Colombia Advisory Sheet
17 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
COLOMBIA:
Bomb Goes Off Prematurely In Medellin
In the fourth blast to rock a major urban center in Colombia in the past week, a powerful bomb exploded in Colombia's northwest city of Medellin on Tuesday, causing damage but no serious injuries. Military officials said the blast in Colombia's third largest city was triggered by members of the urban guerrilla network of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Officials said pamphlets were found at the bomb site in which the FARC claimed responsibility for the blast and indicated its intended target was an army brigade headquarters. The bomb, which exploded at the entrance to a road leading to the Fourth Brigade, a regional police headquarters and the offices of a local newspaper, was made from at least 110 pounds of explosives packed into a propane gas cylinder. Such weapons have become a trademark of the FARC...
COLOMBIA:
12 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
Bogota Car Bomb Leaves Eight Dead
At least eight people were killed and 45 others were wounded when a car bomb exploded in a Bogota commercial district on Thursday. Drug lords were suspected of showing their displeasure over an extradition agreement with the United States. Within hours of the blast, President Andres Pastrana defiantly signed extradition orders for three suspected drug traffickers.
The shrapnel-packed bomb, placed in a red Mazda sedan and believed detonated by remote control, destroyed a two-story house and a restaurant on a wide avenue and blew out the windows of banks, stores and apartment buildings nearly a quarter mile away. It was the Colombian capital's worst blast since the wave of terror by the Medellin cocaine cartel in the late 1980s and early 1990s aimed at stopping the extradition of its members to the United States. The campaign only ended with the cartel's 1993 demise.
Thursday's attack came a day after the Supreme Court approved the second handover in a week of a major drug trafficker to the United States -- and Colombians feared it was a blunt warning to the government not to go ahead with more than three dozen planned extraditions...
04 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
PANAMA:
FARC Hijacks Two Helicopters?
Police and news reports said that suspected rebels hijacked two helicopters in Panama Tuesday, freeing the passengers and pilots before flying away. Police confirmed that the two privately operated tourist helicopters were seized in the Rio de Jesus area near Panama's southern border. National Police Director Carlos Bares said "preliminary information appears to indicate that" leftist guerrillas from Colombia carried out the hijacking. Local news reports said the passengers, two Ecuadorean women and four Colombian women, and the two pilots were freed unharmed. A Panamanian radio station reported that the three armed assailants had identified themselves to the passengers as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)...
COLOMBIA:
05 Oct 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
Rebel Group Takes Hostages
Leftist rebels erected a roadblock in rural northeastern Colombia on Monday. they pulled at least 40 people out of cars and buses and took them hostage. The People's Liberation Army guerillas released their hostages, 20 of them schoolchildren, following a clash with government troops.
About 16 armed guerrillas stopped the motorists on a mountain highway outside Ocana, a town in Norte de Santander state. The rebels fled into the countryside in a caravan of commandeered buses, trucks, cars and motorcycles, but some 300 soldiers gave chase. After a shootout that killed one guerrilla and wounded two hostages, the rebels released their captives. Government officials speculated that the EPL, an offshoot of FARC, was hoping a show of force could get them included in peace talks with the government.
Army Says It Killed More Than 50 FARC Rebels
Authorities said on Wednesday that more than 50 leftist rebels were killed in a bungled attack on a town in an oil-rich corner of eastern Colombia, in the country's heaviest combat since a rebel offensive in early July. A statement from army headquarters in Bogota said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels were killed by troops backed by helicopter gunships after launching an overnight attack on the town of Hato Corozal in Casanare province. Soldiers say they gunned down 47 of the FARC rebels as they sought to flee Hato Corozal aboard two trucks at dawn. The army statement added that the rebel death toll could surpass 50. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll.
07/30/99
From http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
Medellin, Colombia (22:00CDT): Rescue workers in Colombia continue to comb through the rubble of destroyed buildings after a car bomb exploded in a residential neighborhood of the north-western city of Medellin. Reportedly, a truck packed with at least 200 pounds of explosives, went off at about 3:15 p.m. (local time). It is said to have leveled approximately four square blocks. Local emergency medical workers say that at least ten people have been killed and another 35 wounded in the blast. Gen. Eduardo Herrera, commander of the army's 4th Brigade, blamed Colombia's largest rebel army, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (FARC) for the bombing.
