Indigenous peoples are again caught in the middle as the Colombian army launches a major offensive against the FARC [2] guerillas in the southern Andean department of Cauca [3]. At dawn on Feb. 20, guerillas from the FARC's Sixth Front attacked the center of the Nasa and Guambiano indigenous town of Jambaló, after it was occupied by the army and National Police. However, residential houses and the town's hospital suffered severe damage, while the local National Police headquarters was relatively unscathed. Some half the population of Jambaló's urban center fled, taking refuge in outlying hamlets (veredas) and the neighboring municipality of Silvia. (Semana [4], Bogotá, Feb. 22)
On Feb. 23, similar scenes were reported from Caldono and Cajibío municipalities. Police Gen. Orlando Páez Barón said the FARC had infiltrated militiamen into the municipalities to prepare disruption of the upcoming March 14 local elections, and to protect drug crop plantations. (El Tiempo [5], Bogotá, Feb. 24; El Colombiano [6], Medellín, Feb. 23)
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