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The magnitude of the successes of the FARC plan was to block off the FARC inside the
as a political-military force in the late 1990s demilitarized zone and use delaying tactics
compelled the Colombian government to the while government troops were trained,
negotiating table. But the peace negotiations armed, and taught the use of advanced high-
were just a ruse on the part of Washington and tech electronic equipment by U.S. military
the Colombian government to delay an all-out advisors, and then suddenly end negotiations
attack by the FARC on the main urban centres and assault the region with a massive land and
of Colombia. The real goal was to gain enough air offensive, killing or arresting the FARC
time to build up the Colombian armed forces leadership and crippling the insurgency. The
strength and capability while amplifying U.S. strategy failed. The FARC continue to be
military intervention and strategy. Efforts active outside the peace zone and their forces
were made to split FARC through an offer have been strengthened rather than weakened
of an electoral option, as was done in El within the demilitarized zone. The truth is, the
Salvador. But FARC, aware of the brutality FARC did not sustain any significant losses
directed towards the left in the late 1980s when Pastrana broke off peace negotiations.
when 4000 progressive political activists were
assassinated, and cognizant also of the tragic In 2002, the first stage of a $94 million
failure of the Central American guerrillas- program, devised to help Colombia’s war
turned-politicians when they became part effort and keep the oil flowing in the Cano
of the electoral system to implement any Limon pipeline, was approve by the U.S.
significant socio-economic change, rejected congress. Part of that program commenced
the offer and refused to surrender. They in October of 2002 when a new contingent
had demanded fundamental reforms of the of U.S. military advisors arrived in Saravena,
political and economic structures of the Colombia, to teach 4000 Colombian army
Colombian state as preconditions for any personnel how to go about protecting the
peace accord. The democratic and socio- 500-mile long oil pipeline operated by
economic reforms that the FARC proposed Occidental Petroleum Corporation of Los
were vehemently rejected by the Unites States Angeles, California, U.S.A. This is a pipeline
and the government of Andrés Pastrana, then that is a frequent target of the guerrilla
president of Colombia. forces. President Alvaro Uribe designated
the area in the vicinity of Saravena, in the
Meanwhile, under the guise of negotiating eastern province of Arauca, a “rehabilitation
for peace, the government of Colombia and consolidation” zone. A government
and the U.S. were assiduously funding decree has authorized the military forces
and promoting the activities of rightwing assigned to this zone, to carry out searches
paramilitary organizations, groups that were without warrants, intercept telephone and
responsible for the destruction of whole radio conversations, restrict the activities of
towns and villages, the displacement of people and transportation of cargo, and to
millions of peasants and trade unionists, and indiscriminately seize private property for
the brutal murder of thousands of peasants the war effort. Uriba intends to bring the area
suspected of being leftist sympathizers. The wholly under government control. Saravana
94 MARLIE BURTON-ROCHE LANDSCAPE & BREAD
