Farc commander killed in Colombia

Papi de Alejo says on Mar 1, 2008, 06:51:

bump

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:02:

THAT IS BIG, BIG NEWS!

- Who's dissin Uribe now?

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

paulr says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:08:

I´m interested to see what Chaves has to say about this! Interesting. True, no-one should be happy about the murder of anyone but, he has been involved in ruining the lives of many people and their family´s and no doubt that he has been a part of many a murder, so, a lot of people wont loose any sleep over it.

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

robi666 says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:12:

Yes, big news...

It just did not happen in the right time. Not at all...
The devil plays with Colombia, I guess.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:14:

i am very happy about his murder, paul! not that i am condoning it, but he was part of the evil and deserves to be eradicated from society. if you are going to kill, then kill the raul reyes of the world. just my opinion......

-thanks for the post. quick snag!

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

rocinante says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:17:

I think the timing is great - there's no time like the present.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

0 funny, 0 helpful.

paulr says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:22:

Hopefully, there will be a domino effect with this and FARC will come tumbling down. Depending on who takes over from him, it can go down a very ugly road where revenge will be taken out on the poor people held in captive or, they come out of the jungle with there hands on there heads. They must have plans in place for something like this happening! I hope to god them poor people get there freedom, we´ll see.

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:27:

people should be prepared for the worst though. i do not think they would ever endanger the lives of their bargaining chips. it would be a foolish move. counterstrikes? i think that would be a foolish move with uribe in office. they may get more aggressive later depending on the political environment next election. jmo......

* property prices just went up another 5% across Colombia - d'oooooooooooo!

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

PALEOLITICO says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:28:

Borbandearon el campamento de este tipo desde el aire y el Presidente Uribe tuvo que llamar al presidente del Ecuador para informarle y no violar territorio Ecuatoriano. Uno de los soldados del Ejercito Colombiano murio. Ellos dan la vida por defender a nuestro Pais!!!!. También murieron 17 guerrilleros.

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:30:

i wonder if usa intelligence was involved? or atleast usa intelligence technologies?

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

robi666 says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:32:

The timing is not right if you were hoping for a peace talk.
FARC just completed the unilateral release of some prisoners. I guess that they will harden their position now.
Willing or not, something was moving...

If your idea to solve the problem is "kill them all", then perfect.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gringoloid says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:34:

does FARC carry out some retaliatory measure when they lose a bigwig?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

paulr says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:35:

Yeah, suppose without hostages will be suicide for them, literaly. If FARC do fade out, will Bush stop giving aid to Colombia? I suppose he will. Will be very interesting to see what happens.

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:38:

if they do try to begin retaliating against innocent citizens, then yes - the Colombian government should enlist the aid of the world and aggressively wipe their asses out. there will be some martyrs on the civilian side, but it has to be done. you cannot hold a country hostage with a few hundred civilians........ big picture opinions are not always popular though. sorry if i offend anybody, but the farc has to go.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

NataliaV says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:40:

I agree tejasmarcos. I feel for the family of the hostages and the hostages themselves, but feel the bigger picture is what is most important. This is great news!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

PALEOLITICO says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:43:

tejas!!! ya metiste a tu metido pais :)) Creo que lo hicimos solitos. No mentira. USA nos ha ayudado mucho en todo este proceso y bastantes dolares si nos han dado para la causa.

"Amar a las personas y usar las cosas; y no amar a las cosas y usar a las personas"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

robi666 says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:51:

I see some euphoria going free on PBH.
Just a question: why do you think that the solution to the FARC problem is nearer now?

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

0 funny, 0 helpful.

rocinante says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:52:

Who?

It all depends on how the killing is interpreted. Peace talks can still continue as they have for decades. Someone made this decision. It all depends on who and how it is interpreted.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Mar 1, 2008, 07:59:

"If FARC do fade out, will Bush stop giving aid to Colombia? I suppose he will"

paul - the usa is extremely interested in what colombia has in the form of another marketplace as well as abundant natural resources (uhummm, oil). don't think for a moment all that prior aid was solely humanitarian in nature. the usa is not THAT nice, they have an economic interest.

robi - i guess you are right. the farc is good at survival. they have proved that for 40 years. however, it does appear that they might be on their hells a little bit anyways - atleast mentally. hard to say......

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

cali373 says on Mar 1, 2008, 08:22:

"he has been involved in ruining the lives of many people and their family´s and no doubt that he has been a part of many a murder, so, a lot of people wont loose any sleep over it."

THE SAME CAN BE SAID OF URIBES CRONIES IN THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT.

Smile if you are a thinker!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

cali373 says on Mar 1, 2008, 08:34:

I wish the FARC would just lay down their arms but:

I am sorry to say the FARC is not going anywhere! We all know it. The reason for its existence is deeply rooted into the hearts and minds of the Colombian people, Even though it is not admitted in the pro-government media. And you will not find that in the polls because 1. most polls are conducted in the major cities and of course Bogota. 2. Who in their right mind would admit FARC type of sympathies in Colombia.

Look what happened to Piedad Cordoba, She was always anti-Uribe and then sent to mediate efforts with the FARC and was ostracised by the Uribe and the pro uribe media for beleifs she always had, even when elected to public office. I must admit it was great political strategy on Uribe's part, on how to get rid of a political enemy.

Smile if you are a thinker!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juancegomez says on Mar 1, 2008, 08:42:

cali373: That FARC has some amount of support is obviously true, but your rhetoric about the "hearts and minds of the Colombian people" doesn't really tell us how much. We're not exactly in a position to count that support either, and that obviously includes you.

