Five Dead After
Colombian Rebels Ambush Candidate
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Five people were killed
and four wounded after Colombian FARC
guerrillas ambushed and attempted to kidnap
a candidate for a governor's post in a
southern province, authorities said on
Sunday.
The attack underscored the vulnerability of
politicians in rural Colombia despite the
progress made by President Alvaro Uribe's
U.S.-backed security drive to defeat Latin
America's oldest-surviving leftist
insurgency.
Police said rebels attacked a convoy
transporting Jose Alberto Perez, a
Conservative Party candidate for the
Guaviare province governorship in a special
February 28 election organized after the
previous governor was forced to step down.
Perez was wounded when rebels opened fire in
a roadside ambush that killed four police
bodyguards and another person, police said.
The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, is at its weakest in decades after
Uribe's campaign to force the rebels back
into jungles and mountains. But the
guerrilla group remains a threat in rural
areas, aided by funds from their involvement
in cocaine trafficking and extortion.
Sunday's attack came as Colombia prepares
for legislative elections in March and a
presidential vote in May with Uribe still
uncertain about whether he will run for a
consecutive third term in the world's No. 3
coffee exporting nation.
In December, the FARC kidnapped and killed a
governor of Caqueta State in a rare urban
assault. Luis Cuellar was dragged from his
home, bundled into a waiting jeep and later
found with his throat cut.
Once a mighty peasant army that controlled
large swaths of Colombia, the FARC has been
battered by the loss of several top
commanders and a flood of desertions as its
fighters come under increasing military
pressure.
Colombia's troops are benefiting from better
mobility with helicopters, improved training
and intelligence, forcing the FARC to turn
to ambushes and improvised landmines to
attack troops. |
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