12 July 99
COLOMBIA:
Military Reeling In Face Of Latest Offensive?
In story that was barely covered by the major media this past weekend, left-wing guerrillas in Colombia have continued a nationwide offensive with home-made tanks and rockets. The Colombian government says it has struck back, killing as many as 200 rebel soldiers. One government official called it the "largest rebel offensive of the past 40 years." Appealing for calm on national television, the armed forces chief, General Fernando Tapias, promised that his men would "neutralize" the rebel threat. Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez has meanwhile admitted that the government knew that a huge "safe haven" it granted the guerrillas last year was being used as a training and staging ground for further attacks. This evening, experts say that both government and guerilla forces are claiming "victory" and that accurate casualty figures and battle reports are difficult to come by...
10 July 99
COLOMBIA: As predicted here on Friday by Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI) analysts, terrorist acts are said to be sweeping across Colombia. According to scattered news reports from a variety of sources, rebels reportedly bombed banks, blew up bridges and electricity facilities, blocked roads and assaulted police barracks. Military sources say that it appears that Marxist rebels have launched a nationwide offensive on Saturday, attacking at least 15 towns across Colombia. Attacks have reportedly taken place in at least 10 different departments (states) throughout the country. Police in Bogotá say that they fear that the guerillas may be preparing to carry out attacks on the capital. EmergencyNet News is monitoring events in Colombia closely and will provide updates as circumstances warrant.
02 July 99
COLOMBIA:
GAO REPORT SAYS US IS LOSING DRUG WAR IN COLOMBIA
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst
According to a report from the US General Accounting Office (GAO), the United States is losing its battle to stop the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia. The report said that Colombia's cocaine and heroin production is set to rise by as much as 50 percent as the US-backed drug war flounders, due largely to the growing strength of leftist guerrillas. The GAO report said: "The cocaine threat from Colombia has worsened since 1996 and could deteriorate even further within the next two years but also Colombia is now the primary provider of heroin to the eastern United States."
24 June 99 - 09:30CDT
From Daily News Briefs http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
COLOMBIA: Authorities said on Wednesday that at least 68 people have been killed in fighting between leftist guerrillas and the army after rebels attempted to storm the mountain hide-out of a rightist death squad chieftain. The Colombian army's second-in-command General Nestor Ramirez said 35 soldiers were killed and six missing -- the military's worst casualty toll since the government began peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in January. Nineteen FARC guerrillas, at least four right-wing paramilitary gunmen and ten civilians were also reported dead in the battle which began Monday but was still raging on Wednesday in northern Cordoba province. General Victor Julio Alvarez, head of the Colombian army's 1st Division said: "This is a total and absolute war. Things are very complicated. We're fighting the guerrillas with planes and armored helicopters."
23 June 99 - 09:330CDT
From Daily News Briefs http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm
COLOMBIA: Authorities said late on Tuesday that leftist guerrillas killed at least 40 soldiers and ten civilians in a new bid to storm the mountain stronghold of Colombia's top right-wing death squad chieftain. About 500 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked four hamlets in northern Cordoba province Monday, killing ten people and destroying a number of homes near Puerto Libertad. The heaviest clashes occurred late Tuesday when army troops poured into the area to hunt down the rebel unit. A spokesman for the army's 11th Brigade said at least 40 soldiers were feared to have died in a FARC ambush. FARC and ELN rebels are thought to control between 40-50% of Colombia's countryside.
Excerpt from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Saturday, March 28, 1998 Vol. 4 - 087
DoS Travel Advisory
WASHINGTON (EmergencyNet News) - The U.S. State Department has issued an updated travel advisory for Colombia, warning U.S. citizens against unnecessary travel to the South American country because of an increase in kidnappings. The advisory was issued after the kidnapping of four Americans this week by leftist rebels. The DoS statement said: "U.S. citizens in Colombia are currently the targets of kidnapping efforts by guerrilla rebels." The State Department said Americans of all ages and occupations have been kidnapped, and kidnappings have occurred in all major regions of Colombia.
