Nicaragua Condemns FARC
Commander Killing
Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega condemned
Colombia's killing of a
top rebel commander and
said it could hurt the
chances of a peace
accord.
Ortega, a former Marxist
revolutionary and U.S.
Cold War foe who was
voted back to power in
late 2006, called on
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe to seek a
peace process with the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or
FARC.
Colombia's military said
on Saturday its troops
had killed Raul Reyes,
one of seven members of
the FARC secretariat, in
a severe blow to Latin
America's oldest
guerrilla insurgency.
"They are killing the
possibility of a peace
process in an act of
total provocation,
because the doors opened
a few days ago," Ortega
said in a speech late
Saturday, referring to
the FARC's liberation of
four hostages earlier
this week.
Reyes, considered by
analysts to be the No. 2
FARC commander, was
killed in Ecuador in an
operation that included
air strikes and fighting
with rebels across the
border, Colombian
Defense Minister Juan
Manuel Santos said. In
total, 17 rebels were
killed.
Reyes is the most senior
member of the FARC to be
killed in Uribe's
U.S.-backed campaign
against the guerrillas
fighting a more than
four-decade-old
conflict.
Violence from Colombia's
conflict has ebbed under
Uribe, who has sent
troops to drive back the
rebels. But the FARC is
still potent in remote
areas, where it holds
scores of hostages,
including three
Americans and
French-Colombian
politician Ingrid
Betancourt.
Ortega is a close ally
of Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, whose role
in negotiating the
release of FARC hostages
has fueled tensions with
Colombia. Chavez on
Saturday accused Uribe
of violating Ecuadorean
territory with the
attack and warned a
similar operation in
Venezuela would be a
declaration of war.
In December, Colombia
complained to Nicaragua
after Ortega referred to
FARC chief Manuel
Marulanda as a "dear
brother".
Nicaragua and Colombia
are also at odds over
sovereignty of small
islands in the
Caribbean. (Reporting by
Ivan Castro, editing by
Jackie Frank) |
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