31/10/03 : 

• Church mediators trying to end the detention of seven foreign hostages in Colombia say negotiations have reached a deadlock. 

  The archbishop of Medellin, Luis Alberto Giraldo, said the left-wing rebels had refused to release all the hostages together.

  Instead the National Liberation Army (ELN) wants to release the hostages one by one, starting with the handover of a Spanish Basque citizen.

  The Church now fears the conditions laid down by the ELN may scupper the chances of the first hostages being released next week, as promised earlier by the rebels : Colombia hostage talks deadlocked BBC News, UK

30/10/03 : 

• Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe suffered a double setback at the polls during this past weekend. 

On Saturday, the president failed to draw the 25 percent of the country's voters required to make many of the referendum's 15 points binding. 

And by electing former union leader and outspoken critic of Uribe's security and economic policies Luis Eduardo "Lucho" Garzon as Bogotá's new mayor, voters again dealt a blow to Uribe : Double Defeat for Uribe as Colombia Turns Left Colombia Journal Online

29/10/03 : 

• In a country where left-wing politicians are often associated with Marxist rebel groups and targeted for assassination by paramilitaries, Colombian politician Luis Eduardo Garzon made history yesterday when he became Bogota's first left-wing mayor.

Popularly known as Lucho, Mr. Garzon ran a campaign largely targeted at the city's poor. Bogota is a sprawling, chaotic city where hundreds of thousands of residents live in filthy and violent shantytowns that Mr. Garzon compared to some of the worst slums in India.

Mr. Garzon and his supporters argue that Mr. Uribe's war against terrorism, which is bolstered by US$2-million in annual aid from the United States, relies too heavily on Colombia's armed forces. Mr. Garzon favours socially driven measures, such as improved education and health care, and the establishment of food banks for the poor, to win over the FARC's supporters. He was targeted for assassination by Colombia's notorious paramilitary death squads in 2001, according to Colombian authorities. 

For Mr. Uribe, who still has a 75% approval rating, the election of Mr. Garzon capped a disastrous weekend. He suffered a second serious blow to his anti-terror campaign when a referendum aimed at government restructuring and austerity failed at the polls.

Analysts say the failure of the referendum, which proposed austerity measures designed to save the government US$7-billion a year to fight terrorism, is the biggest defeat faced by Mr. Uribe since his election : Colombian left scores major victory National Post, Canada 

• Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have agreed to start releasing a group of seven kidnapped tourists, including a Briton, from next week, a negotiator said.

  The tourists will be handed over to a commission made up of the United Nations, the Roman Catholic Church and a jailed ELN leader.

  It comes after President Alvaro Uribe offered imprisoned leaders of the rebel group their freedom if the hostages were released safely : REBELS TO FREE HOSTAGES Sky News, UK 

26/10/03 : 

• In a defeat for Colombia's popular, hardline president, voters appeared to have rejected measures to crack down on corruption and strengthen the fight against left-wing rebels and terrorism, preliminary referendum results showed Sunday.

With about 100,000 votes remaining to be counted, results showed the government failed to obtain enough votes to pass 11 of the 15 points on the referendum.

Some Colombians complained that the 15 proposals on the referendum were complex and confusing.

Uribe called for freezing public-sector salaries for at least two years and capping state pensions in order to trim budget deficits that have spiraled as Uribe has increased defense spending. The government says the measures will save $7 billion over the next seven years.

Critics, who include members of his own party, accuse the president of grossly exaggerating the referendum's benefits to win votes and say he is using the referendum to consolidate his own power.

Some analysts said if the referendum failed, Uribe will find it harder to push through reforms in Congress : Colombians reject anti-terrorism measures CNN International 

• Alvaro Uribe Velez is a tough right-winger whose political life has been dominated by the desire to rid the country of the rebels who killed his father 20 years ago. He scored a landslide victory in May 2002 with his promise to tackle the Marxist guerrillas who have waged a four decades-long war on the state.

His implacable stance against the rebels has pushed his approval ratings to above 70% among ordinary Colombians tired of the continuing violence.

He took concrete steps to defeat all those involved in illegal violence in Colombia in June 2003, unveiling a long-awaited policy to end the long-running civil war. The proposals included measures to combat the drugs trade, which fuels the conflict.

But the president has not had unlimited success. Repeated rebel attacks prompted him in August 2003 to tell his generals to resign if they did not get results in the fight against the guerrilla insurgency.

