COLOMBIA: Residents in Bogota say they welcome the news of the death of top rebel commander Jorge Briceno

Record ID: 586291

  • Title: COLOMBIA: Residents in Bogota say they welcome the news of the death of top rebel commander Jorge Briceno
  • Date: 25th September 2010
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (SEPTEMBER 24, 2010) (REUTERS) CITY STREET CARS IN THE STREET MAN READING THE NEWSPAPER
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVABN5CC8FNW2NCBT8CUJJGPJ120
  • Story Text: Residents in Bogota said on Friday (September 24) they were pleased with news that Colombian troops had killed a top rebel military chief, Jorge Briceno, aka Mono Jojoy, in a raid on his jungle camp on Thursday (September 23), striking a major blow against Latin America's oldest insurgency.
    The military made the announcement of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) commander's death on Thursday and troops displayed his body before transporting it to Bogota for an autopsy.
    Details of the successful armed forces operation carried out against FARC, which involved more than 30 planes and 25 helicopters, was splashed across local morning papers.
    Though unlikely to bring Colombia's decades-old war to a close, residents hope the death of such an important FARC figure would help further reduce violence.
    "This is a good outcome for the armed forces, for Colombia. I hope it works for the best," said Bogota resident, Leider Rincon.
    Another resident, Xiomara Tellez, said the FARC military expert's death could bring closure for some of his victims.
    "For all of those he killed, those he made suffer; the people who were kidnapped, all of their families that suffered. Anyway, I think more than feeling happy, people feel a renewed freshness in their hearts," Tellez said.
    As many as 20 other rebels were killed in the operation in the Macarena region, one of the FARC's last strongholds.
    Under constant surveillance, Jojoy and the other bodies were transported to the Institute of Legal Medicine in the capital for processing and identification.
    "First you do the autopsy in which the pathologist, who does both the external and internal examinations, does everything they come across. And then the identification team identifies the body so it can be sorted in the registry and can be easily identified between all the people that were brought in," explained the director of Legal Medicine, Angel Isaac Llanos.
    The 59-year-old, known for his trademark black beret and thick mustache, was a member of the FARC's seven-member secretariat.
    Military officials say his death will restrict the FARC's ability to carry out strategic attacks as they turn increasingly to hit-and-run tactics and protecting their commanders.
    A military expert said Jojoy was outranked only by Alfonso Cano, the top FARC commander who the army says it is close to capturing.
    The operation was a political and military victory for President Juan Manuel Santos, a former defense minister who took office in August vowing to keep up a hard line with the guerrillas and further reduce violence from the declining war.
    The FARC is at its weakest in decades after eight years of a U.S.-backed security campaign to hunt down rebel chiefs and drive guerrillas back into remote jungles and mountains.
    Police on Friday released photos of the aftermath of Jojoy's hidden camp which included a warren of tunnels and a concrete bunker to protect him from air strikes.
    The military retrieved 14 computers and 60 USB storage devices from the site.
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