by the El Reportero’s news services
Juan Manuel Santos
Peru’s anti-terrorist police announced On 19 March the arrest of a senior official from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) in Iquitos.
The arrest suggests that the Colombian military has changed tack after its controversial raid on Ecuador on March 1, and will now work with neighbouring police forces against the Farc rather than take action itself.
The arrests are another blow to the Farc. The man arrested is Johnny Cárdenas Pasaján, a drug trafficking and explosives expert, and a key lieutenant to Joaquín Gómez – who replaced Raúl Reyes on the Farc’s ruling council after Reyes was killed in the March 1 raid.
OAS resolution stops short of condemning Colombia
The Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution in the early hours of March 18 issuing Colombia with a mild rebuke for its bombing of a Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) camp on Ecuadorean soil on March 1.
It differed very little in substance from the Rio Group resolution released 10 days earlier. Ecuador had wanted Colombia explicitly condemned for the action.
It had to settle for an article which used the word “reject” in relation to the military incursion. While the Colombian government managed to save face, however, it suffered a setback in its efforts to link Ecuadorian authorities to the Farc.
Colombia confirms it killed Ecuadorian
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Colombia’s defense minister announced Sunday that an Ecuadorean was killed during Colombia’s controversial March 1 raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador’s jungle.
Ecuador and Venezuela briefly mobilized troops to their borders with Colombia in the wake of the attack that killed top Colombian rebel commander Raúl Reyes and 25 others, and confirmation of the Ecuadorian death threatened to revive tensions
between the Andean neighbors.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said one of two bodies brought to Colombia after the attack belonged to the Ecuadorian he identified only by the nom de guerre “Lucho.”
The Ecuadorian’s body was initially identified as that of a Colombian rebel troubadour, alias Julian Conrado, and brought back to the Colombian capital of Bogotá with Reyes’ body.
Cuba condemns criticism of China
HAVANA – Cuba on Saturday rejected criticism of China for its crackdown on recent riots in Tibet, which has led to calls for a possible boycott of this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
In an e-mail statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Havana also accused U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia of being the principal voice behind talk of a boycott.
“The government of Cuba condemns with all of its energy attempts to organize a crusade aimed at undermining this noble undertaking,” the government said.
Protests against Chinese rule in Tibet have drawn a harsh response from Beijing, and Chinese authorities say 16 people have died and 325 were injured. The Dalai Lama’s exiled government says 99 Tibetans have been killed.
Havana — one of five current communist governments including Beijing — also is quick to reject international complaints about its own human rights record.
The government added that it believes the Tibet riots were “promoted from Juan Manuel Santosoutside the country,” and expressed opposition to “any attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of China.”
President Bush has long planned to attend the Beijing Olympics, and the White House said this week that the crackdown in Tibet is not cause for him to cancel.