His political opponents tried to paint him as the candidate of the right-wing paramilitaries who have been responsible for killing thousands of suspected guerrillas, trade unionists, left-wing intellectuals, human rights workers and journalists. There has been the smear of drugs trafficking laid at his door, and there is evidence that some of his friends have been involved in this shady world, but nothing has ever stuck to him : Profile: Alvaro Uribe Velez BBC News, UK

09/10/03 : 

• At least six people were killed in a car bombing Wednesday in downtown Bogota, authorities said. The dead included two police officers and street vendors, police said : Colombia car bomb kills five CNN 
• A videotaped interview with three Americans held hostage by Marxist guerrillas in Colombia was broadcast on Wednesday, their first appearance on television since their capture in February. The three civilian contractors, dressed in the same military uniforms as their captors, said that they were ''alive and well'' and hoped to be released through diplomacy, warning that a rescue attempt would be deadly. The order to grant him conditional liberty comes after the ELN called for its jailed comrades to be freed, in exchange for the release of seven foreign tourists that the rebel group is holding hostage : American hostages in Colombia seen in video MSNBC

08/10/03 : 

• Felipe Torres, a leader of he ELN guerilla, has been released from prison on parole after serving just nine years of a 20-year sentence, following a judge's decision to shorten his jail term for good behaviour. : Colombia rebel chief freed from jail BBC News, UK 

07/10/03 : 

• Three American defense contractors kidnapped by Colombian rebels pleaded in an interview for authorities to negotiate their release and not risk a rescue, saying they would likely die in the attempt.

The kidnapped Americans say they are kept under tight security and mostly isolated from each other and from news about the outside world.

They described their crash-landing in territory controlled by the FARC. Howes said the single engine on their Cessna failed at about 13,000 feet, forcing them to land on a "postage stamp-sized" area in a mountainous patch of southern Colombia.

A FARC commander, Jorge Briceno, tells the men they will only be released in exchange for rebels being held in jail. Stansell and the others warn a rescue raid would be disastrous for them : Americans in Colombia warn against rescue (USA Today)

06/10/03 : 

• Jose Castillo was shot dead at home, in front of his wife and father. Jesus Maria Silva was yanked out of his car and executed. John Freddy Quiroz took a fatal bullet to the head.

  All three men were running for mayor in Colombia's Oct. 26 municipal elections, which have been dogged by a recent wave of killings, kidnappings and death threats against candidates in the war-torn Andean nation.

  Law-and-order President Alvaro Uribe says Colombia is safer than it was during the last mayoral vote three years ago and promises to protect candidates. But analysts wonder whether 2003 might prove to be one of the bloodiest election years on record as killings gather pace : Killings, Death Threats Haunt Colombian Elections (Reuters)

05/10/03 : 

• The number of children fighting in Colombia's civil war has doubled over the last five years, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.  The report shows that around one in four of those involved in the conflict are under 18.

  Colombia's 40-year-old civil war is being fought by numerous different factions, essentially divided between left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries.

  All of these irregular groups have dramatically stepped up their recruitment of children over the last five years.

  The country now has one of the highest numbers of child soldiers anywhere in the world, some of whom are recruited as young as eight years old : The battle for Colombia's children (BBC)

02/10/03 : 

• Colombia's Roman Catholic Church said on Tuesday it accepted a government request to try to persuade leftist ELN rebels to free seven foreign tourists they kidnapped from a jungle ruin. 

  The ELN, which kidnaps hundreds of people a year for ransom, made no financial demands and said it wanted a "peaceful solution" to the kidnapping.

  "The proper thing to do is wait for a statement from the ELN commanders. We want them to get in direct contact, so we can find a way to avoid a military solution," Dario Echeverry, head of the Bishop's Conference Conciliation Committee, told local radio.

  Two senior ELN commanders are being held in a jail near the city of Medellin, and have often acted as go-betweens with rebels in Colombia's jungles and mountains  : Colombia Catholic Church to Help Free Tourists - Reuters

• With U.S. attention focused on Iraq, little is known about three American military contractors taken hostage by Colombian rebels seven months ago, and believed by some to be among the first U.S. casualties of the war on terror in South America. : War on Terror in Colombia Largely Unnoticed (Fox News)

30/09/03 : 

• Colombia's second biggest rebel group has said it kidnapped eight foreign backpackers from an archaeological site more than two weeks ago.

  "We want to express our willingness to find a solution to this operation," the National Liberation Army (ELN) said in the statement sent to a local radio station.

  The Cuban-inspired ELN condemned the military operation to hunt for the kidnapped tourists.

  It warned that Mr Uribe would be to blame if the hostages came to any harm.

  The ELN said the hostages were taken in an operation called "Allende Lives" - timed to mark the 30th anniversary of the Chilean coup that overthrew Marxist President Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power.

  On Saturday, the Catholic Church in Colombia offered to mediate with the rebels as security forces intensified their efforts to rescue the remaining hostages : Colombia rebels claim kidnap - BBC News

29/09/03 : 

• Deadly Colombia bombing deals a blow to president's efforts to crush rebels.

  Suspected leftist guerrillas detonated a bomb outside an upscale nightclub in southern Colombia on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens in an attack that challenges President Alvaro Uribe's drive to crush a four-decade insurgency.

  The pre-dawn bombing in Florencia was the deadliest strike on Colombia's elite in six months and came amid an upsurge in violence ahead of next month's state and municipal elections : Deadly Colombia bombing deals a blow to president's efforts to crush rebels  Canada.com

26/09/03 : 

• The gap-year student who escaped from his kidnappers in the Colombian jungle said yesterday he feared for the safety of his fellow captives.

  As he prepared to return to Britain, Matthew Scott, 19, said the other trekkers snatched by guerrillas in the Sierra Nevada mountains 11 days ago were hungry, thirsty and demoralised. 

