"The war is useless", say former guerillas in Colombia

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Sunday June 29, 2003 20:00

by joe ranii

Demoralization among terror groups of both right and pseduo-left appears to be spreading in Colombia, as scores of combatants turn in their guns in a bid to rejoin civil society. It is now up to the Colombian state to ensure that such people are reintegrated and can pursue a normal life.

From AP:
Colombia -- On the day they deserted their rebel unit last month, Alejandro and his girlfriend Lina rose before dawn, grabbed their guns and quietly slipped into the rugged mountain forest of northwestern Colombia.
"We were suffering," said 18-year-old Alejandro, who had endured a poor diet, frequent combat and grueling marches since joining the National Liberation Army (ELN) at age 13.
Alejandro and Lina, 19, joined a growing wave of leftist rebels braving fellow guerrillas' threats of an automatic death sentence for deserters who drop out of Colombia's 39-year civil war.

The wave of desertions is partly the result of intensive military operations by the armed forces and an aggressive campaign that promises a new life for insurgents willing to lay down their arms.
The deserters include 943 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest rebel group, 282 from the ELN, 139 from the right-wing paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), and 83 from smaller insurgent groups, according to the defense ministry. By the time Uribe leaves office in 2006, government officials expect nearly a quarter of the country's roughly 30,000 combatants to desert.

Even though increased desertions are unlikely to force the guerrillas to give up the fight anytime soon, some analysts believe that a thinning of rebel ranks could force them back to peace talks that stalled last year.
"If commanders can't hold onto their fighters and can't take the initiativethey are going to come to the conclusion that the war is useless," said Sen. Antonio Navarro Wolff, a former guerrilla. "And if they believe the war is useless, they are going to negotiate."
Former fighters interviewed on condition that their last names not be used agreed that the radio campaign, poor living conditions and intensified combat convinced them to desert.
Gustavo, a 32-year-old ELN veteran who commanded the same unit that included Alejandro and Lina, said in an interview in a Bogota park that he had contemplated deserting for a year prior to listening to several radio spots by repentant rebels with such messages as, "The conflict is sterile. Don't think twice -- turn yourself in" and, "I was treated with respect after turning myself in to the armed forces."

Despite the program's apparent success, some critics have questioned the government's capacity to protect deserters after a former FARC member was assassinated early this month. Jenny Rocio, who left the FARC some eight months ago, was shot dead while sitting in a Bogota coffee shop. Authorities believe the FARC dispatched a hit team to murder Rocio and discourage further desertions.