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Government-Guerrilla Clashes Kill 33 in Colombia
At least 28 guerrillas and five army soldiers died in the past 24 hours during clashes between government forces and leftist rebels, the army said on Thursday.
Military authorities said in a communique that 10 rebels belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest guerrilla organization in this South American country, were killed in Dagua (Valle province), 450 kilometers southeast of Bogota, capital of Colombia.
The deceased rebels include an important FARC commander, known by the alias of "El Paisa," and two women fighters.
The same sources also confirmed the deaths of another 14 rebels and five soldiers in the town of San Juan, in Toloma province, 210 kilometers west of the Colombian capital.
On Wednesday, two FARC guerrillas were shot dead in an operation the army has been carrying out for two weeks in southeastern provinces of Guaviare, Guainia, Meta and Vichada, all in the jungle.
The army also said that two members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's No.2 rebel army, died in a fight in the town of Cocorna, in Antioquia province, 450 kilometers northeast of Bogota.
The government of President Andres Pastrana and the 16,500 strong FARC agreed to postpone the resumption of peace talks, which was set for Thursday.
Colombian Government, FARC Postpone Peace Talks The Colombian government and the leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have agreed to postpone their peace talks, a spokesman from the Presidential Palace said on Thursday.
The spokesman did not provide a reason for the postponement of the peace talks, which were scheduled for Thursday, or a new date for their resumption.
"The parties decided mutually not to meet this Thursday, but they will do so later to make progress on discussing the issue of a cease-fire and socioeconomic development," the spokesman said.
The spokesman stressed that the atmosphere of the peace talks was not bad and their postponement had nothing to do with the presence of a high-level U.S. delegation in the country.
The Colombian government and FARC were originally scheduled to meet Thursday in Los Pozos, a town in the heart of the rebel-controlled zone.
The FARC, the largest guerrilla group in Colombia, has 51 operational fronts in various parts of the country.
The U.S. delegation, led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman; National Security Council Adviser for Latin America John Maisto; and General Peter pace, the Commander of U.S. military forces in Latin America, arrived in Colombia Wednesday to review Washington's Colombian policy.
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