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COLOMBIA: Signs Indicate Rebels Are Bringing War to the Cities
November 1, 2002
Summary
Colombia's conflict always has been mainly rural, but the FARC rebels are determined to bring the war into Colombian cities, and the paramilitaries are in close pursuit. As a result, Colombians and foreign residents who live and work in cities like Bogota and Barranquilla will soon experience the war at close range.
Analysis
Colombia's largest rebel army detonated three powerful bombs in the past week in the cities of Arauca, Barranquilla and Bogota, killing at least five people and injuring more than three dozen others. Some Colombian authorities described the attacks as retaliation for a recent army offensive in Medellin that resulted in the capture of more than 250 suspected urban members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN), according to Colombian news reports.
Revenge may have in part motivated these attacks, for which the FARC took credit. However, the incidents also signal the guerrillas' determination to carry their 38-year-old war against the state from Colombia's rural regions into its most populous urban centers.
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Dan
Colombia: Signs Indicate Rebels Are Bringing War to the Cities . . .