Alfonso Cano, the leader of the FARC, a Marxist-socialist group that grew into a rebel force financed by drugs trafficking and kidnapping, was killed in an air raid. He was an intellectual who joined the group after his time studying radical politics at the University of Bogota. He became the head of the group when back in 2008 the previous leader died of natural causes. He was charged with drug trafficking, and the state offered a $5 million reward for his capture.
He follows several assassinations of members of the FARC. They have suffered many recent blows to its top leadership. Back in 2010 the second commander was killed, two years earlier the previous number two was killed.
The FARC gained was noticed internationally when they kidnapped american citizens and held them hostage for 5 years, as well as the well knows Ingrid Betancourt case, who was held 6 years.
The governor of Cauca Department in the country;s southwestern region said that "the military had achieved one of its more important goals". They have been fighting the "guerrilla" for over 40 years, and they thinned the ranks around 8,000 from the original 17,000 back in 1964.
by Paula Elum
No comments:
Post a Comment