The threats have forced city governments to close their doors, and on Thursday prompted the national government to increase rewards for information leading to the capture of FARC leaders.
President Andres Pastrana announced during a nationally broadcast speech that the government would pay $2 million for information leading to the capture of the highest-ranking FARC commanders and $1 million for battalion leaders. Previously, the government had offered a little more than $400,000 for the most important commanders. Pastrana said the government was going to ''seek out and punish the terrorists, one by one, wherever they are.'' In a country where the annual minimum wage is approximately $1,675, the rewards are staggering.
''This is a tempting offer for peasants or even for guerrilla members,'' said Sabas Pretelt de la Vega, president of the national Merchant's Federation. He said many FARC leaders travel openly in the countryside they control, and even appear in villages occasionally. ''They can't do that anymore,'' he said.
In Cali, authorities were searching for the people who ordered the killing of Arango as he left church Thursday night. Police arrived at the church shortly afterward and shot a man dead. Cali's police chief, General Luis Alfredo Rodriguez, said police had shot the assassin, but relatives of the priest told Radionet that police killed Arango's nephew, who was standing nearby but was not involved in the attack. Bishop Libardo Ramirez of nearby Huila State said Arango's murder ''hurts our hearts.'' In April, a priest was shot and killed as he delivered Holy Communion in Huila State.
''With these deaths they want to sow panic,'' he said. ''These violent people don't feel the pain of the communities, of the families, of the church itself that has done so much to try to reach peace.'' National church leaders met with police yesterday to discuss security measures for all priests, but declined to give details. [End]