By Richard McColl
BOGOTA, Colombia
FARC rebels will intensify attacks on Colombia’s energy and petroleum infrastructure in order to “weaken confidence in the economy and that of investors”, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Luis Eliécer Rueda Vernaza, alias Matias Aldecoa, admitted that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is behind recent attacks on pipelines used by Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum Corp.
The Pacific port city of Tumaco is still without drinking water after a FARC attack on a pipeline last month spilled more than 410,000 gallons of crude oil filtering into the Mira River.
“Soon people will see the war in this latest phase, and they’re going to see the number of police and soldiers who die,” Aldecoa said in an interview with Bloomberg in Havana, where peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC are currently taking place. “For us, oil pipelines aren’t the No. 1 target.”
The talks have been held since November 2012 and while the two sides have reached agreements on political participation, agrarian reform and illicit drugs, negotiators have been stuck for more than a year on the current agenda item: justice and reparations for victims.
As negotiators appear to have struck and impasse, the FARC suspended its self-imposed unilateral cease-fire in May after 26 militants were killed in a government bombing raid. Guerrilla attacks have significantly increased since as the group pushes for a long sought after bilateral cease-fire.
The attacks are intended to “hit the economy and investor confidence”, said Aldecoa , who added that no guerrilla leader is going to accept jail time nor house arrest in Cuba because it would impede the ability to participate in politics.
Confidence in the peace dialogues has reached an all-time low according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday that shows 62 percent of Colombians do not believe the conflict can be brought to an end through negotiations.
The guerrilla’s escalation in attacks has “shown an enormous political blunder in the FARC’s politics”, according government negotiator Sergio Jaramillo.
“These acts are not only going against the peace process but also against the FARC themselves, who will, at some point have to respond for them,” he said. The attacks on electricity towers and oil pipelines “distance Colombians from peace”, he added.
