Peace Talks Halted

Pastrana Lists FARC Abuses, Ends FARC Zone

Colombian president Andres Pastrana Arango responded to the incident by announcing on national television that he was ending the government's peace process with the FARC and sending troops to retake the FARC-held southern zone where peace talks had been taking place. In the last 30 days, the president charged, the rebels have set off four car bombs, killed 20 civilians and blown up 30 power pylons. Preceding his televised announcement with images of destruction allegedly caused by the FARC, Pastrana said the rebels had until midnight to leave the zone. [CNN en Espanol 2/21/02 with info from AP; New York Times 2/22/02]

FARC Spokesman Criticizes Pastrana for Ignoring Peace Process Mechanisms

Speaking from Mexico City with CNN en Espanol, FARC international spokesperson Marco Leon Calarca said it wasn't clear whether the FARC had anything to do with the hijacking incident. Calarca criticized Pastrana for having ignored the mechanisms established by the peace process for dealing with crisis situations. [CNN en Espanol 2/21/02 with info from AP]

FARC Say They are Disposed to Continue Talks in Future

In a Feb. 21 communique from "the Mountains of Colombia," FARC leaders Raul Reyes, Joaquin Gomez, Carlos Antonio Losada, Simon Trinidad and Andres Paris made no mention of the Feb. 20 hijacking incident, but said the government's unilateral breaking of the peace process "was a demand of the military forces, the economic associations, the major media outlets, certain bipartisan presidential candidates and the US embassy in their eagerness to not carry out the changes that the current moment demands." The communique said the FARC remains disposed to peace talks with "a future government that shows interest in rethinking the road to a political solution to the armed and social conflict." [FARC Communique 2/21/02]

Hardliner Uribe Velez Leading in the Polls

Colombia's next presidential elections are scheduled for May 26. Leading the polls is hardline rightwinger Alvaro Uribe Velez, who has repeatedly scorned the idea of dialogue with the rebels and has promised to defeat them militarily. [CNN en Espanol 2/23/02 with info from Reuters, AP] From the Weekly News Update on the Americas (ISSN 1084-922X), published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012, 212-674-9499, wnu@igc.org.