Anti-rebel role for U.S. increases in Colombia

[Khephra]

Anti-rebel role for U.S. increases in Colombia
But Americans silent on insurgent deaths

El Penon, Colombia -- The elderly shopkeeper's gold teeth glint in the half-light of her dilapidated general store in this mountain village 40 miles northwest of Bogota. With a shrill laugh, she slices a gnarled finger across her throat.

"God bless President Alvaro Uribe for killing those bandits," she said, giving her name only as Ercilia. "Those guerrillas aren't people. They're just a rotten plague."

The woman was referring to a wave of military strikes in the surrounding mountains against rebel leaders who have reportedly been preparing a major offensive on Bogota, the capital. At least four guerrilla commanders have been killed since early October -- marking the most significant blows to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since Uribe took office last year.

The army's success in central Cundinamarca province also reveals the deepening U.S. cooperation in Colombia's counterinsurgency effort, which, while not a secret, has taken a back seat to American-led conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

more..............

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/11/17/MNGEV33KQF1.DTL

[bemildred]

1. Ah, the PR counter-offensive begins.