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Colombia: More Cooperation Between Rebel Groups Possible
June 14, 2002
Summary
Despite their historic differences, the collapse of peace talks in Colombia last month could lead the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army to join together for future attacks. Such cooperation would be a troubling development for Colombia's army and paramilitary forces.
Analysis
Colombian Peace Commissioner Camilo Gomez claims that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is in the process of "absorbing militarily and politically" the smaller National Liberation Army, or ELN, rebel group, Agence France-Presse reported June 10. Gomez also accused the FARC of blocking the ELN from accepting a negotiated six-month cease-fire with the government of lame-duck President Andres Pastrana in May.
Last month, ELN military leader Antonio Garcia acknowledged in a communiqué that rebels from his group operated jointly with FARC forces during a fierce battle against the paramilitary United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, called the AUC, in northeast Antioquia department. The joint FARC-ELN forces killed 86 AUC fighters during several days of combat. This kind of cooperation is not a new development in Colombia's nearly 40-year-old civil conflict.
In fact, confirmation that the FARC and ELN are conducting joint operations does not mean the FARC will absorb the smaller group into a single guerrilla army that, when combined, would total nearly 22,000 mainly rural fighters. Over the past decade, the FARC and ELN have staged joint operations and larger offensive campaigns, but the two never have been able to sustain strategic alliances for any length of time.
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Colombia: More Cooperation Between Rebel Groups Possible . . .