Free Republic

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...