Colombia said to kill rebel leader (Ivan Rios, member of FARC's ruling junta, 2nd whack of the week)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 3/7/08 | Vivian Sequera - AP

[NormsRevenge]

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian security forces carrying out an arrest warrant Friday for a top rebel leader killed a man in a shootout, and were trying to confirm his identity, an official in the chief prosecutor's office said Friday.

The raid targeted Ivan Rios, a member of the FARC guerrillas' ruling junta. If the body is identified as his, it would be the second member of the ruling secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to be killed in a week.

That would be a huge blow to Latin America's oldest and strongest insurgency, shaken by the death Saturday of spokesman Raul Reyes in a cross-border raid in Ecuador that has set off an international diplomatic crisis.

The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was awaiting an official announcement, said Friday's raid occurred in a mountainous area of the western Colombian province of Caldas.

The State Department had a standing bounty of $5 million for Rios, whose real name is Jose Juvenal Velandia.

In a 1999 interview with The Associated Press, Rios said he joined the insurgency as a student in Colombia's second city of Medellin to avoid being killed by right-wing death squads that had attacked other student activists.

Rios became known across Colombia as one of the rebels' main negotiators in failed peace talks that ended in 2002.

He was thought to be around 40 years old.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Looks like they’re takin’ out the trash big time.

[RDTF]

*snicker*

[Shamrock-DW]

Got GET “EM 7th Special Forces!

[cookcounty]

"If correct, and my gut tells me it is, this would mean that the G-2 from the captured computer is spot on. "

And thus lends some credibility to the FARC/Obama connection story emanating from the captured computer.

[StJacques]

A Latin American Left Watch ping.

Here's a photo of the guy from today's El Espectador:



I do have a comment. This guy was not killed in an area of the country where the FARC has been active. He was killed about 250 miles west of Bogota in the Colombian Department (i.e. state) of Caldas, which is the center of the coffee-growing region of the country and is quite prosperous, which makes it infertile breeding ground for FARC activity. I know this region of Colombia very well, it is where I lived for about 11 months. Rios was obviously trying to hide in an unsuspected location away from FARC activity.

[Caipirabob]

Thanks for the commentary. Prayers for family, friends and the whole of Colombia.

[WoofDog123]

indeed, there is clearly some backstory missing on the motivation of the security chief.

[Founding Father]

http://bloggingsbyboz.blogspot.com/2008/03/ivan-rios-killed.html

Friday, March 07, 2008
Ivan Rios killed
A week after they killed Raul Reyes, the Colombian security forces killed Ivan Rios. They’ve chased the FARC leadership for 44 years, and killed two of the top leaders inside of eight days.

More updates later this afternoon...

UPDATE: Quick update on the significance. Ivan Rios, like Raul Reyes, was one of the seven member Secretariat. He was one of the youngest Secretariat (probably around 40), having replaced Efrain Guzman after he died of natural causes. Rios played a key role in the peace negotiations during the Pastrana administration. In terms of ranking, he was probably #4 or #5 and one of the more important military commanders in the group.

According to media reports, a FARC combatant deserted and gave the military Rios’ location, which allowed them to kill him two days ago. He was killed in the Caldas province of Colombia, which west of Bogota and south of Medellin.

UPDATE: The Colombian government now says that Ivan Rios was killed by his own men, not in combat. This is the first official Colombian statement about the event. Apparently, his own security chief killed Rios, cut off his hand, and gave it to Colombian security forces as proof. They group had been under pressure by military forces when the mutiny occurred.
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http://bloggingsbyboz.blogspot.com/2008/03/peace-breaks-out-in-andean-region.html

Friday, March 07, 2008
Peace breaks out in the Andean Region
After a day of really ugly accusations back and forth, the presidents of Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela decided to resolve their disputes peacefully.

Presidents Uribe and Correa shook hands and apologized to end the dispute. Uribe promised to not repeat the border crossing that caused the initial dispute.
Uribe and Chavez hugged; Uribe said he would not take the case against Chavez to the ICC.
President Ortega and Uribe discussed possibly resolving the maritime border dispute between the two countries at the Rio Group.
Considering some of the things the leaders said today, it’s a fairly impressive result. Don’t you love a happy ending?

