on drugs trafficking
charges and two senior Farc commanders in prison seem set to sent to face 
American
justice.
The fact that the guerrillas would even consider killing the most powerful
and heavily protected man on earth shows that US involvement in Colombia is so
deep that the rebels feel they have very little to lose.
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