Shine is off FARC rebel army

[Zorro]

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Reporting from Villarrica, Colombia -- Life was good for "Ernesto" when he joined Colombia's largest rebel group at age 14. He loved the leftist fighters' swagger, the perfumed rebel groupies and the stolen SUVs he and his buddies drove unchallenged over the roads of this cattle- and coffee-growing zone.

But eight years later, Ernesto's life as a foot soldier in the 25th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had lost its charm. Gone were the status and the free-spending ways, a lifestyle financed by kidnappings and extortions here in the west-central state of Tolima.

In their place came constant harassment from the Colombian army, which deployed 1,200 additional soldiers here in May, 10 times the existing garrison. Hunger became a constant, and the peasants who once were supporters began to ignore him and collaborate with the army.

"The army never let up. Wherever you slept, you'd better be gone early the next day because soldiers would be there soon," said Ernesto, 22, who gave an alias for security concerns. "We were really suffering."

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More at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-colombia-farc19-2009jan19,0,5274066.story?track=rss

[Ex Lurker]

1. By Colombian army they mean death squads n/t

[Zorro]

2. UN condemns FARC attack that killed five civilians

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The Colombian delegation of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemned Wednesday an attack led by FARC rebels the day before that left four children and one woman dead.
Eight others were wounded in the attack on the town of Roberto Payan, in southwestern Colombia.

The attack "shows a disregard for the life, integrity and freedom of the population of Roberto Payan, and total ignorance of the norms imposed by international humanitarian law," the UN said in a statement.

Local authorities said the rebels from the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) appeared to have tossed several gas cylinders filled with explosives, hitting at least three spots in town. They were allegedly aimed at police forces but fell instead on a residential area.

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More at:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090115/wl_afp/colombiaununrestrebels_20090115040440