ECUADOR: Correa Denies FARC Financing; Willing To Take Lie Detector Test.

BBC/

     Three days after after a UK report alleged links between FARC rebels and President Rafael Correa, he says he is ready to take a lie detector test to disprove allegations he took $400,000 usd.
     "My hands are clean," Correa said.
      "I'll take a lie detector test to prove I never received funds from the FARC," he added.

COLOMBIA / ECUADOR / VENEZUELA : 11 May UPDATE: Venezuela Responds To Book Claiming FARC Financed Correa, Killed Chavez Opponents.

M.HERALD/ J.WYSE

   Documents found in the computer files of a senior FARC commander killed in a 2008 raid detail a relationship between the rebels and Venezuela and Ecuador's governments.
    FARC was allegedly asked to work for Venezuela’s intelligence services.
    They also claim that Colombia’s FARC rebels contributed $400,000 to President Correa’s 2006 presidential bid.

   The documents are contained in a 240-page book “The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of Raúl Reyes,” published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

UPDATE 11 MAY: R. Carroll:
  Venezuela's London embassy called a report linking Hugo Chavez's government to FARC rebels as a "dodgy dossier"...recycling old unfounded allegations.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/11/venezuela-attacks-chavez-links-farc-files

 

COLOMBIA: 6 Dead After Helicopter Robbery In Coloto.

LINK CHANGE / AP/ M.HERALD/ 
Fresh details

    Police in Coloto say that a dozen armed men, who officials say may have been FARC rebels, killed 4 police and two others while robbing a cash shipment for the Banco Agrario that had just arrived by helicopter.

COLOMBIA: Santos Calls FARC Prisoner Releases "Absurd Media Show."

C.REPORTS/

      President Juan Manual Santos is highly critical of recent and future prisoner releases by the FARC rebel group.
   "The downside is that again everything comes together as an absurd media show. As if the people and the world doesn't notice," Santos said. "Everything is prepared. This is hardly humanitarian."
    Santos believes the FARC is actively trying to manipulate the media to improve their image.
    FARC released one hostage Wednesday, two on Friday (hostage Armando Acuna pictured) and says it will release another two tomorrow.
FOR PRISONER RELEASE INFO:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12437860

COLOMBIA: Bomb Sniffing Rats To Be Used In Minefields; 10 More Years To Remove Mines.

LATIMES/ Chris Kraul / A fascinating report /
   In 2009, 695 people were killed by mines in Colombia, 56 of them children.
    Next year, the army plans to use rats to detect and help dispose of hundreds of thousands of mines planted by the FARC rebels.
   Why rats? Rats are light so they do not detonate explosives, as dogs sometimes do and they are better at detecting explosives masked with coffee grounds, feces, fish, mercury and other substances.
"The more I work with rats, the more I am amazed at what they can do," said veterinarian Luisa Fernanda Mendez.
     ALSO:   The parties to the Mine Ban Treaty have given Colombia ten more years to remove anti-personnel landmines from its territory.
 http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/13256-colombia-gets-landmine-removal-extension.html

COLOMBIA: Dutch FARC Rebel Denies Being Held Against Will.

C.PRESS/
     Tanja Nijmeier, 32, the Dutch woman who joined FARC guerrillas but later wrote of her disillusionment in a diary found in 2007, is seen in a new video pledging allegiance to the rebels.
    "Just come and try to 'free' me and we'll receive you here with AKs, with .50 (caliber machine-guns), with mines, with mortars, with everything," she told Colombian journalist Jorge Botero in August.
    Nijmeir says she'll stay with the FARC "until victory or death and there's no going back."

COLOMBIA: Seized Computer Reveals FARC Tried To Poison Uribe.

C.REPORTS/     Three FARC narco rebels successfully infiltrated former President Uribe's security staff and attempted to poison him, according to e-mails seized from slain leader "Mono Joyoy's" computer.
    "I can confirm that one of the ways the FARC were looking to make an attempt against the life of former President Alvaro Uribe was poisoning his food" between 2008 and 2010, said Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera.

COLOMBIA/SPAIN: Police Arrest FARC Money Launderers.

BBC/     More than 150,000 euros were seized by Spanish police after they arrested 41 people in 13 cities suspected of laundering over 200m euros to finance the FARC.
     Investigators believe that the money was from smuggling cocaine.

COLOMBIA: Experts Begin To Crack FARC Laptops; More Raid Details Revealed.

BBC/      Forty experts are trying to crack the codes to 15 computers and almost 100 memory stick captured after a mammoth raid on FARC headquarters near the town of La Macarena. The government wants to find the location of 20 members of their forces still held by the FARC.
   Authorities believe the 15 laptops, 94 memory sticks and 14 hard discs contain 11 times more information than that seized from Raul Reyes, a senior FARC leader killed in a raid in 2008.

COLOMBIA: 1ST Update: Security Forces Kill At Least 27 FARC Rebels And Leader In Putamayo.

BBC/ UPDATE: 21 Sept/        National security forces surprized FARC rebels, in the Putamayo region near the town of San Miguel where 8 policemen died in an ambush earlier this month, killing at least 27 FARC rebels, including a leader. Police commandos were dropped by helicopter after Air Force planes bombed a rebel camp in the jungle.

COLOMBIA: FARC/ELN Mount Offensives, Leaving 45 Dead.

REUTERS/       Forty-five police, soldiers and guerrilla fighters have been killed over the past week as the FARC tries to flex its muscle and show its power.
    But, security analyst Alfredo Rangel claims that "the guerrillas want to show that they are still a threat. What they are showing is really the opposite."
    Officials say the smaller and weaker National Liberation Army, or ELN, is joining forces with the FARC to try to ensure its own survival.

