>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Jessica Sundin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >1. Colombians Apologize To Red Cross >2. U.S. Troops in Colombia Threatened >3. Sabotage saps Colombia oil output > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >September 30, 2000, Associated Press >Colombians Apologize To Red Cross > >BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- In an unusual act of contrition, right-wing >militias in Colombia have apologized for dragging a wounded guerrilla >from a Red Cross vehicle last week and executing her. > >The apology from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, an umbrella >group for the country' s militias, was contained in a letter faxed to >the Red Cross in Bogota on Thursday. > >" We accept our responsibility for this lamentable incident that put at >risk the good work of the International Red Cross in Colombia, " the >letter said. > >The Red Cross had no comment on the apology. > >In its letter, the militia group conceded that on Sept. 22 three of its >fighters stopped a Red Cross vehicle outside Apartado, a town near the >Panamanian border. > >The men then grabbed the wounded guerrilla, whom the Red Cross was >taking to a hospital, and later killed her. She was a member of the >leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the Red Cross >said. > >Apologies are rare in Colombia' s brutal, 36-year civil war, which has >left at least 35, 000 people dead, most of them civilians. > >Copyright 2000 Associated Press. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >October 1, 2000, Associated Press > >U.S. Troops in Colombia Threatened >By ANDREW SELSKY > >LARANDIA ARMY BASE, Colombia (AP) -- U.S. special forces stationed in >this sprawling army base near large concentrations of leftist guerrillas >on Sunday faced renewed threats from the insurgents. > >But a general in Colombia said he has sufficient forces to repel any >threat to the U.S. forces who are training troops in a U.S.-aided drug >war. > >Concerns about the safety of the approximately 85 elite American >soldiers at Larandia were highlighted after Andres Paris, a commander of >the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was quoted as >saying that " all Colombian or foreign military personnel who are in the >combat zones will be military targets." > >A general commanding a brigade of 4, 800 Colombian troops in this >mountainous region of jungle and pasture land where troops and rebels >frequently clash said his force was sufficient to protect the Americans >from the FARC. The rebels have infiltrated combatants toward the >exterior of the base to look for weak points, said Col. Julian Villate, >the base commander. > >An Associated Press team, the first journalists to visit Larandia since >the American soldiers arrived two months ago, saw the special forces >compound on the base but was denied permission by the U.S. Embassy to >interview or photograph the troops. > >The U.S. Army Green Berets and members of the 720th Special Tactics >Group from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., are training two counter-narcotics >army battalions under a $1.3 billion U.S. aid package to this South >American nation. > >Paris' comments, posted Thursday in New Colombia News Agency, a web site >run by FARC supporters and considered a reliable source, echoed previous >statements by FARC commanders. They did not come as a surprise, said >Raul Duany, spokesman for the Southern Command, which is in charge of >U.S. military operations in Latin America. > >" It' s nothing we didn' t expect or didn' t know. It' s a very >difficult situation down there, " Duany said over the phone Sunday from >the Southern Command' s headquarters in Miami. > >Duany said under the U.S. troops' rules of engagement, they are >authorized to fire back if attacked or caught in a cross fire. > >He refused to give specifics on how the military is reacting to Paris' >statement, but said U.S. forces' security is being constantly evaluated >and that " drastic protection methods" would be taken if necessary. > >Gen. Javier Arias, commander of the Colombian army' s 12th Brigade that >includes Larandia, insisted that the FARC' s 3, 000 combatants in the >region pose no direct threat to the base. > >" We' re not worried about security in Larandia, " Arias said in an >interview Friday. " We have troops constantly on the move between the >base and where the rebels are." > >Larandia is a two-hour drive west of a Switzerland-sized zone ceded by >the government to the rebels last year in an attempt to push moribund >peace talks forward. The rebels also have units to the north, west and >south of the base -- the closest 9 miles away, according to Arias. > >The U.S. troops toted loaded weapons whenever they left their compound: >either an assault rifle or even a pistol tucked into their shorts. They >did not leave the base itself. > >The special forces, many of them Hispanics, train the Colombian soldiers >in advanced combat techniques. Except for their insignia, many of the >Americans are barely distinguishable from their Colombian counterparts. > >When they returned to their compound -- a cement building and a cluster >of large tents dotted with satellite dishes -- through an opening in a >roll of concertina wire, the U.S. troops ejected the loaded clips from >their rifles. > >Under President Clinton' s aid initiative, the Americans can only train >the Colombians and are barred from accompanying Colombian troops into >combat. > >There have been no reports of fighting in the immediate vicinity since >the Americans arrived at the base, located below mist-shrouded mountains >a 40-minute drive from the provincial capital of Florencia. > >But in July last year, there was a two-day battle between FARC rebels >and Colombian soldiers just 3 miles away in which 20 rebels were >reportedly killed and one government soldier wounded, Villate said. > >There have been other firefights since then, 12 or more miles away, the >base commander said. > >© Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Monday October 2, 2000 >Sabotage saps Colombia oil output > >BOGOTA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A bombing campaign by Marxist rebels targeting >crude export pipelines cut Colombia's oil output by 21 percent in >September from the same month last year, state oil company Ecopetrol >said Monday. > >Production in September was about 652,860 barrels per day, compared to >September 1999 production of 826,461 barrels per day. > >An Ecopetrol spokesman reported the production drop as the company said >it had been forced to shut down two key oil export pipelines for more >than a week following a fresh spate of bomb attacks by guerrillas over >the weekend. > >The main target of the attacks was the Cano Limon pipeline, which >carries crude from the Cano Limon field operated by Occidental Petroleum >Corp. to the Caribbean lifting terminal of Covenas. The pipeline has a >capacity of 230,000 barrels per day. > >Oil is this war-torn Andean nation's leading export, with production in >1999 averaging a record 805,000 barrels per day. > >Colombia's two main guerrilla groups routinely attack the country's >pipelines in protest over what they call excessive foreign involvement >in Colombia's oil industry. > >The Cano Limon pipeline is a favourite target, bombed at least 67 times >this year and fast approaching last year's record of 79 attacks. > >The biggest drop in September production was registered by private >sector companies working in association with Ecopetrol, which extract >most of the country's crude output. > >They saw a 29.1 percent decline to 498,390 barrels per day, compared to >703,708 barrels per day in September 1999, Ecopetrol said. > >Production figures from individual companies were not available for >September. > >In August, rebel attacks pushed Cano Limon's average output down to >40,000 barrels per day, far short of this year's daily average of >105,000 barrels per day, the Ecopetrol spokesman said. > >The Colombian unit of BP Amoco, which operates the largest field at the >Cusiana-Cupiagua complex in the eastern plains, has been unable to raise >current production of 350,000 barrels per day average due to rebel >attacks, a company spokesman said. _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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