More updates later with coverage of the day and reactions.

***********************************************************

http://ourlatinamerica.blogspot.com/2008/03/summit-focuses-on-diplomatic-crisis.html

Friday, March 07, 2008
Summit focuses on diplomatic crisis
Update: The summit ended with the presidents of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Nicaragua shaking hands after being encouraged by Dominican president Leonel Fernandez. They agreed to peacefully resolve their differences including Colombian president Alvaro Uribe promising to drop its threat of taking Hugo Chavez to the International Court of Justice. Also, Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega vowed to resume diplomatic relations with Colombia.

Afterwards, the Rio group passed a declaration reflecting today’s summit. The declaration mentions that no state has the right to engage in the domestic affairs of another state and also recognizes that no state can invade another.

The diplomatic crisis in South America over the Colombian army’s incursion into Ecuador was front and center during the summit of the Rio group. Tensions were high throughout today’s session as the presidents of Colombia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua launched accusations against each other over last week’s military operation which ended in the death of sixteen FARC troops including commander Raul Reyes. Some of the charges included:

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe blamed Ecuador’s government for receiving campaign funds from the FARC and for being uncooperative in the “fight against terrorism.”
Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa condemned Colombia’s “aggression” and claimed that any communications with the FARC were in order to free hostages.
Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega criticized “state terrorism” like “the one committed by Colombia against Ecuador” and brought up the debate with Colombia over the sovereignty of the San Andres Islands.

The leaders of other nations emphasized the need for a peaceful solution to the crisis; Mexican president Felipe Calderon called for “dialogue and understanding” throughout the region while Salvadoran President Tony Saca said that Colombia has “legitimate right to go after terrorists”.

The sole light-hearted occasion during the summit was when Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner joked that “women are sometimes accused of being hysterical. Here we are better behaved.”

Sources (English) – Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, AFP, BBC News, Wikipedia

Sources (Spanish) – Milenio, Clarin

***********************************************************

http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/2008/03/07.html#a3879

Why did Venezuela and Ecuador blink at the Group of Rio summit?

Anyone watching the proceedings this afternoon at the Group of Rio summit at the Dominican Republic had to wonder what changed the tone at a certain critical point during the afternoon.

It all started quite tense, Uribe began speaking and started making charges against Ecuador attempting to explain why it was that he did not warn that country’s Government of the raid on the FARC camp a mile within the Ecuadorian Government. He read from the same emails we have seen, but he also read from letters or emails we have yet to see. At one point, Uribe said that to those that say it was not possible for a computer to survive such an attack, that the Colombian Armed Forces had actually recovered not one, but four computers from the camp. Uribe made many charges, avoiding mentioning Venezuela most of the time and concentrating on the problems with Ecuador, past and present. Uribe said he was handing over a folder with all of the material to te President of Ecuador and showed a thick folder, which he said would be brought also to the Penal Court i The Hague.

The President of Ecuador Rafael Correa replied to Uribe and was quite strong even asking Uribe to shut up at one time. Correa said his hands were clean and that Uribe did not even have to call him, that a military contact should have been sufficient. Then each of the various Presidents from the region spoke, except the Foreign Minister of Brazil, since Lula was not present. When Hugo Chavez spoke I was expecting something fiery and strong, instead we got a bunch of meandering anecdotes which had nothing to do with the conflict, spiked with historical tales like if he does regularly on his Sunday program Alo Presidente. I could not believe it, here was the man that raised the bar and the tension in the conflict and he was not even addressing the issues.

(In the middle of all these guys speaking the, news carried two items almost in sequence: 1) That the Colombian Government had killed the number 5 man at the FARC, 2) That the same Minister that Uribe had criticized earlier as lying to Uribe and having contacts with the FARC, was announcing in Ecuador that Ingrid Betancourt was going to be released with 11 other hostages.)