Excerpt from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Friday, March 27, 1998 Vol. 4 - 086
BOGOTA (EmergencyNet News) - An American and two British oil engineers were wounded Thursday in a bomb attack on their sleeping quarters in Colombia's eastern oil fields. The 56-year-old American was reported to be in critical but stable condition after surgery. The other two men were not seriously hurt.
British Petroleum and Colombian military authorities were investigating the early morning attack and said they had no immediate suspects. Leftist rebels routinely dynamite oil pipelines in Colombia, but the Cupiagua oil field where Thursday's attack occurred has been largely unaffected.
The oil well where the attack occurred is 120 miles northeast of Bogota and the camp is protected by Colombian police.
*****
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
BOGOTA (EmergencyNet News) - Leftist guerrillas are reportedly holding four Americans and an Italian who were kidnapped at a roadblock on a highway south of Bogota on Monday. The Colombian government said at least 30 people were taken hostage. The Americans -- three men and a woman -- were captured about 35 miles south of Bogota. The Italian was in a separate car.
Rebel Commander Romana, the local leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) acknowledged in a television interview that he held the foreign nationals, but said that the rebels were holding only eight other hostages, presumably Colombians. He issued no demands for the foreigners' release. Foreigners are a prime kidnapping target because they fetch the highest ransoms.
Colombia has the world's highest kidnapping rate, with an average of about four abductions a day. Leftist rebels and common criminals often abduct people and demand huge ransoms for their release.
ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Monday, January 12, 1997 Vol. 2 - 012
POPAYAN, COLOMBIA (EmergencyNet News) - Police say that 567 people, mostly of them women, are being held hostage by hundreds of inmates who rioted at a jail in southwest Colombia on Sunday. One prisoner was reported injured in the melee at the San Isidro jail after a volley of shots were fired to stop a group of masked inmates climbing on to the roof shortly after dark.
The inmates are calling for improvements in poor jail conditions. After taking their hostages, they did free 18 people, including a pregnant woman and a child. The prisoners are still demanding talks with the human rights ombudsman and Red Cross officials before they free the rest.
Police say they did not believe any of the hostages are at risk since most were wives and relatives of inmates and many had volunteered to stay in support of the prisoners.
The prisoners were specifically demanding improvements in jail conditions, including better health care, a mattress for each inmate, proper drinking water and education facilities. There are 1,100 prisoners at San Isidro jail, which was designed to hold 900.
Colombia's prison system is said to be chronically overcrowded and the poor conditions ignited a wave of prison riots across the country in 1997.
Excerpt from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services- Wednesday, March 25, 1998 Vol. 4 - 084
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
WILD INCIDENT ON COLOMBIAN HIGHWAY
From the ERRI Watch Center
BOGOTA (EmergencyNet News) - Leftist rebels seized a major highway near the Colombian capital of Bogota on Monday. At least three people were killed, 14 others were injured and up to 20 otherstaken hostage in the wild incident.
The incident occurred late Monday on a stretch of the Via al Llano highway about 30 miles southwest of Bogota when army troops moved in to dismantle a roadblock erected hours earlier by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Hundreds of motorists returning to Bogota after a three-day holiday weekend were caught in a monumental traffic jam because of the roadblock. Local media reports said rebels forced terrified motorists to hand over their cellular telephones and other possessions and, in some cases, actually stole their cars.
Two civilians and one soldier were killed when heavily armed troops finally arrived to clear the roadblock, about seven hours after it brought traffic to a standstill. Nine other civilians were wounded in the cross-fire between rebels and government troops, five of whom were also wounded.
According to a military spokesmen, the guerrillas took between 15 and 20 civilians, using them as human shields as they retreated into nearby mountains. Sporadic fighting was reported in the same general area on Tuesday.
ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Saturday, January 10, 1998 Vol. 4 - 010
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
PUEBLO NUEVO, COLOMBIA (EmergencyNet News) - At least 14 people have been reported killed by left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary death squads in northern Colombia in recent days. Those killed included a 3- year-old girl and a town mayor.
The most serious attack occurred late Thursday night when guerrillas of the Cuban-inspired National Liberation Army (ELN) opened fire on a police post with rockets and machine-guns in the village of Pueblo Nuevo, in northern Magdalena department. Two policemen, a 3-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy were killed in the attack. A rebel also died in an ensuing firefight.
