Via the BBC: Suspected Colombian rebels kidnap provincial governor
Luis Fernando Cuellar, the governor of Caqueta, was seized from his house in the provincial capital, Florencia.
A police officer died in the attack, which officials said was the work of left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrillas.
Caqueta, close to the Colombian Amazon, has been a stronghold of the Farc for many years.
El Tiempo’s write-up is here: Presidente dice que la orden es rescatar al Gobernador de Caquetá y a los demás secuestrados.
Cuellar was elected in 2007 as a member of ASI, the Social Indigenous Alliance (Alianza Social Indígena).
This event made me think of a piece I read yesterday: FARC is being demonized: scholar, and to further think that the FARC are doing a good job of that themselves.1
While I have advocated for (and continue to hold the position) that a negotiated solution is ultimately the only way out of this conflict (which means having to treat the FARC as legitimate belligerents), I also continue to find the FARC’s behavior (including the usage of kidnapping as a political and fiscal tool) to be reprehensible as well as politically counter-productive.
- While the interview makes some legitimate points, it is unreasonably sympathetic to the FARC. [↩]
December 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 am
The FARC murdered Cuellar, apparently decapitating him and leaving his body in a minefield. These are “legitimate belligerents?”
I tend to agree that a negotiated settlement will have to ultimately happen, though clearly the FARC is going to have to be beaten further back to do so — they’ve never negotiated in good faith from a position of strength, so clearly they’ll have to be even weaker. Nevertheless, it’s a far jump from that to the legal status of “legitimate belligerents” that they’ve long sought – and clearly do not merit, given this action.
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Perhaps I am being unclear in my usage–but my point is if negotiations take place, then, by definition, the Colombian state will be treating the FARC as legitimate belligerents. A negotiated settlement cannot happen otherwise.
Do I think that such a scenario is around the corner? Sadly, no.
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
[...] as I noted yesterday: the FARC need no help in demonizing [...]