As Chavez was talking he asked Correa if the rumor was true, Correa said this was not the case. Then Uribe made a point by point rebuttal of everything that had been said and supported statements made by the Presidents of Argentina and Chile. But his tone was much softer than before, he was using examples and history more than rebuttals. He was quite forceful in saying that he could care less about Ecuador’s definition of terrorism or its policies, but he would not accept that Correa refer to the FARC’s leader Marulanda as a hero or a friend. (I am doing this from memory, so the words may have been different)

Then, Uribe who had earlier said that he would apologize whenever he thought it was appropriate, got up and shook hands with Correa, Correa accepted the apology, Nicaragua reestablished relations with Colombia, Chavez said he never broke them formally and he only “moved a few soldiers to reinforce the usual ones at the border”. Immediately afterwards, Uribe said he would not take Chavez to the World Court and everybody was happy.

Well, sorry, I just don’t buy it. There had to be something more. The sharp tone disappeared suddenly as if by magic, everyone baked down. (while in Caracas the Minister of Finance was making the stupid claim that in one month Venezuela would replace all imports from Colombia, a laughable statement. Meanwhile, the new People’s Ombudsman was saying that Colombia should give the FARC political recognition, which Uribe was ratifying he would not do)

My theory? Easy, Uribe a master politician had only leaked some of the information gathered at the guerrilla camp and there was much more than they had released to the press. Either the additional material was being passed on to the various Governments as Uribe spoke, or it was handed over at that point to Correa and Chavez. Chavez was simply too timid, talking about peace, religion, God, even calling for a mass (how cynical can he be?). My further guess is that the Colombian Government uncovered financial information compromising both Ecuador and Venezuela. In fact, Uribe read at one point a letter from a FARC leader mentioning a specific amount of aid to the FARC from the Ecuadorian Government. Recall also that reportedly information gathered from the guerrilla camp was used by Interpol to capture a Russian arms leader that was on the run in Thailand.

Thus, Ecuador and Venezuela blinked and it is all fine and dandy all of a sudden. I am sure we will hear more details slowly as in Latin America secrets are not meant to be kept. Meanwhile, Uribe in my mind scored a huge victory, deflating the crisis. It is my belief that Chavez wanted to inflate it for his own political purposes, but his attitude today showed to me that he was rebuked and he will have to wait for another chance to generate another artificial crisis.

***********************************************************

ST JACQUES, WILL YOU INTERPRET THIS FOR US PLEASE.

Venezuela El “despliegue militar” de Hugo Chávez en la frontera10:47 am | 06 Mar 2008

“¿Va usted a la guerra?, ¿de qué guerra me habla?”, me pregunta con sorna un agente venezolano de emigración al traspasar en Paraguachón el puesto fronterizo con Colombia. “No sea crédulo, aquí nadie disparará un tiro. Sólo son vainas de los presidentes, estamos muy tranquilos, todos somos amigos”, dice el funcionario. Esta es la crónica de Joaquim Ibarz para La Vanguardia de Barcelona.

La verdad es que en esta árida zona fronteriza, donde los analistas militares habían pronosticado que ya estarían desplegados decenas de carros de combate, no hay más que matorrales y coches destartalados de quién sabe qué oscuro origen. En vez de soldados proliferan los chivos y los wayúu, una etnia indígena que no reconoce fronteras y que sólo admite sus propias leyes.

Parece hasta ridículo que Venezuela movilice miles de hombres para amagar con un conflicto bélico que nadie quiere ni apoya. Aquí no suenan tambores de guerra, sólo se oyen reclamos por los impedimentos fronterizos al normal tránsito de mercancías, en especial alimentos colombianos que para Venezuela son indispensables para amortiguar la escasez. El despliegue militar venezolano en una despoblada región arenosa no tendrá en frente a los aguerridos soldados colombianos, sino a un ejército de pequeños contrabandistas de los dos países que subsisten trapicheando con gasolina, alimentos y mercancías de todo tipo.

“El enemigo no es Colombia, sino la pobreza y la escasez - afirma Luisa Cortés, una vendedora de empanadas y arepas-. Mire usted, aquí no hay progreso, sólo promesas y promesas que no se cumplen. ¿Para qué nos sirven más militares?”, pregunta sin esperar respuesta.

