>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rick Rozoff) >Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 17:50:02 -0500 (CDT) > > "No one doubts that the so-called Plan Colombia is for >counter-insurgency.....The Americans have always been behind the >obstacles in the attempts to seek peace in Colombia....The efforts we >have made are being lost because once again the Colombian elite have >thrown themselves into the arms of the American power." > > >WIRE:09/16/2000 16:34:00 ET >Colombia Peace Talks Nearly Paralyzed-Rebel Chief > > > BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia"s top rebel leader warned on Saturday >that peace talks with the government were virtually paralyzed over a >U.S.-backed anti-drug offensive that guerrillas say will target them. >"No one doubts that the so-called Plan Colombia is for >counter-insurgency," Manuel Marulanda, the top leader of the >Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), said in statement posted >on the Internet. The United States has pledged $1.3 billion in mostly >military aid to support President Andres Pastrana"s broad program known >as Plan Colombia to fight drug trafficking, revive the economy and seek >peace with leftist rebels. The bulk of the U.S. funds will go toward >training and equipping anti-narcotics battalions charged with retaking >vast areas of southern Colombia that are planted with coca crops and >controlled by the FARC. Colombia is by far the world"s largest exporter >of cocaine and is a growing supplier of heroin to the United States. The >FARC earns an estimated $500 million dollars a year by taxing growers of >coca leaf, the raw material used in making cocaine, and by charging >"protection" money to traffickers. Marulanda blamed the U.S. aid for the >current problems in the peace process with the government. "The >Americans have always been behind the obstacles in the attempts to seek >peace in Colombia," Marulanda said in the statement. "The efforts we >have made are being lost because once again the Colombian elite has >thrown itself in the arms of the American power," he said. PEACE TALKS >AT SENSITIVE STAGE The 17,000-strong FARC, Latin America"s oldest and >most powerful insurgency, opened peace talks with the government in >January 1999 in a Switzerland-sized safe haven in southern Colombia, but >the negotiations have yet to yield any concrete results. Government >officials agree that the peace talks have hit a sensitive stage but >claim the problem lies in the FARC"s use of their safe haven as a >virtual rebel state. The latest controversy was sparked last week by the >brief hijacking of a domestic flight by a presumed FARC member who >forced the pilot to land in the rebel zone. The FARC said the hijacker, >who was being transferred by prison guards for a hearing, was now in >their custody and they would decide whether to hand him over to >government authorities. "Our position is that (the FARC) have to hand >over the person who arrived in the safe haven because this is not a zone >to commit crimes, it is a zone for negotiations," Pastrana said. The >government"s top peace negotiator, Camilo Gomez , was due to meet with >FARC leaders on Monday to discuss the handover of the prisoner. The >latest hurdles in the peace process come as the FARC and government >prepare to reveal their proposals for a cease-fire although analysts say >the two sides are so far apart on the issue that there is little hope >for an end to hostilities any time soon. Colombia"s three-decade-old >conflict has cost 35,000 lives in the last 10 years alone. > > > > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
