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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Colombia: Global Terrorism
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Patterns Of Global Terrorism: 1991
Latin American Overview: Colombia
</hdr>
<body>
<p> Terrorist incidents in Colombia continue to be perpetrated by
three leftist insurgent groups loosely affiliated under the
umbrella group Simon Bolivar Guerrilla Coordinator (CGSB), by
narcotics traffickers, and by rightwing paramilitary groups.
</p>
<p> There were 62 international terrorist incidents in Colombia
in 1991, up from 28 in 1990 and 46 in 1989. While most of the
violence in the country was domestic, the two main CGSB groups,
the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC), continued to target foreign workers
for kidnapping. Three French and two Japanese engineers were
kidnapped and held for ransom by the FARC during 1991. Three US
engineers held since November 1990 by the ELN were released a
year later. The majority of the international attacks in
Colombia in 1991 were bombings of Colombia's oil pipelines,
particularly the Cano-Limon Covenas pipeline in northern
Colombia, jointly owned by Ecopetrol and a consortium of US and
West European companies.
</p>
<p> The surrender of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Medellin
drug cartel, and many other members of his narcotics ring
resulted in a sharp decrease in narcotics-related violence in
Colombia. As a result, several paramilitary groups publicly
demobilized, claiming that with Escobar behind bars the battle
they had been fighting was over.
</p>
<p> Peace talks between the Colombian Government and the CGSB
continued in 1991, with little success. The end of the fifth
round of talks in November prompted an increase in guerrilla
attacks, primarily directed at domestic targets, as the
terrorist groups sought to strengthen their negotiating
position.
</p>
<p> The Colombian Government made efforts toward improving the
nation's judicial system in the past year by forming special
courts to handle terrorist and narcotics cases and approving a
new antiterrorist statute that strengthens sanctions for
terrorist crimes. The Colombian Government also imposed a new
tax to fund counterinsurgency efforts.
</p>
<p>Source: United States Department of State, April 1992.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>