DATE=9/20/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA REBELS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254106
BYLINE=RHODA METCALFE
DATELINE=BOGOTA
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The kidnapping last week of 12 foreigners in
Ecuador has created yet another international scandal
for the Colombian guerilla group that is believed to
be responsible. The rebels, known as the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC,
are the oldest guerilla group in Latin America and
this year began to improve their political image by
agreeing to re-start peace talks with the Colombian
government. But while top rebel leaders try to shore
up their political image, guerillas lower down in the
ranks carry out terrorist acts. Rhoda Metcalfe
reports from Bogota.
TEXT: The head of Colombia's armed forces, General
Fernando Tapias, couldn't wait to blame the guerilla
group - the FARC - for the recent kidnappings in
Ecuador.
/// GENERAL TAPIAS ACT (SPANISH) FADE UNDER ///
Leaders of the FARC have denied the charge, although
officials in Washington argue they've got proof the
rebels did it.
Colombia's military is jubilant as it watches
guerilla's political credibility go down the tubes - a
credibility that the rebels had begun to gain, when
they entered peace talks early this year.
/// REYES ACT (SPANISH) ///
Rebel spokesmen like Raul Reyes - a well-educated,
soft-spoken man - have been spinning a new image for
the FARC as a legitimate political movement seeking
justice for the poor. But it is becoming obvious that
only a few top guerilla leaders have any concept of
political image. And they've got little control over
their fighters in the countryside.
In the past seven months, FARC rebels have murdered
four U.S. citizens. They have kidnapped a planeload of
Venezuelans. And now it looks like they are
responsible for the hostage takings in Ecuador.
As political analyst Alvaro Camacho explains, it is
low-level guerilla commanders in the countryside who
are carrying out these crimes. The FARC's national
leaders only find out when the scandal hits.
/// CAMACHO ACT ///
The hierarchy of the FARC do not control
everything. They do not have control over the
rest of the organization as a whole.
/// END ACT ///
If the few politically minded rebel leaders do not
gain control over their ranks soon, they risk turning
the entire international community against them. That
will make it easier for the Colombian army to drum up
the additional military assistance that it is trying
to get from the United States. (Signed)
NEB/RM/TVM/gm
20-Sep-1999 18:44 PM EDT (20-Sep-1999 2244 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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