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25 June 1998 Edition

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Rebels hold sway in Colombia

By Dara MacNeil

After a gap of eight years Colombia's Conservative Party has regained control of the country's presidential office. The party's candidate - Andres Pastrana - defeated Liberal Party nominee Horacio Serpa, in a second round run-off. Pastrana won close to 51% of the vote, while Serpa could only manage 46%. The turnout was just over 50%.

Both candidates emphasised their alleged abilities as `peacemakers'. However, the primacy now being accorded the necessity for a negotiated solution with the country's powerful insurgent movement, probably derives less from a desire for peace than from the major advances made by Colombia's guerrillas in recent times.

Earlier this year, the army launched a major offensive against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). A confident government was certain of a successful outcome.

Instead, the rebels inflicted a serious and humiliating defeat upon the government forces, causing the latter to beat a hasty retreat.

Almost immediately, there was speculation that the US might intervene militarily - in the guise of a regional `peacekeeping' force. As if to concentrate the minds of Colombia's near neighbours and win over the doubters, a secret US intelligence report was leaked. This claimed that Colombia's guerrillas posed a serious threat to the `stability' of the region and pointed to the alleged vulnerability of oil reserves in neighbouring Venezuela. It is estimated that the guerillas already control some 50% of Colombia, with de facto control probably running to a far larger area.

Thus, `peacemaking' became a necessary component of the recent presidential election.

However, even in advance of Andres Pastrana's victory, elements within the insurgency movement made it clear that neither Pastrana, nor his opponent, offered credible options for peace.

A spokesman for the smaller of Colombia's rebel groups - the National Liberation Army (ELN) - said neither candidate represented the popular will. Milton Hernandez also accused both of cynically ``nourishing false expectations'' of a negotiated solution.

That radical change is required in the country was emphasised in the weeks leading to the election, with the publication of Amnesty International's annual report which reserved trenchant criticism for the governments of both Mexico and Colombia. The US was also implicated.

According to Amnesty, the United States has used the pretext of the `war on drugs' to increase financial aid, assistance and training to the military in both countries. And in both countries, human rights abuses have increased significantly.

Torture, death threats, disappearances, executions and assassinations are on the increase in Mexico and Colombia. Those responsible, Amnesty has made clear, are closely linked to the security forces in both countries - the same forces that have become increasingly dependent on the United States.

In Colombia death squads linked to the military continue to kill with impunity. Local human rights' organisations suffer constant harassment from the same source, including death threats and assassinations.

It is doubtful whether a simple change of personalities in the presidential palace will have much impact on this deteriorating situation.

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