Colombia, el país más militarizado de América, no tiene ni un solo soldado en esta zona de La Guajira fronteriza con el estado venezolano de Zulia. Aunque los dos países comparten 2.050 kilómetros de frontera, la mayor parte del terreno es selvático o muy montañoso. La zona del Zulia es la única apta para operar los tanques venezolanos contra un enemigo por ahora inexistente. El presidente Álvaro Uribe no ha distraído en la frontera ni un solo uniformado de su labor de derrotar militarmente a las FARC.

En Fuerte Páez, un pequeño cuartel que encontramos en un rincón de la plaza mayor de Paraguaipoa (a unos 15 kilómetros de Colombia), soldados y suboficiales montan guardia con cierta indolencia.

Reciben al periodista con afabilidad castrense. Comentan que no tienen órdenes especiales de movilización, que todo está normal. “En la capital se dicen muchas cosas, aquí todo es diferente, las patrullas que hacemos son las habituales“, explica un sargento sin dar credibilidad a las noticias alarmistas sobre un conflicto con Colombia. “He visto en un periódico que por aquí había movimiento de tanques, cuando en realidad las fotos son de las pequeñas tanquetas con las que hacemos las rondas habituales“, añade el suboficial.

Los vecinos escuchan con cierto escepticismo la intervención por televisión del ministro de Defensa, general Gustavo Rangel, quien asegura que está a punto de terminar el despliegue militar ordenado por Hugo Chávez. El general Jesús González, jefe del mando estratégico operacional, dijo a mediodía de ayer que ya habían llegado a sus objetivos en los estados del Zulia, Táchira y Apure la casi totalidad de los ocho mil hombres movilizados.

Pese a que Chávez anunció el domingo por la mañana el envío inmediato a la frontera de diez batallones con carros acorazados y aviones de combate, el despliegue no empezó a aplicarse hasta la noche del martes. De hecho, un oficial de la inteligencia militar venezolana en la madrugada de ayer nos dijo en Paraguaipoa: “Aún no me han informado de movilización alguna”.

La versión oficial es que en las últimas horas los acontecimientos se han acelerado. El general Gustavo Rangel reiteró que los diez batallones estaban a punto de completar el plan previsto. El primer contingente de 150 soldados arribó al Táchira por el aeropuerto de Santo Domingo. Nadie ha dicho una palabra del despliegue de los modernos aviones rusos Sujoi.

Vallenatos en lugar de música marcial

La vida no se ha alterado en la frontera; aquí no se respira tensión alguna. Sólo hay cabreo por las trabas impuestas al tránsito de mercancías. Venezolanos y colombianos, sobre todo los de etnia wayúu, pasan de uno a otro lado sin percibir que llegan a otro país. Sólo se oyen vallenatos en vez de la música marcial que cabría esperar de los incendiarios discursos del presidente Chávez. En una cancha improvisada en un erial, vendedores y funcionarios de los dos países juegan al fútbol. Los billares están llenos de chicos que comentan la mala suerte de Messi. “No haga mucho caso de lo que diga Chávez. Cada día inventa algo para llamar la atención”, explica un policía.

http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/?p=12618

[ElCapitanAmericaLives]

They killed him because they were surrounded by the Colombian army. They Colombians have made it very clear they are only interested in the “big fish” so the “head of security” and his friends decided it was better to kill this guy than to die for this non-cause.

The “hand” thing is not a trophy, but used to identify the corpse. I believe this was done with Che Guevara as well.

Also, there are some news accounts saying another motivation to turn against him was for the reward money. I wonder though if they’re going to get any money given the circumstances.

[JasonC]

If the reporter knows the man's real name, why not use it, and put his "alias" in "scare quotes", and ridicule his pretentiousness in having one?

Because they are commies, that's why...

[Reaganite1984]

Didn't he realize that you can do DNA tests on strands of hair?

Significantly less messy than amputated limbs, or so I've heard.

[StJacques]

Translation is coming. Come back at about 10:30-10:45 p.m. Central (today).

[OKIEDOC]

Excellent.

Kill all those no good FARC and their brother Communist the ELN.

