BNO News
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon on Tuesday evening announced the killing of a rebel leader connected with Mexican drug cartels, describing it as an "important blow."
Santos said a joint military and police force operation resulted in the death of Olidem Solarte, also known as 'Oliver Solarte,' who was an important leader for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, which is commonly known as the FARC.
Solarte, 39, was the leader of the FARC's 48th front militias and was the main contact between Mexican drug cartels and Colombia's North Valley cartels. His drug trafficking activities helped finance FARC operations, the president said. Admiral Edgar Cely added that he mainly trafficked cocaine, weapons, and explosives.
A six-month investigation led to the operation, which was conducted near the Putumayo River in the municipality of San Miguel where Solarte was living in a small hut near the Ecuadorian border. The operation ended on Monday at around 11:30 a.m., although it had started a few days prior.
"[Solarte] was wanted for a long time," Santos stated. "I remember that we wanted to capture him on various occasions when I was in the Defense Ministry, but it was never possible."
"Our Armed Forces have made a very important blow, and I want to congratulate our Defense Minister [Rodrigo Rivera] and our commanders and Police Chief [Oscar Naranjo]," Santos added.
Santos underlined the importance of teamwork as the joint operation was coordinated and conducted by Police Intelligence, the Navy, and Army.
The Colombian President went on to address the FARC. "You will fall one by one," he said, "because we will not put our guard down and we have many more targets."
minuto30
The FARC are nothing more than drug dealers, any semblance of political idealogy is now based simply on the need to fuel the army and its hangers-on.
ReplyDeleteNow that the Mex cartels have expanded into production, there may actually be a surplus of the product. Imagine that: cheap, pure, powder cocaine. It may actually happen.
Smurf, just what exactly do you base your opinion on about the FARC supposedly being only 'drug dealers; who haven't any 'semblance of political ideology', as you put it? I hope it's not based on the death squad Colombian head of the military run government, Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, and his statements to the press.
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard now to get info about the FARC that is not US and Colombian government propaganda, especially since the downing of their website that happened a year or so ago. And the website itself was about all the info available at the time. I really don't have much hard info about where they now are at.
My feel for Colombia though which I got when I visited there less than 3 years ago was that of a people deeply demoralized by the fighting and violence of both the guerillas and the government. I rather doubt that Santos has improved things much since his background as a Uribe lieutenant in the dirty war that the US government, Right Wing Colombian death squads, and the Colombian military have fought against the country's poor makes him an unlikely man to try to clean his side's dirt up. He would have to throw himself in jail to do just that. The man is definitely at least as much a criminal as the fallen FARC leader might possibly have been... though I doubt that the dead FARC soldier had any connection with Mexican cartels at all.
The only evidence I can find about Oliver Solarte is the statement by Santos trying to connect him to Mexican cartel violence made at the press conference by Santos claiming great credit for Solarte's murder. Santos is a Harvard educated thug though, and I am sure he wouldn't hesitate 2 secs before falsely labeling a victim of the Colombian military with false statements about him being supposedly connected with drug trafficking when he might not have been.
Santose knows what plays well in the US and with the US European allies. He's going to get himself high up on a pedestal and claim himself a great general in the 'drug war'. And he will try to clean up Colombia's image as a Right Wing thug state. Obama would want him to do so...
Solarte must have gotten behind his pay-offs.
ReplyDeleteardent=blah blah blah. everything you say is colored by your left-wing politics. having read one of your posts it is not necessary to read any more.
ReplyDeleteArdent,
ReplyDeleteDo you actually have hard evidence for the things you say or are they just your "feelings". You make so many loaded comments that it's impossible to give your account any credibility. You sound like you are issuing "dictums" rather than providing thoughtful analysis.