| June
24, 2002
FARC Targets Local Officials In the past few weeks, more than 150 local government officials have resigned due to death threats from the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The guerrillas are instituting a new phase of political violence in an attempt to rid many rural regions of all government presence. The response of right-wing paramilitary groups, the incoming administration's recently appointed interior minister, and military analysts to this rebel-induced power vacuum suggests that this latest crisis will lead to a greater militarization of rural regions and increased levels of violence.
Government officials in Bogotá have pleaded with the mayors to ignore the threats despite the national government's inability to protect local officials. The vulnerability of local officials is illustrated by the fact that 14 mayors have been killed and another 16 kidnapped over the past 18 months. The rebels have also threatened municipal workers in some municipalities in southern Colombia, forcing some 500 of them to quit their jobs. In Arauca, the right-wing paramilitary group, United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), has reacted to the FARC's tactics by announcing that any local official who resigns because of the threats would be considered a "military target." Caught between a rock and a hard place, local politicians have little choice but to resign and flee into exile. Some military analysts have suggested that military officials should fill the vacated positions, although the constitutionality of such a move is questionable. Uribe's interior and justice minister, Fernando Londono, recently announced that the new administration would seek a constitutional amendment to allow for the declaration of a state of emergency. While Londono did not mention the FARC's recent targeting of local officials, it is likely that Colombia's new government would use such rebel tactics to justify declaring a state of emergency. When asked what freedoms would be restricted, Londono stated: "All those necessary. All of them. There are no absolute rights. Make a list of rights and public freedoms and all of them can be limited to guarantee security." Many in Washington will point to the FARC's latest campaign as an example of why Colombia needs more military aid from the United States. But increased military aid will only ensure that the Colombian armed forces are capable of holding their own in a war involving a right-wing paramilitary force of more than 10,000 fighters and two leftist guerrilla groups totaling more than 20,000 well-armed combatants. In other words, by providing U.S. military aid and mostly ignoring the social and economic causes of the violence, Washington will only escalate a conflict that no side is capable of winning. Once again, it is civilians who are the principal victims in this latest phase of the civil conflict. The FARC has increased its attacks in response to Uribe's electoral victory, while the paramilitaries have responded by also threatening civilians. And few believe that Uribe and his friends in the Bush White House will exhibit much restraint once the new administration assumes power on August 7. Consequently, the future looks bleak for rural Colombians who will be forced to continue living in the midst of the violence. This article originally appeared in Colombia Report, an online journal that was published by the Information Network of the Americas (INOTA).
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On
June 21, some 97 mayors and town councilors from the eastern department
of Arauca collectively resigned after receiving death threats from
the FARC. This mass resignation followed on the heels of 23 mayors
from the department of Antioquia stepping down due to similar threats.
The FARC launched this latest campaign of intimidation against local
officials several weeks ago when they threatened officials in the
southern departments of Caquetá, Cauca, Huila, and Putumayo
who had supported President-elect Alvaro Uribe in last month's election.
As a result, more than 30 mayors resigned with many of them fleeing
the region.