BTL:Capture of 3 Americans by Rebels Could Trigger...

Capture of 3 Americans by Rebels Could Trigger Increased U.S. Military Intervention in Colombia's Civil War

Interview with Jason Hagen, of the Washington Office on Latin America, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris

While the U.S. has poured more than $2 billion into combating drug cultivation and guerrilla groups in Colombia, the war being waged by hardline President Alvaro Uribe has taken a deadly turn. Assassinations of human rights activists and union leaders are escalating at the same time that the nation's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC, has launched a series of deadly urban bomb attacks.

More recently, the crash of a plane carrying U.S. citizens working for the Pentagon, and their abduction by FARC guerrillas in the Colombian jungle has triggered the insertion of 49 more American soldiers and advisors to the area -- sent to free the captives. In a reminder that oil politics is not confined to the Middle East, the White House recently formed a special battalion, under U.S. command, to protect a Colombian pipeline owned by the U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Company.

The Bush administration clearly is in accord with President Uribe's stated goal of abandoning negotiations with rebels in favor of attaining a military solution to Colombia's four decade-long civil war. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Jason Hagen of the Washington Office on Latin America who discusses the White House pursuit of a military victory in Colombia and the prospects for increased U.S. military intervention there.

Contact the Washington Office on Latin America by calling (202) 797-2171 or visit their Web site at http://www.wola.org

Related information can be found on the Narco News Web site: http://www.narconews.com

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