BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Oscar Morales never imagined that his idea a month ago to mobilize a protest march on Facebook against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would turn into the biggest protest march against an illegal armed group in Colombia’s history. On Monday, from Colombia’s border jungle towns to the capital, an estimated 4.8 million Colombians took to the streets in protest against leftist guerrillas. They were joined by thousands of other Colombians in some 130 cities across the world, with the biggest rallies taking place in Latin American capitals, Madrid and Washington. Public schools closed for the [...]
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s call to remove Colombia’s guerrilla groups from lists of foreign terrorist organizations has been met with widespread condemnation by the Colombian government and has exacerbated the existing diplomatic crisis between the two neighboring nations. Last week, Colombia rejoiced following the much-anticipated release of two female hostages. But celebrations were quickly overshadowed by Chávez’s controversial declaration that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group are not terrorists but rather “real armies who occupy a space in Colombia.” “FARC and the ELN are insurgent forces who [...]
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — If there is any beneficiary of the recent breakdown of Hugo Chávez’s mediation for a Colombian hostage exchange, it may well be the Venezuelan president himself. He was able to use Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, the man who revoked his mediation mandate, as a foil for his populist rhetoric. Ever the able opportunist, Chávez thereby distracted from internal problems by manufacturing an external enemy — though he still could not win Venezuela’s recent constitutional reform referendum. In Colombia, however, the scenario resulting from this presidential spat is bleak: primarily for the hostages who look set to remain [...]
