|
500 paramilitaries hand over
arms to Colombian govt
Nearly 500 paramilitaries of the
United Self-Defense Forces of
Colombia (AUC) handed over their
arms to the Colombian government
on Wednesday afternoon at a
temporary demobilization zone in
the northwest of the country.
The demobilized people will be
included in education and health
programs and receive other
benefits, Sergio Caramagna,
representative of the
Organization of American States
(OAS) to oversee the peace
process said at a ceremony in
Valencia, a city in Cordoba
department.
The move constitutes a firm step
toward the total dismantling of
the AUC, Caramagna added.
Since December 2002, when peace
negotiations started between the
government and the AUC, 4,820
paramilitaries have laid down
their arms and it is expected
that all of the rebel group will
be disarmed before 2006.
The AUC was established in the
1980s by drug traffickers and
land owners to fight leftist
guerrillas in areas where
government troops had little
control. It has been active in
northern Colombia, particularly
in the areas of Antioquia and
Cordoba.
The AUC demobilization process
will help ease Colombia's civil
war, the longest in Latin
America, which kills about 3,500
people a year on average.
|
|
