WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS ISSUE #448
AUGUST 30, 1998

NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
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*4. SAME OLD STORY: VIOLENCE & PEACE TALKS IN COLOMBIA

Rightwing paramilitary groups in Colombia murdered five people on
Aug. 24 outside the town of Bello, not far from the city of
Medellin, according to local authorities. The United Self-Defense
Forces of Colombia (AUC) took credit for the attack in a
statement, and accused the victims of being leftist guerrillas
preparing a terrorist attack. Also on Aug. 24, two campesinos
died and seven were injured when an anti-personnel mine exploded
outside the Andean farm town of Zaragoza. The campesinos had
taken a short-cut along a rural route that had been mined by the
leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, local authorities
say. [Agence France-Presse 8/24/98] Meanwhile, according to the
Colombian army, combat between rebels of the Revolutionary
People's Army (ERP), a faction of the ELN, and rightwing
paramilitary groups in a rural area of Tiquisio in northern
Bolivar department has left at least 30 rebels and seven
paramilitaries dead. [El Diario-La Prensa 8/27/98 from EFE; El
Nuevo Herald (Miami) 8/30/98]
 
The International Committee of the Red Cross (CICR) arranged a
meeting on Aug. 24 on the outskirts of Geneva between ELN
spokesperson Pablo Beltran and a six-person Colombian
congressional commission that included Javier Caceres, William
Montes, Piedad Cordoba and former M-19 rebel leader and later
presidential candidate Antonio Navarro Wolff. The meeting was
also attended by a Swiss government observer. A statement
released by the legislators late on Aug. 24 said that both sides
agree to consider the possibility that rebel representatives
would present their proposals on political and judicial reform to
the Congress. The legislators also said they had met in Geneva
with Beltran to discuss the release of Liberal Party
congressperson Carlos Espinosa, kidnapped by rebels on Aug. 2.
The ELN has said it will only free Espinosa if the government
resolves the plight of thousands of campesinos fleeing their
homes because of paramilitary violence. [AFP 8/25/98; Reuter
8/25/98]
 
Speaking from Geneva on Aug. 25, Beltran warned that recent
militaristic comments by Defense Minister Lloreda contradict new
president Andres Pastrana's repeated calls for a quick end to
Colombia's civil war. "It seems as if it [the government] is
dancing a tango," said Beltran. "It takes a few steps forward,
others to the side and others going backward." [Reuter 8/25/98]