[Marxism] FARC hostage release may signal a shift

[Sky Keyes <skeyesvogt@xxxxxxxxx>]

This article has all the flaws that we might expect from a Miami Herald
article.  I am posting it because I do think that FARC may be coming around
to a possible above-ground political project again.  Alfonso Cano, the new
leader of the FARC, is - according to my studies - more likely to pursue the
political process (e.g. the failed UP project) and I think this is a step in
that direction.  Also I think it is pertinent to mention that Fidel just
released a book criticizing this particular tactic (and others) used by FARC
(that I have not had the pleasure of reading).  But the book Walking Ghosts
is an excellent book on FARC for those of you who are interested, and it
portrays Cano as someone that would be more apt to approaching the political
process (certainly more than Mono Jojoy).  I'm interested to hear other
comrades' opinions about this.

Sky
www.malcolm-che.com


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/881222.html
FARC hostage release may signal a shift
The upcoming release of hostages by Colombia's FARC rebels reflects an
attempt by the struggling guerrilla fighters to become more politically
relevant, experts say.
BY SIBYLLA BRODZINSKY
Special to The Miami Herald

BOGOTA -- From the moment Claudia Rugeles heard on the news that leftist
Colombian rebels planned to release her husband after nearly eight years as
a hostage in a jungle camp, she has been getting ready for his return,
sprucing up their home and preparing herself psychologically for the
reunion.

''I want him to find everything fixed up and pretty,'' Rugeles said.

Her husband, Alan Jara, who was governor of Meta province when he was
kidnapped in July 2001 by rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, is one of six high-profile hostages the FARC plans to release in
coming days in a complex operation led by the International Committee of the
Red Cross.

Three policemen and a soldier -- whose names have not been revealed -- are
due to be freed Sunday. Jara is to be released on Monday, and Sigifredo
López, the only survivor of a group of 12 regional lawmakers kidnapped in
April 2002 in Cali, is expected to be freed on Tuesday.

Rugeles' joy at the prospect of seeing her husband again comes hand in hand
with the hope, she says, that his release will set the stage for peace talks
with the government.

''The FARC seem bent on resolving the hostage problem and on sitting down
for talks with the government,'' she said.

Camilo González, director of the Indepaz think tank in Bogotá said the
unilateral gesture following what was arguably the worst year ever for the
four-decade-old insurgency marks the start of a FARC effort to regain
political relevance.

''It is the FARC's way of trying to recover some political initiative after
a disastrous year,'' he said.

Early last year, the FARC appeared to have the political upper hand when
they released two sets of hostages.

But by March the tide had turned.

*MAJOR LOSSES*

In a series of military operations and internal fighting, the rebels lost
some of their most senior leaders. Legendary founder Manuel Marulanda died,
apparently of natural causes, at age 72. Dozens of other cadres deserted or
were captured. And one of the worst blows to the FARC came in July when
Colombian intelligence officers duped the rebels into handing over their
most prized hostages -- French Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and
three American defense contractors, along with 10 Colombian police and
military officers.

Now under the command of Alfonso Cano -- widely seen as more politically
savvy if more ideological than his predecessor -- the FARC rebels are trying
to reestablish themselves among the Colombian public as a military force
that still needs to be reckoned with and a political force that cannot be
ignored, González said.

While sustained military and intelligence operations over the past six years
have mostly pushed the FARC from the main urban centers of Colombia and
reduced the rebel army's numbers to nearly half of what they once were, the
FARC is estimated to still have just under 10,000 fighters. A bomb blast in
Bogotá last Tuesday -- in which two people died -- has been interpreted as a
message from the rebels to show they can still hit at the heart of the
Colombian capital.

*`SUFFERED SOME BLOWS'*

''We have delivered some blows, and we have also suffered some hits,'' Cano
told the Spanish newsmagazine Cambio 16 in an interview published in
December. ``[But] you can be sure that the FARC are in good health.''

However, the new hand-over could signal a strategic shift in the FARC's
thinking, according to Gerson Arias of the Ideas para La Paz think tank.

The hostages are among 28 people being held as bargaining chips to force
concessions from the government and to try to secure the release of hundreds
of jailed FARC fighters. Hundreds of other kidnap victims are held for
ransom. Once Jara and López are free, there will no longer be any civilians
among what the FARC consider ''swappable'' hostages.

''They may have finally realized that it is politically counterproductive to
hold civilians,'' he said. Police and soldiers are considered by the rebels
legitimate ''prisoners of war,'' since most were captured in FARC attacks on
towns and military bases.

*SWAP NOT LIKELY*

But González argues the whole idea of a possible prisoner swap -- FARC-held
hostages in exchange for jailed rebels -- which had been the FARC's main
battle cry for years, has lost all pertinence.

Dozens of the FARC's own fighters in Colombian jails have stated publicly
that they do not want to be part of any exchange.

And without their ''star'' hostages rescued in July, ''the issue has become
almost irrelevant,'' he said.
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