WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #440, JULY 5, 1998
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 
LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 


*8. COLOMBIAN REBELS RELEASE ARMY VOLUNTEERS

On July 3, Colombian rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN)
released a group of 15 hostages to a delegation that included
representatives of UNICEF in Colombia, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (CICR) and the Colombian Family
Welfare Institute (ICBF). Also present was East Timorese
resistance leader and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jose Ramos
Horta, who helped negotiate the hostage release. The 15 hostages
were young women and girls, ages 13 to 21, from the town of
Segovia, in the northeastern part of Antioquia department; they
were working as volunteers in an army organization known as the
"Steel Girls" (Chicas de Acero), part of a campaign to improve
the military's image. The "Steel Girls" wear army uniforms, but
the army insists that they only do civilian social service work,
such as literacy and health counseling and organizing
recreational events. [El Diario-La Prensa 7/4/98 from EFE; Clarin
(Buenos Aires) 7/3/98] Footage aired on the US Spanish-language
television network Univision showed the hostages embracing young
women rebels as they said goodbye. [Univision TV News 7/4/98]
 
The ELN's Jose Antonio Galan Front took the group of "Steel
Girls" hostage on June 15 after inviting them to an obligatory
meeting at a rural area of Segovia called Rancho Quemado. The
young women were warned that if they did not appear, they would
be considered a "military target." Commander Jorge Pineda
Carvajal, of the Army's 14th Brigade--under whose command the
Segovia "Steel Girls" operate--said that military leaders knew
about the rebel front's "invitation," and in a joint meeting
recommended against showing up for the appointment with the
rebels. But because they feared becoming military targets, and
"without the consent of the military leader of the zone," says
Pineda, the young women went to the rebel meeting site. They were
accompanied by a CICR representative who tried to negotiate but
was unable to prevent the rebels from taking them hostage. [El
Colombiano (Medellin) 6/18/98]
 
The rebels charge that the "Steel Girls" carry out intelligence
work for the army, and that some of them carry military-issue
weapons. [EC 7/3/98] Imprisoned ELN leader Francisco Galan
claimed that some members of the "Steel Girls" participated in
the arrest of rebel members in the town of Zaragoza, a charge
Col. Pineda called "a vile lie." The ELN accused the Colombian
Army of violating international humanitarian law "by recruiting
minors and involving them in activities pertaining to armed
confrontation." [EC 6/24/98]
 
*9. COLOMBIA: REBELS AND GOVERNMENT PREPARE FOR PEACE 
TALKS

On July 28, ELN leaders Pablo Beltran and Milton Hernandez met
with three members of the National Peace Commission (CNP) in the
German city of Mainz, near Frankfurt, in a first step toward
peace talks to end Colombia's armed conflict. Attorney general
Jaime Bernal Cuellar represented the Colombian government on the
Commission; also participating were the president of the National
Business Federation, Sabas Pretel, and Jorge Martinez,
representative of the Colombian bishops. The meeting ended with
an agreement to schedule another meeting, this time with
representatives of Colombia's civil society. The rebels say that
a peace process must be developed in accord with all sectors of
the population. 
 
The meeting is to be held on July 12, again in Mainz, with six
ELN delegates and some 30 representatives of business, labor,
justice and nongovernmental organizations, and of the National
Peace Commission. No subject will be off limits for discussion,
although the main theme will be the preparation for a National
Convention in which all of Colombian society is to participate.
This is one of the conditions that the ELN has set in order to
continue the talks. [Agencia Informativa Pulsar 6/29/98, 7/1/98;
CNN en Espanol 7/2/98 from AP] 
 
A ceasefire is not required as a condition for talks to proceed,
and ELN leader Beltran explained that the neogitation process
will not necessarily end in the demobilization or disarming of
the rebel groups. Colombian president-elect Andres Pastrana
Arango has offered the ELN and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) a personal dialogue without conditions, and has
said that as soon as he takes office on Aug. 7 he is prepared to
accept the rebels' demand to demilitarize five municipalities in
southern Colombia where the dialogue could take place. [El
Universal (Caracas) 7/2/98]
 
Current president Ernesto Samper Pizano insists that the
agreements reached between the ELN and the government are the
same as those reached last February between representatives of
his government and of the ELN at meetings in Spain, in what is
known as the "Viana Pre-Accord." However, that accord fell apart
after details of it were leaked to the press, because the ELN
claimed the talks were being used by the government to gain
support for electoral purposes. [ED-LP 6/30/98 from EFE] 

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