Posted on 05/09/2002 5:27:55 AM PDT by The Duke
BELLAVISTA, Colombia -- Broken pews, shattered figures of Christ and the smell of decomposing human flesh greeted the Rev. Antun Ramos on Wednesday when he returned to his church, which dominates this fishing village on the Atrato River.
The parish priest recalled that 300 men, women and children sought shelter here last week amid fierce combat between Marxist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary forces. The villagers figured that this house of God, with its sturdy concrete walls, would protect them.
"It was the safest place in the village," said Ramos, as he picked up two dented copper chalices from the bloodstained floor.
Instead, an errant homemade rocket fired by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the nation's largest guerrilla group known as the FARC, crashed through the roof of the Roman Catholic church.
The explosion killed 117 people, including an estimated 40 children. Colombian authorities describe it as the worst single loss of civilian life in the nation's 38-year civil war.
"This was a terrible massacre," said Gen. Mario Montoya, commander of the Colombian army's 4th Brigade, as he stood at the entrance of the church and held up a tiny tennis shoe that belonged to a child who perished in the attack....
The article goes on to suggest that it was the Columbian government's fault for not being there to protect the people from the "Marxists". You can visit the link to read the rest of this tragic bit of yellow journalism.
It's amazing, isn't it, what turns up when you drag a dollar through a newsroom?
What I really want to know is where was Janet "The Butcher of Waco" Reno while all this was going on?
When you change the headline, it makes it impossible to conduct a proper search to see if an article has been previously posted.
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