The Hindu : Rebel threats close local governments in Colombia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 05, 2002

International

International

Rebel threats close local governments in Colombia

VIOTA (Colombia) July 4. The telephone in Viota's city hall rings and rings, but there is no one to answer it. The building is closed, the Mayor has fled town and city employees have decided it is too dangerous to go to work.

Viota is one of more than 100 towns across Colombia where leftist rebels have told the Mayors to resign or be killed.

The threats have been shockingly successful, forcing city halls around the country to close and highlighting just how weak the national government is when it comes to dealing with the scattered but locally powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

While local and national officials scramble to find a solution, Colombia's largest rebel group, considered international terrorists by the United States, is holding democracy hostage. Most residents in Viota, a FARC stronghold for generations, refused to even talk to reporters. Businesses around the central plaza were closed, the streets deserted.

The only government offices open on Wednesday were the city court and the registrar's office — though the court secretary, Augusto Herrera, said the rebels won't let judicial authorities work in much of the town.

The only cases authorities handle involve failure to pay child support. The rebels have prohibited investigation into any other crimes, Mr. Herrera said.

``We're very worried about this issue because we're in the middle,'' said a Mayor. ``The most important thing is to defend our lives. The heroes are in the cemetery.''

This newest FARC strategy has caught the national government off guard, pointing out the inability of the U.S.-backed military to protect vast areas of Colombia where the guerillas are the only authority.

Security forces have withdrawn from more than 100 municipalities in recent years because they could not protect their troops from rebel attacks. In other towns, like Viota, the police rarely leave heavily fortified bunkers.

But the rebels have extended the threats to Colombia's largest cities, Bogota, Cali and Medellin.

The rebels even threatened the Mayor of Cartagena, a Caribbean port long considered a safe outpost on the edge of Colombia's 38-year civil war, the newspaper El Tiempo reported on Wednesday.

— AP

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International