Posted on 09/27/2010 11:52:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Colombia's largest rebel group FARC will not be able to replace their recently slain military commander "Mono Jojoy," national police director General Oscar Naranjo told Colombian radio.
In an interview with W Radio, Naranjo said that within the high ranks of the FARC there is no commander who is as feared as Mono Jojoy was before he was killed by armed forces on Wednesday.
"There is no terrorist [within the FARC] who is able to generate so much intimidation ... They will not find a commander who can take up this role," the police commissioner said.
Naranjo denied earlier reports that "Romaña," a second-level FARC commander, was killed in the air strike. "There is no confirmation he was there before or during the bombing," Naranjo said.
Naranjo claims that the deaths of Raul Reyes in 2008 and the recent death of Mono Jojoy is causing the FARC to "disintegrate from within."
"The [FARC] Secretariat at this time is going through its worst period in history," the top police official added.
FARC names 'Mono Jojoy' successor
The FARC guerrilla group has named "Pastor Alape" as the new full member of the group's Secretariat, replacing "Mono Jojoy" who was killed in a government air raid on Wednesday.
In a press release on its website, the FARC said that Pastor Alape, who commands the Magdalena Medio Bloc and whose real name is Felix Antonio Muñoz Lascarro, would join the group's seven-member high command.
The 51-year-old guerrilla was one of two "substitute" members of the FARC's seven-person Secretariat, and was chosen to replace Mono Jojoy over the other substitute, a guerrilla known as "Bertulfo."
The FARC's press release also confirmed "with deep sorrow" the death of Mono Jojoy, in what they called a "cowardly bombing in the style of the Nazi army's blitzkrieg." The guerrilla group's second-in-command was killed in a massive air strike in a region called La Macarena in the central Colombian Meta department.
In memory of the group's slain military leader, who was also known as "Jorge Briceño," the FARC announced that the Eastern Bloc which he commanded will from now on be known as the "Commander Jorge Briceño Bloc." It will be headed by Mauricio Jaramillo.
"We reiterate our willingness to seek a political solution to the conflict," the FARC said in their press release. The group repeated its refusal to accede to the government's demand that the guerrillas renounce violence and release hostages before talks begin; "Starting a dialogue cannot be conditional on unilateral demands."
Earlier on Monday Colombian media reported that the army was stepping up attempts to catch Pastor Alape.
According to several media, some 1,000 troops are involved in operations in the southern Bolivar department where the Magdalena Medio Bloc commander is thought to be.
The commander of the army's 5th Brigade, General Alfredo Bocanegra, told newspaper El Espectador that the primary objective of the renewed offensive is the capture or death of Pastor Alape.
The U.S. State Department accuses Pastor Alape of overseeing the Magdalena Medio Bloc's cocaine supply and ordering the murder of civilians.
But ending a war by cutting the head off of a snake can be completely unilateral.
/johnny
While this might be true, Colombia is wise to go and kill every last member of this group and anyone affiliated with them, just to be sure.
Nice work! Good on you, Colombia!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.