COLOMBIA: Refuses Rebel Peace Talks After Bloody Car Bomb Attack.

C.REPORTS/ Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera (pictured) ruled out ALL peace talks after recent FARC attacks that killed 14 police and 5 soldiers. "There's no possibility of dialogue with terrorists nor with anybody who thinks they can use violence and terror to get their point across. We're going to defeat these terrorists, because the slogan is get tough, get tough, get tough with this narco-terrorist group," he added.

COLOMBIA: 1ST UPDATE: Bomb Killed 14, Wounded 7 Police In Caqueta.

AP/   03 Sept UPDATE/   Revised figures after an police ambush reveal that 14 police were killed and 7 wounded by a roadside bomb in the state of Caqueta. 45 police were riding in a 5 truck convoy when the bomb exploded in the town of Doncello. Authorities are blaming the FARC rebels.
The attack is the first deadly attack on security forces since the inauguration of President Juan Manuel Santos (pictured) on 7 August.

COLOMBIA: In Video, FARC Leader Calls For Talks With New Prez. Santos.

REUTERS/     In a 36-minute website video, FARC rebel leader Alfonso Cano called for new talks with in-coming president Juan Manual Santos. "There's the possibility that the country can solve this situation ... through dialogue, conversation, political proposals, diplomacy," Canos said. "There must be talks. ... We are disposed to talk until the point we need to fight with arms so there's democracy." Santos takes office on 7 August, vowing to continue outgoing President Uribe's tough security policies.

COLOMBIA: Ex-Hostage Claims Betancourt's "Arrogance" Got Her Captured.

CREPORTS/           Former U.S. contactor and FARC hostage, Keith Stansell spent 5 years in captivity with Ingrid Betancourt. He now says that the ex-presidential candidate was aware of the dangers of entering Colombia's formerly demilitarized zone (DMZ) the day of her kidnapping. "She told me that when she left for El Caguan, the authorities had taken away her bodyguards because there was a threat and the authorities and the general didn't want to put the lives of the bodyguards at risk. Period ... She took it as if they were trying to take away some kind of authority from her and she continued to go ahead in car, covered in campaign stickers and look what happened," Stansell said. "This is just my opinion, it was her own arrogance that got her kidnapped. Period. No more. It's obvious to everyone that there the authorities understood very well that the highway conditions were very dangerous ... and she told me that very clearly in the jungle. Why is she now changing her account?"

COLOMBIA: At Least 12 Of Rebel Leader's Bodyguards Killed In Raid.

BBC/      At least 12 bodyguards of FARC leader Guillermo Saenz were killed in a surprize raid on their base high in the Tolima mountains.
President Uribe congratulated his special forces and stated: "I can confirm that one of the guerrillas killed in the operation was a woman named Magaly. She was responsible for the deaths of at least 70 soldiers and police officers."

COLOMBIA:1ST UPDATE:Former Hostage Betancourt Walks Back Demands For $7 Million After Angering Nation.

CREPORTS/1ST UPDATE/ 12 July/   After angry public reaction to demands from former rebel hostage Ingrid Betancourt's for almost $7 million from the Colombian government for the physical and emotional damage suffered in her six-year captivity by the FARC, she now says she is NOT suing the government. She says her petition for damages is a way "open the way so that other people who have been kidnapped can get compensation"  Vice-president Francisco Santos called her claim "greedy, ungrateful and opportunistic, which deserves the rejection of all Colombians and world opinion." Betancourt claims the Colombian state failed to provide adequate protection, removing her bodyguards and refusing to allow her to fly by state helicopter into the  guerrilla area, where she was kidnapped.

ECUADOR/COLOMBIA: Correa Offers To Act As Mediator With FARC.

AP/ MIAMI HERALD/      President Rafael Correa told AP that he would be willing to mediate an end to Colombia's long-running conflict with leftist rebels as well as attend the 7 August inaugural of President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, though diplomatic ties are still frayed and no formal invitation has been sent.
    Ecuador's relations with Colombia ended after its military crossed into Ecuador in March 2008 pursuing FARC rebels. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Colombians live in Ecuador, which is also a refuge for the FARC.

COLOMBIA: Santos Scores Overwhelming Victory Over Eccentric Mockus.

NYTIMES/     Polls correctly predicted victory for President Uribe's chosen heir, former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos, who won a presidential run-off with a scorching 69% of the 9 million votes cast.
The Green Party candidate, unorthodox former Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus, garnered a meager 27.8%. Turnout was low, hampered by foul weather and competing soccer matches. Santos may also have been aided by FARC rebels who killed at least 10 members of Colombia’s security forces over the weekend, reminding voters of the lingering security concerns. Santos now faces challenges with neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador. He has traded nasty comments and seen sharply curtailed trade with President Hugo Chavez and is sought on a murder warrant in Ecuador for his role in a 2008 raid there.

COLOMBIA: 1ST UPDATE: FARC Rebels Kill 9 Marines In Amazon; Uribe Says Fight Must Go On.

COLOMBIA REPORTS/ UPDATE: 25 MAY/         Nine Colombian marines were killed fighting FARC insurgents Sunday in the Amazonian department of Caqueta. Besides the 9 dead, two marines were injured, and one was reported missing. Some sources claim the marines were ambushed. "This hurts us a lot," said President Uribe. "This shows us that the fight cannot be suspended. Colombians must remember what has happened and what could still happen."  It is the worst day for the military since November 2009.