[StJacques]

Here is the translation Founding Father requested:

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Venezuela, The "Military Deployment" of Hugo Chavez at the Border 10:47 a.m. | 06 Mar 2008

"Are you going to war? Of what war are you talking to me about?," I sarcastically ask a Venezuelan emigration agent while transferring to the border post with Colombia at Paraguachón. "He is not believable, no one will fire a shot here. These are only the vanities of Presidents, we are very calm, we're all friends," the civil employee said. This is the chronicle of Joaquim Ibarz for the Vanguard of Barcelona.

The truth is that in this arid border zone, where military analysts have already foretold that there will be tens of combat vehicles deployed, there are no more scrub and ramshackle vehicles of who knows what dark origin.

Instead of soldiers the Chivos and Wayúu proliferate, indigenous ethnic groups who do not recognize borders and only admit of their own laws.

It seems an almost ridiculous situation that Venezuela mobilizes thousands of men to promise a warlike conflict that nobody either wants or supports. Here they do not sound military drums, they only hear the calls made by the border guards to the normal transit of merchandise, especially Colombian foods that are indispensable to softening the shortages. The Venezuelan military deployment in a sparsely-populated sandy region will not have to face seasoned Colombian soldiers, only an army of small smugglers of the two countries who subsist in dealing gasoline, foods and merchandise of all types.

"The enemy is not Colombia, only poverty and shortages - affirms Luisa Cortés, a seller of empanadas and arepas. Look for yourself, there is no progress here, only promises and promises that are not fulfilled. Why are they sending us more soliders?," she asks without hoping for a response.

Colombia, the most militarized country of South America, does not have even a single soldier in this Guajira border zone with the Venezuelan state of Zulia. Even though the two countries share 2,050 kilometers of border, the major part of the terrain is jungle or very mountainous. The Zulia zone is the only one apt for Venezuelan tanks to operate against a thus far nonexistent enemy. President Alvaro Uribe has not distracted even one uniformed soldier on the border from his labor of militarily defeating the FARC.

In Fort Páez, a small quarter in which we found in a corner of the great plaza of Paraguaipoa (about 15 kilometers from Colombia), soldiers and sergeant majors mount guard duty with a certain indolence.

They receive the journalist with military affability. They remark that they have no special mobilization orders, that everthing is normal. "In the capital they say a lot of things, here everything is different, the patrols we make are the regular ones," a sergeant explained without giving credibility to the alarmist news about the conflict with Colombia. "I saw in a newspaper that there will be a movement of tanks here, when in reality the photos are of the little armored cars with which we make our regular rounds," the lower-level official added.

Neighbors listen with a certain skepticism to the televised interruption of the Minister of Defense, General Gustavo Rangel, who assures everyone that this is an ending point to the military deployment ordered by Hugo Chavez. General Jesus Gonzalez, chief of operational strategy control, said at noon yesterday that they were reaching their objectives in the states of Zulia, Tachira, and Apure of almost the totality of the eight thousand men mobilized.

Although Chávez announced Sunday morning the immediate shipment to the border of ten battalions with armored cars and warplanes, the deployment did not begin to be undertaken until Tuesday night. In fact, an official of Venezuelan military intelligence said to us at dawn yesterday in Paraguaipoa: "They have not yet ordered me into any mobilization."

The official version is that in the last few hours events have accelerated. General Gustavo Rangel reiterated that the ten battalions were at the point of completing the foreseen plan. The first contingent of 150 soldiers went up to Tachira by the Santo Domingo airport. No one has said a word of the deployment of the modern Russian Sukhoi airplanes.

Accordion ballads in place of martial music

Life has not changed on the border; here no one breathes any tension. There is only the getting around the obstacles imposed on the transport of merchandise. Venezuelans and Colombians, above all the ethnic Wayuu, pass from one side to the other without perceiving they are arriving in another country. They only hear the love ballads instead of the martial music that it would be possible to hear in the incendiary speeches of President Chavez. In an improvised uncultivated field, merchants and government functionaries of the two countries play soccer. The billiard parlors are full of boys who comment Messi's bad luck. "It does not make much of a case for what Chavez says. Every day he invents something to get attention," a policeman explains.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry I'm a little past my deadline. I've got this horrible habit of munching a midnight snack right about now.