There were four reported attacks in northwest Antioquia department, right-wing paramilitary fighters killed at least nine people, whom they accused of being leftist rebel sympathizers. Police said all the murders happened on Thursday.
In another incident, rebels fatally shot the newly elected mayor of Coloso in northern Sucre department. Police blamed the murder, which also occurred late Thursday, on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Thursday, December 4, 1997 Vol. 3 - 338
LATIN AMERCIA AND CARIBBEAN 
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (EmergencyNet News) - Police in the northwest Colombian city of Medellin defused a 29-pound car bomb left close to the regional prosecutor's office on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear who had planted the device, which consisted of two milk churns packed with dynamite.
The attempted bombing comes less than a week after suspected drug gangs set off two bombs in Medellin and Cartagena in what is thought to have been a reprisal for Congress's recent decision to lift Colombia's 6-year- old ban on extraditing narco-traffickers and other criminals.
"The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the dangers of travel to Colombia. Violence by narcotraffickers, guerrillas, paramilitary groups and other criminal elements continues to affect all parts of the country. U.S. citizens have been the victims of recent threats, kidnappings and murders. Since it is U.S. policy not to pay ransom or make other concessions to terrorists, the U.S. government's ability to assist kidnapped American citizens in Colombia is limited."
Source: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE - Office of the Spokesman
ENN SPECIAL REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Saturday, May 17, 1997
By Steve Macko, ERRI Crime Analyst
BOGOTA (ENN) - Police in Bogota on Friday uncovered a highly sophisticated telecommunications center that allowed drug cartels to coordinate their business activities around the globe. The clandestine communications office reportedly operated out of a warehouse located on the west side of Bogota.
The center was said to be equipped with an estimated US$10 million worth of high-tech communications equipment, including satellite telephone equipment. It is believed that all of Colombia's top drug cartels were using this communications center to coordinate worldwide smuggling and money laundering operations.
The satellite phone system allows drug traffickers to stay in touch with ships and planes smuggling drugs. The warehouse was said to be owned by Efrain Hernandez, a drug lord who was known as "Don Efra." He was reportedly gunned down in a shopping mall in northern Bogota in 1996.
ERRI analysts have been aware of these communications and intelligence centers of drug cartels for quite a while. ERRI has collected intelligence regarding highly-sophisticated intelligenc-gathering operations by the drug cartels. It is known that they spy on federal drug agencies, using only the best of equipment. The cartel intelligence centers collect photographs and other personal information of U.S. drug agents.
The communications center in Bogota is by no means the only such center. There are intelligence-gathering centers in Mexico and elsewhere. We offer a report that was published by ENN on 7 January 1996 below. ENN will continue to monitor these reports and will offer future reports.
JIM TEEPLE - MIAMI
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says the city of Miami has emerged as the North American headquarters for the Cali cocaine cartel.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration the Cali cocaine cartel supplies about 80-percent of the cocaine coming into the United States. The illicit trade is estimated at eight-billion dollars a year.
James Milford, the DEA's special agent in charge of the Miami field division, says even though much of the cocaine coming into the United States is smuggled through the southwest border states of Texas, Arizona and California, Miami has emerged as the cartel's command and control center in North America: "They still use Miami to really control the transportation and importation into the United States of the cocaine, the wholesale distribution, and also the collection of money and return to their trafficking organizations."
Mr. Milford says cartel operatives working out of Miami control the supply and distribution of cocaine for virtually all of the big drug markets in the United States and even Mexico.
The DEA official says the easy availability of advanced telecommunications equipment in south Florida helps the cartel operate. Fax machines, cell phones and even public telephones have enabled drug traffickers to establish Miami as a global communications hub says James Milford: "You can go to most pay phones here, anywhere in the city and with a telephone debit card all anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world. And what this means is there is instant communication with anonymous locations, and while we are able to investigate it does take time and it causes problems and provides tremendous and timely communication for the traffickers."
James Milford says drug traffickers have learned from their past mistakes and now keep a low profile when operating in the Miami area. Many, he says, use established companies as fronts for their drug trafficking and money laundering operations.
The DEA official warns that their assimilation into the community and the easy availability of high-tech communications equipment makes it increasingly difficult to target and apprehend drug traffickers, who he says have made Miami, Florida, the command and control center for their illicit operations.
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