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NEWS ABOUT: FARC

'Mom, You Don't Have to Cry Anymore'

Betancourt reunited with family; US contractors on their way home

(Newser) - Ingrid Betancourt embraced her family today after six years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, the Washington Post reports. "Mom, you don't have to cry anymore," said Betancourt, one of 15 hostages freed from FARC rebels. "This is a miracle." Betancourt appeared thin but healthy at... More »

Trickery Brings Colombia Hostages to Safety

Betancourt, others freed by soldiers posing as aid workers

(Newser) - A simple ruse led to the freedom of the high-profile hostages held for years by Colombia's FARC rebels, Reuters reports. Government soldiers duped guerrillas into believing they were humanitarian aid workers and offered to fly the hostages from their jungle hideaway to meet with FARC boss Alfonso Cano. Instead, they... More »

Mac Supporter's Firm Funded Colombian Terrorists

Lindner's Chiquita also trafficked in arms

(Newser) - A billionaire who co-hosted a $2 million party for John McCain last week paid almost as much to a Colombian paramilitary group through his former company, the Huffington Post reports. Under Carl Lindner, Chiquita funneled $1.7 million to AUC, a group the US deems a terrorist organization—and one... More »

Betancourt, 3 US Hostages Freed From FARC Rebels

Colombia claims to have rescued 15

(AP) - Colombia's military has freed 15 hostages—including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors—from Maoist rebel group FARC, the AP reports. Colombia's defense minister announced the rescue today, saying that army commandos captured rebels manning a security ring around the hostages and got them to persuade their... More »

Murder Capital Transforms Into Cultural Haven

Medellin, Colombia, replaces crime with safety and security

(Newser) - Once the world's most dangerous city, Medellin, Colombia, is now a relatively safe and culturally vibrant haven for its 2.1 million residents. In 1991, Medellin recorded 6,349 homicides, or nearly 18 per day; today, thanks to improved security under the administration of president Alvaro Uribe, the rate is... More »

Bookish Past Might Not Help Rebel Leader

Colombia's new reality will put dogmatic FARC head Cano to test

(Newser) - Though Alfonso Cano, the new commander of Colombia’s FARC rebels, is a bookish intellectual, don’t expect a new push towards government negotiations, sources tell the Washington Post. Cano, who turned to Marx in college after a middle-class upbringing, would be uniquely suited to push peaceful political action—but... More »

Fame Hinders Chance of Freedom

As international cause, Colombian hostage is valuable to rebels

(Newser) - The daughter of a beauty queen and a diplomat who once enjoyed a charmed existence in fashionable Parisian quarters, Ingrid Betancourt is now a hostage in a Colombian jungle who is sometimes chained by the neck to a tree. The Wall Street Journal profiles the plight of the former Colombian... More »

Sun Setting on FARC Rebellion

Key link to past now dead, and Colombia's efforts at last paying off against rebels

(Newser) - FARC chief Manuel Marulanda’s death might not be a fatal blow to Colombia's Marxist rebels, but the Economist sees an organization on the way out anyway. In its mid-'90s heyday, FARC boasted a force of 19,000 soldiers that threatened Bogota, the capital; today, the group is fragmented, with... More »

Colombian Rebels Confirm Leader's Death

Marulanda, 78, died of a heart attack 'in arms of his companion'

(Newser) - A top Colombian rebel confirmed the death of FARC chief Manuel Marulanda in a TV interview today. Marulanda died of a heart attack 2 months ago, at age 78, "in the arms of his companion," he said. With "Sureshot" gone, new rebel leader Alfonso Cano may struggle... More »

Colombian Rebel Leader Rumored Dead

'Sure Shot' founded Marxist FARC more than 40 years ago

(Newser) - Columbian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda Velez is dead, according to an interview with an official in a weekly magazine, AFP reports. The elusive FARC leader, known as “Sure Shot,” helped start the Marxist rebel group in the 1960s to battle Colombia's conservative government. He was rumored to have... More »