[StJacques]

Founding Father, if you decide to post this somewhere, paragraph 2 should read "there are no more than scrub ..."; paragraph 5 needs to have quotes closed and reopened; and the last paragraph should read "comment on Messi's bad luck." I got a little sloppy there, it's late.

[shield]

GIVE WAR A CHANCE
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, 06 March 2008

That was the title of a very funny book P. J. O'Rourke wrote a few years ago about Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And it's very apt advice right now for Colombia's Alvaro Uribe.

You knew that Venezuela's coke-head clown dictator was going to find a pretext for war with Colombia a month ago in Wars On The Way. The Colombian Army's take-out of Chavez's FARC buddy Raul Reyes, a murderous Marxist midget (he was barely over five feet tall) last Saturday (3/01) provided it.

Now let's hope Uribe accepts Chavez's offer of war. For if he does, it's bye-bye, Hugo.

For all the billions of dollars Chavez has spent on Russian weapons, there is no such thing as a Venezuela military in reality. The Venezuelan Army has never been in a war, save for a brief border skirmish with British Guyana over a century ago in the 1890s. Historically, the purpose of the Venezuelan military has been to keep whoever had seized power in power, to quash rebellions and popular revolts.

Today, Chavez is so hated by many of his own generals that they have little desire to obey his commands to "move ten battalions" (about 6,000 soldiers) plus tanks to the border with Colombia. Further, they know that if ordered into actual battle, their soldiers are so ill-trained they will be slaughtered or defect en masse.

The Colombian army of 270,000, well-equipped and trained after $5 billion of US support (courtesy of George Bush) dwarfs Venezuela's of 82,000. Further, Colombia's soldiers are battle-hardened after years of fighting a war with the FARC guerrillas, a war which is now close to being won. They would eat Venezuelan soldiers for desayuno.

Chavez knows this, so unfortunately, his war threats are bluster and bluff. The real bright spot, though, is that Chavez does not possess a rationally functioning brain. Uribe does - and thus knows if he can enrage and goad Chavez enough, it will tip him into the irrationality of an actual military attack on Colombian territory.

That will be the excuse Uribe needs to militarily humiliate Chavez overwhelmingly - which can then precipitate an uprising and coup by the generals in Caracas. Uribe is playing Chavez like a fiddle. Soon enough, it will be finite la musica for the Clown in Caracas.

[BBell]

Chavez is the only bully in Venezuela. And Ecuador? hardly any bullys there. Just commies trying to whip up the otherwise peaceful masses.

[StJacques]

Colombia could actually take both Venezuela and Ecuador at once.

The one thing that was left out of the above article, and thanks for posting it by the way, is that the Colombians have dispatched three guerrilla armies going back to the 1970's -- the M-19, the ELN, and the various paramilitary groups known as the MAS -- and they have a history of combatting political violence going back to the 1940's, a period known as La Violenta. They are the most experienced and successful counterinsurgency force in all of Latin America. And now they're coming close to dispatching the FARC.

One side note ... Don't rely upon the Colombian history on Wikipedia. It was written by some unknown leftist idiot who either knows nothing or does know something and spins it so wildly that it comes across as a polemic. Yecchhh!

[StJacques]

Everyone;

In case you're interested, you can see the list of the FARC Commandantes, most with pictures, as well as a map containing the intelligence information as to their whereabouts at:

http://www.elespectador.com/archivos/cabecillasfarc.jpg

[BBell]

"Chavez knows this, so unfortunately, his war threats are bluster and bluff. The real bright spot, though, is that Chavez does not possess a rationally functioning brain. Uribe does - and thus knows if he can enrage and goad Chavez enough, it will tip him into the irrationality of an actual military attack on Colombian territory."

Uribe is making the smart move by not reacting to the Venezuelan troop movements. He knows he can draw the Venezuelans in to Columbia. He can then use his various intelligence assets to trap their troops in valleys,villages etc. so they can wax them and then rout them back to Caracas and beyond. You know the Venezuelan Generals know this too.