But it's a fact that the overwhelming majority of Colombians live in cities and urban areas, not in remote fields and, most importantly, not in the areas where FARC has some semblance of real influence or control. That's just plain demographics, so there are certain trends and limits which cannot be ignored.

While those polls you mention are, obviously, not telling the entire story...they at least show a trend in the major population centers. In the past, you had far more people admitting to be M-19 supporters in those same polls, for example.

So if you want to imply that FARC has some sort of "overwhelming" popular support, especially in rural areas where their influence is significant, you're free to do that...but I hope you are at least able to recognize that they are also quite unpopular at the same time.

Now, "Rául Reyes" served as one of the negotiators during the Caguán talks, but he also had political and military responsibilities as a commander and member of the Secretariat, with troops under his command. He's been in FARC for way longer than Uribe has been in government, so any comparison is rather imperfect, to say the least.

He wasn't exactly a man dedicated entirely to peace, nor was he an easy man to deal with during negotiations. In fact, apparently he was quite the hardliner, at least in certain subjects.

So it's not like his death would have prevented peace, which isn't exactly around the corner anyways.

While the death of human beings isn't exactly a cause for celebration, the war is the war. FARC has never stopped its attacks and there is no cease-fire in place.

For a long time, some people have criticized the Colombian government for not attacking the highest leaders of FARC and thus not producing enough results, so in a way those critics have received a reply. You can't have it both ways.

I wish for a political solution to the conflict, but that cannot happen until both parties decide to talk. At this time, we are not in a time of talks, and even during the Caguán process the war continued without any big changes. There was, again, no real cease-fire, so there is no reason for military operations to end, just as FARC has not stopped its activities.

That said, I am also worried about how FARC will react. But if they do something barbaric, the responsibility will be theirs alone.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tasco66 says on Mar 1, 2008, 09:16:

We’re much more likely to see successful peace talks with Farc when they are weak and cornered…

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

romy says on Mar 1, 2008, 14:27:

Perfect timing, people start doubting Uribe and he comes up with this. 17 guerrilleros get killed all of a sudden and it's time to praise Uribe? give me a break
Why don't they kill them all? the government needs the FARC. How else can they continue to defend this ruthless military dictatorship. The FARC are a bunch of unorganized peasent militias, if the Colombian special forces really wanted to it'd be over within weeks. They took down Cali's elite police anti-drug squad for gods sake.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juancegomez says on Mar 1, 2008, 15:07:

romy: I think you're heavily underestimating FARC by...I don't know, 30 or even 40 years, by calling them "unorganized peasant militias" or declaring they can be defeated within a week.

And as for this being a result of people's doubts about Uribe, that may be a factor that pressured him to increase military operations, sure...but I don't think he simply came up and said to the military "hey, you can kill a member of the Secretariat right now, pick one from the list". I don't think it's so simple, much less without something concrete to back it up.

As for the police anti-drug squad, that's not exactly a comparable thing, to say the least.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

romy says on Mar 1, 2008, 15:32:

OK, what I stated is largely speculative. But it angers me that people continue to eat up the parapolitica propaganda.
But I truly believe that the strength of the FARC has been exagerated by a government in trying to achieve its goals. I'm reminded of a taxi driver that I had in Medellin earlier this year who told me about one of his friends that decided to join the FARC. This friend went in with the illusion of fighting for a right cause and with a strong force behind him. However, he quickly witnessed how 10 soldiers could easily take down 50-100 guerrilleros. And that was it for him as he realized the whole campaign from all sides was a joke.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

DodgerDogs says on Mar 1, 2008, 16:45:

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

0 funny, 0 helpful.

cali373 says on Mar 1, 2008, 16:45:

OK Juan, The FARC is deeply rooted in the minds of SOME Colombians, especially those that are tired of violence, conservative or liberal. And yes the FARC are also very unpopular among most Colombians.

Smile if you are a thinker!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

britabroad says on Mar 1, 2008, 21:31:

Mario,
I´ve seen figures for FARC at being anything between 5,000 and 20,000. I think that the problem is that no one really knows how many there are and that the numbers are constantly changing anyway. Also, some figures only include combattants, whilst others seem to include informants, sympathizers, etc. who aren´t strictly FARC, but assist them when necessary. Many of these are, of course, press-ganged into helping out.
I guess that all we can really be sure of is that there are 18 less today than yesterday.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

LDW says on Mar 2, 2008, 01:47:

Reyes does not look like somebody who was poor and dispossessed.

It looks to me like he was quite well fed.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Ctg Bound says on Mar 2, 2008, 05:50:

Mario,

The number the BBC is quoting is the present number of FARC that the Colombian Government things (or says) there are.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Ctg Bound says on Mar 2, 2008, 05:52:

romy,

Actually some people claim that the Colombian Government is under estimating the FARC strength of 6-8,000 core people.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

SiV says on Mar 2, 2008, 10:05:

Mario, personally I don't think the comments on the BBC forum are any funnier than the majority of those expressed on this one.

Stultórum númere infinitum est.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

SiV says on Mar 2, 2008, 14:36:

What about this site? It seems to me that the majority of posters here know very little about Colombian history or the conflict. I don't know if coming to Colombia for a few weeks to pick up girls, go to the beach or listening to a few taxi drivers' or English-speaking rich kids' political opinions really qualifies people as experts on the situation here.

I only read about 6 or 7 opinions on the first page of the BBC website, but they seemed as intelligent as most here. Most I saw talked about social inequality being a prime cause of conflict, the effects of narcotrafficking, Chavez' comments, soveriegnty, terrorism, etc. Normal stuff. Well, apart from one American guy who, surprise, surprise reckons the US should invade Venezuela. . .

Stultórum númere infinitum est.

0 funny, 0 helpful.