Rebel's Files Show Chávez Aided FARC

Laptops point to arms deals, training accords with Colombian rebels

(Newser) - A cache of computer files found on a dead Colombian guerrilla leader's laptops implicates Hugo Chávez in arms deals with the FARC rebels. The Wall Street Journal reports that Colombian and American intelligence agencies, which came into possession of about 100 files, have no doubt of their authenticity. Both... More »

France Bails on Hostage Rescue Mission

Colombian rebels block medical help for Betancourt

(Newser) - A French humanitarian team is leaving Colombia after being frustrated in its mission to aid failing hostage Ingrid Betancourt, reports the BBC. The leadership of the FARC rebels, who have held the French-Colombian presidential candidate hostage for six years, refused to allow the team to provide Betancourt with emergency medical... More »

Sarko: Betancourt Near Death

French president renews call for FARC ro release hostage

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy today reiterated his call for FARC to free hostage Ingrid Betancourt, saying the Colombian-French politician is "in danger of imminent death," Reuters reports. After 6 years in the rebel guerrillas' custody, Betancourt reportedly began a hunger strike Feb. 23. "Free Ingrid Betancourt and the weakest... More »

Venezuela Tried to Arm FARC, Colombia Says

Unverified docs reveal activities of Colombian rebels

(Newser) - Colombian officials claim to have computer files captured from its FARC rebels that indicate Venezuela sold arms to the terrorist group, the New York Times reports. If Interpol verifies the files, they would also suggest links between FARC and Ecuador’s government and provide insight into the rebel organization. Colombia... More »

Colombia Offers Swap: Hostages for Prisoners

FARC must release ailing Betancourt for deal to go through

(Newser) - After more than 6 years in captivity, Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt will go free if FARC agrees to a deal Alvaro Uribe signed off on last night, the Guardian reports. The Colombian president issued a decree saying the country will release imprisoned rebel fighters in exchange for Betancourt, a onetime... More »

Colombia to Pay Ex-Rebel $2.5M for Slaying

He shot his FARC boss, cut off his hand as proof

(Newser) - Colombia will pay the former FARC rebel who killed his commander last week part of a $2.5 million reward—a move critics say amounts to payment for murder, the BBC reports. Guerrilla Pedro Pablo Montoya shot his boss, then cut off his hand as proof. He will share the... More »

Recovered Data Links Venezuela to FARC Rebels

US, studying evidence, won't yet call Chavez a terror sponsor

(Newser) - Possible links between Hugo Chavez’ Venezuelan government and the Colombian FARC guerrilla group concern Washington, but US officials aren't yet saying the nation will be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, Reuters reports. Colombia said computers seized in a March 1 raid on a FARC base in Ecuador contain evidence... More »

US Families Sue Chiquita Over FARC Murders

Claim protection cash to Colombia rebels tied to missionary slayings

(Newser) - Fruit giant Chiquita stands accused in a federal lawsuit of contributing to the deaths of five US missionaries at the hands of Colombian rebel group FARC during the 1990s, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Families of the missionaries say protection money the Cincinnati-based company admitted to secretly paying the... More »

'Merchant of Death' Denies Arms Charges

Viktor Bout, nabbed in Thailand, says he was just on vacation

(Newser) - Viktor Bout, the international arms dealer caught last week in a US sting operation in Thailand, told police he was vacationing when authorities nabbed him for trying to sell weapons to Colombian rebels, Reuters reports. Bout, nicknamed the "Merchant of Death" for business dealings with groups like the Taliban,... More »

South American Crisis Ends With Handshakes

After spat over raid, Colombia, Ecuador make nice with promises for future

(Newser) - The threat of war involving Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela was diffused today with a bevy of handshakes televised all over Latin America, Reuters reports. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and his opposite number, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, reached an agreement on combating insurgents in the future; the Colombian military's killing of... More »

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