Colombian rebels reject
government proposal for prisoner
exchange
The
leftist rebel Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
on Monday rejected a government
proposal to hold face-to-face
talks at a foreign embassy in
Bogota aimed at exchanging
jailed rebels for hostages held
by the guerrillas.
In a statement, FARC asked
President Alvaro Uribe to grant
the rebel group the two southern
demilitarized zones, San Vicente
del Caguan and Cartagena del
Chaira, before discussions on a
prisoner exchange take place, a
demand that the government has
already rejected.
On Oct. 27, Uribe proposed to
hold talks with FARC on the
release of 15 jailed rebels at
the Vatican's embassy or another
diplomatic mission in Bogota in
return for hostages held by FARC.
FARC said in the statement that
it would not negotiate unless
the two southern counties are
demilitarized, allowing the
rebels to transfer their dozens
of hostages from a region where
the government has launched a
military attack.
The government on Monday
reiterated that it would not
demilitarize any zones because
it has to guarantee the safety
of the people across the
country.
FARC also criticized the Uribe
proposal and termed it as a
political maneuver of the
president, seeking to benefit
his re-election attempt for the
year 2006, when his presidential
term expires.
FARC is the largest insurgent
group in Colombia with up to
20,000 combatants across the
country.
Colombia has been plagued by a
four-decade civil war, in which
leftist rebels, far-right
paramilitaries and government
troops fight each other, killing
about 3,500 people every year.
Purchase of Russian weapons not
for arms race: Venezuela
Venezuela said Monday that its
recent purchase of Russian
attack helicopters was for
weapons renewal instead of a
regional arms race.
The new helicopters will be used
for border protection only,
Defense Minister Jorge Garcia
Carneiro told a press
conference, apparently in
response to allegations of
Colombian Defense Minister Jorge
Uribe that Venezuela is starting
an arms race.
He also denied reports that his
government was negotiating with
Moscow on the procurement of
Russian MiG-29 fighter jets.
Venezuela last month signed an
agreement with Russia on the
purchase of 41 Russian attack
helicopters and on military
cooperation.
Colombia, which is receiving
military assistance from the
United States, expressed concern
with Venezuela's military
procurement. Its defense
minister accused Venezuela of
starting an arms race.
Relations between Washington and
Caracas have been difficult
since leftist President Hugo
Chavez took office. Chavez has
accused Washington of supporting
a coup in April 2002 that
briefly ousted him.
At least 12 killed in Colombia's
winter rainy season
At least 12 people have died and
106,000 become homeless over the
past two months of the winter
rainy season in Colombia, Civil
Defense Director, colonel
Eugenio Alarcon, said on Monday.
Floods and landslides triggered
by downpours beginning from
mid-September have destroyed 250
houses in 24 of the 32
departments in Colombia, Alarcon
said.
At least 29 people were injured
in this wet season, he added.
The death toll from the current
season is one of the worst over
the past five years, and the
cash-strapped government has
provided over 2 million worth of
aid to 25,000 people whose homes
have been damaged by floods,
according to Director of the
National Disaster Prevention and
Management Office Eduadro
Gonzalez.
The winter rainy season is the
second of this year and will
continue until the beginning of
December. Ten people died and 13
were injured during the first
wet season from April to May in
Colombia.
Indian
communities leader murdered in Mexico
A leader of Indian Communities in the
southern Mexican state of Oaxaca was murdered on Monday by four
gunmen, and one of them was captured by the police.
According to Oaxaca's Attorney General's office, Leoncio Luna,
leader of the Organization of Indigenous Communities "Benito
Juarez", was shot dead when walking in the Hondura Limon zone in
Santa Cruz Loxicha.
One suspect was arrested for the involvement in the assassination.
In August, Luna supported Gabino Cue from the Oaxaca government's
opposition coalition as candidate in the Oaxaca's municipal
elections. But Ulises Ruiz from the Institutional Revolution Party
(PRI) won in the elections.
Luna had received death threats "from gunmen at the service of the
PRI landlords", Luna's brother said.
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