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NEWS ABOUT: Colombian rebels

Rebel Leader Killed in Colombia

27 die in raid on FARC camp

(Newser) - Guerrilla leader Sixto Cabana was among 27 rebels killed in a raid on a camp near the Ecuadoran border, Colombian officials announced. Cabana, who had been a member of the FARC rebel group for over 25 years, was a senior commander in the organization and was wanted in the US... More »

Colombia, Venezuela Patch Up Relations

Neighbors had been feuding over rebels, border

(Newser) - Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to kiss and make up after a recent feud that at one point had Hugo Chavez lining the border with troops. Chavez met with newly-minted Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos yesterday to proclaim their newfound friendship. The countries will form joint committees to iron out... More »

3 FARC Hostages Rescued in Colombian Raid

(Newser) - Colombian security forces have rescued two senior police officers and a soldier who had been held hostage by Marxist rebels for almost 12 years. Gen. Luis Mendieta, Col. Enrique Murillo and Sgt. Arbey Delgado were freed from a guerrilla camp in Guaviare in a raid by some 300 troops. Patrols... More »

Colombian Rebels Kill Governor

Kidnap victim Cuellar found with throat cut

(Newser) - A Colombian provincial governor snatched from his home Monday has been found dumped dead on a country road. Police believe leftist guerrillas cut Luis Francisco Cuellar's throat as they fled from security forces. Rebels dressed in military uniforms killed one policeman and wounded two others when they seized Cuellar from... More »

Colombia Gunmen Slaughter 12 on Indian Reservation

(Newser) - Hooded men killed 12 indigenous victims this morning in a Colombian region notorious for coca plantations and armed rebel activity, BBC reports. At least four children were among family members killed in a dawn raid on an Awa tribal reservation, where both Marxist and right-wing rebels are active. The gunmen... More »

Venezuela Arming FARC Rebels: Stolen Emails

(Newser) - Despite frequent denials by President Hugo Chavez, it seems Venezuela is still arming Colombian rebels on the sly, the New York Times reports. Computer files captured from FARC rebels reveal Venezuela's efforts to get them missiles, sniper rifles, radios, and Venezuelan identity cards. This after Chavez froze relations with Colombia... More »

FARC Tortures, Kills 17 Native Colombians

Paramilitary swooped into village, kidnapping pacifist tribesmen

(Newser) - The Colombian paramilitary that held Ingrid Betancourt hostage tortured and killed 17 indigenous people who they believed were aiding the government, human rights groups say. CNN reports that FARC members swept into a remote village in southwest Colombia and kidnapped the pacifist Awa Indians, including two minors. One young man... More »

US Slaps Sanctions on Chavez Aides

3 charged with backing FARC drug runners, as tensions mount

(Newser) - Escalating the diplomatic crisis with Venezuela, the US has frozen the assets of three members of Hugo Chavez's inner circle it accuses of having links with drug-running Colombian rebels, the Wall Street Journal reports. The sanctions follow the expulsion by Venezuela and Bolivia of their US ambassadors—a move the... More »

Captors Turned Brutal After Betancourt Escape Attempt

Hostages, chained together, also hostile

(Newser) - Ingrid Betancourt and the other former hostages of Colombia’s FARC faced aggression and abuse from their captors—and each other, CNN reports. Rebels were relatively cordial until Betancourt and former Colombian legislator Luis Perez made an escape attempt in 2005, surviving for 5 days in the jungle before they... More »

Betancourt Outlines 'Diabolic Behavior' By Rebels

Former hostage, in Paris, says she was tortured, kept in chains for 3 years

(Newser) - Speaking after her arrival in Paris today, Ingrid Betancourt says she was tortured during her 6 years as a hostage of Colombian rebels, the New York Times reports. “I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years,” she said, describing "diabolical behavior"... More »

Disorganized Rebels Duped By Hostage Rescuers

'Movie-plot' op exploited reb chaos

(Newser) - The Colombian military's daring rescue of FARC guerilla hostages relied on increasing disarray within the rebel ranks, the New York Times reports. Latin America's longest-running insurgency has suffered a near-total communications breakdown in recent months. With the command structure in chaos and rebels depending on "medieval" communications methods, the... 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 »

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 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 »

Oil Breaks $125 a Barrel

And heads for $126 as weakening dollar opens investors' wallets

(Newser) - Oil climbed over $125 a barrel today, just ahead of the US driving season and propelled by investors jumping at a weaker dollar, the AP reports. Light, sweet crude for June rose to $125.98 on the New York Mercantile Exchange today, later dropping to $124.86 in Europe. 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 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 »

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