  Mr Scott, from Clapham, south London, was among a group of eight people on a trip to see the ancient ruins of the Lost City when they became the victims of Colombia's biggest foreign kidnapping for two decades. Army officers have interviewed Mr Scott and believe his information will help security forces locate the remainder of the hostages - four Israelis, a German, a Spaniard and a Briton, Mark Henderson, 31, a television producer from North Yorkshire.

  Mr Scott said the hostages were being forced into long, daily hikes through steep mountains and thick undergrowth to evade the army, which is searching for the missing tourists : Briton tells of jungle escape from rebels in Colombia Independent, UK

23/09/03 : 

• Political killings have doubled and drug cartels control much of the land, but British cash still flows to Colombia.

When eight foreign tourists - including two Britons - were kidnapped earlier this month, the first reports attributed the crime to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - the Farc. Colombia has the world's highest rate of kidnapping and most of them are attributable either to the Farc or their fellow rebels the ELN. But the Farc denied this particular episode and probably they are telling the truth. This could mean that the ELN did it. Or it could mean that elements much closer to power - to the security forces and finally to the government - are responsible.

The current tale about the government of Alvaro Uribe says that he came to power last year with a fresh commitment to fight subversion, crime and drug trafficking. But under Uribe, the level of political assassination has doubled, drug cartels now control 60% of the land and 3 million people have been forced from their homes. Human rights violations by the government or its associates are higher than ever, and the instruments set up to investigate these violations have been disabled. Far from dismantling rightwing terror and drug trafficking, Uribe has protected the state's alliance with the extreme right to the point that some observers speak of the takeover of the state by narco-terrorism - perpetrated by the AUC, the armed wing of an alliance of big landowners, businesses and drug traffickers : Terror as usual Guardian, UK

20/09/03 : 

• More than 11,000 children fight in Colombia's armed conflict, one of the highest totals in the world. Both guerrilla and paramilitary forces rely on child combatants, who have committed atrocities and are even made to execute other children who try to desert. 

The first comprehensive report published on this issue, "You'll Learn Not to Cry" documents how Colombia's illegal armies have recruited increasing numbers of children in recent years. Only Burma (Myanmar) and the Democratic Republic of Congo are believed to have significantly larger numbers of child combatants than Colombia. 

The 150-page book, based on interviews with 112 former child combatants, documents how both guerrillas and paramilitaries exploit the desperation of poor children in rural combat zones. Many join up for food or physical protection, to escape domestic violence, or because of promises of money. Some are coerced to join at gunpoint, or join out of fear. Others are street children with nowhere to go. Children as young as thirteen are trained to use assault rifles, grenades and mortars.

Human Rights Watch urged guerrilla and paramilitary forces to end all recruitment of children under the age of eighteen and to demobilize the children in their ranks. 

Pending complete demobilization, the group urged the following immediate and unconditional steps: firmly prohibit forcible recruitment; allow those who wish to leave without reprisals; cease executions of children; and provide proper medical care for the sick or wounded  : You’ll Learn Not To Cry Child Combatants in Colombia - HRW

03/09/03 : 

• In Colombia and around the world, civilians are doing work formerly done by the military. 

  Contractors are performing "the entire spectrum of military services," says Peter Singer, an analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington and author of the new book, "Corporate Warriors," about the growth of the privatized military. He says US civilians in conflicts around the world do everything from handling mail services and feeding troops to training foreign troops and devising war games. Most are retired military personnel or former special forces.

  In theory, US law mandates that no more than 400 civilian contractors can be on the ground in Colombia at any one time. But since US law also caps the number of US troops at 400, contractors are in even higher demand. Experts say that the US often hires nationals from places like Brazil and Central America who don't count toward the cap :
  US's 'private army' grows Christian Science Monitor 

01/09/03 : 

• Brazil said on Monday it would consider hosting a landmark meeting between Colombian Marxist rebels and the United Nations on ways to stem bloodshed in Latin America's longest current guerrilla war.

The Colombian government's chief peace negotiator, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said on Sunday there would definitely be a meeting and there had been informal talks to host it in neighboring Brazil.

The meeting -- if it took place -- would mark Bogota's first dialogue with the FARC, since the rebel's peace talks with the Colombian government collapsed in February 2002 : Brazil may host Colombia peace meeting Reuters AlertNet, UK

01/09/03 : 

• Ingrid Betancourt was shown alive and well ­ and as pugnacious as ever ­ in a videotape released by her captors at the weekend. 

  The tape was made three months ago; her words had clearly not been scripted by her captors. She criticised Farc and the government in Bogota for failing to do more to resolve the plight of the thousands of hostages in Colombia. She urged the Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, to rescue her, but only if the operation was well-planned.

  "A rescue, yes, absolutely ... but not any kind of rescue. Rescues are either successful or they shouldn't happen," she said, twisting rosary beads around her hand. "It is very important that it is the President who evaluates the risk, and for that matter the chances of success ... I trust him." : 
  
  Hostage pleads for rescue in video by Colombia rebels  - Independent
  In Colombia, tape re-ignites debate on rescuing hostages Baltimore Sun, MD

  Transcript of the Ingrid's message ( automatic translation) 

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