Former Rebel Towns in Colombia Receive Aid

Former Rebel Towns in Colombia Receive Aid
By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 36 minutes ago

In the square where leftist rebels once forced residents to attend weekly lectures, the U.S. ambassador and Colombian officials gathered this weekend to celebrate the opening of a school and library in hopes of showing the town what it was missing under guerrilla control.

In San Vicente del Caguan and other towns in southern Colombia such as Cartagena de Chaira, both controlled for years by the rebels, the government is offering development aid in the form of schools, computers and books. Although the Colombian military's grasp on the region is tenuous, authorities want to show residents they will benefit from the government's presence, and deprive the guerrillas of support.

On Saturday in San Vicente del Caguan, U.S. Ambassador William Wood helped lead the charge in what officials are calling their second offensive against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC.

"The goal in Colombia is not simply victory against narcoterrorists," Wood told The Associated Press in this remote southern town. "The goal in Colombia is stability and to strengthen democracy so it serves the citizens better."

Officials inaugurated classrooms packed with desktop PCs. They donated an ambulance to the local hospital. They opened a library, a block away from a police station that was reduced to rubble by a rebel bomb two years ago.

A total of $3 million has been spent on the projects here and another $5.1 million is in the pipeline, the government said. The U.S. military donated most of the money for the library.

Government forces, backed by U.S. aid, training and logistics support, have been pushing into rebel strongholds in an offensive that began a year and a half ago. But the rebels have shown they remain a threat, launching their own attacks that have killed dozens of soldiers and police this year.

Gen. Freddy Padilla, chairman of the Colombia's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the rebels lost their chance to gain civilian support when they controlled San Vicente del Caguan.

"Mao Tse-Tung once said that military victory is possible only if you have the support of the people," Padilla said in an interview. "After running this place for three years, all the rebels did was alienate the people."

In the central plaza where FARC rebels used to summon townspeople for weekly lectures, a school marching band performed for government officials, Wood, and thousands of spectators as U.S. and Colombian soldiers eyed the crowd for any rebel threat. Army snipers were perched on rooftops.

"This is a new push, so we can have a permanent institutional presence here," said Luis Alfonso Hoyos Aristizabal, President Alvaro Uribe's High Commissioner for Social Action.

San Vicente de Caguan was controlled by the FARC for years until Colombia's president ended peace talks in 2002, angered that the insurgents had hijacked an airliner.

Within days of the collapse of the peace process, Colombian troops entered this ramshackle town as the rebels pulled back into the surrounding countryside. They are still there. An army soldier was recently found dead outside town, his throat slit after a female rebel lured him from his post, said police Capt. Fabio Rojas.

A C-130 Hercules air force plane ferried in dozens of officials from the capital and a female "ranchera" band for Saturday's ceremonies.

Residents — many of them poor and with little education — said they welcomed the new development projects.

"It's good," said Rosa Maria Garzon, 70, who lives in a wooden shack with her family. "I don't know how to read, so I won't be able to use the library, but my children can."

By Lionheart on May 22, 2005, 15:13 in Politics & the war.

platano says on May 22, 2005, 20:14:

This is great news! The fact that it is happening in a "formerly rebel controlled" town instead of in Quibdó makes me wonder if we aren't more interested in scoring political points than.... oh, wait, I forgot, Quibdó is in Chocó and Chocó is more or less forgotten... they are Black Colombians. Why doesn't any USA aid ever reach them?

Plátano, el banano verde
Oxigeno Verde ¡Libertad por Ingrid y los demás!

plátano

Tinto (Moderator) says on May 22, 2005, 20:21:

It does ;-) www.usaid.gov/locations/latin_america_caribbean/country/colombia/afroc...

www.usaid.gov/stories/colombia/ba_colombia_chocoschool.html

Geographic focus for the years 2006 to 2008:

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/wwwsaidc.shtml#English

platano says on May 22, 2005, 21:04:

Tinto, Thanks for the links! I stand corrected. This just goes to prove the USA is the greatest country in the world. The school is beautiful. The words on the program report of geographic emphasis are beautiful. This is good to share with those who criticize the USA. :)

Unless this was some kind of "Juanchaco" project in disguise? Just kidding! :)

Plátano, el banano verde
Oxigeno Verde ¡Libertad por Ingrid y los demás!

plátano