U.S.-backed forces assassinate revolutionaries in Colombia

On Sept. 22, Jorge Briceño, better known as “Mono Jojoy,” was assassinated along with another 20 guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP). Colombian government forces, financed and trained by the U.S., conducted a bombing raid on a FARC camp in an area known as La Macarena, in the Meta department south of Bogotá, in Colombia.

More than 30 planes and 27 helicopters supplied by the U.S. participated in the operation. The attack, which involved the saturation bombing of the area, is reminiscent of the “beheading” operations being conducted by the U.S. against the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. There were no initial reports of any civilian casualties. So far, only Colombian military units have visited the area.

This latest attack against the FARC-EP comes a few days after another guerrilla leader, Sixto Cabañas, was shot dead along with 27 other rebels along the border with Ecuador. In 2008, Colombian forces actually invaded Ecuador, breaking international law and leading to a suspension of diplomatic relations with both Ecuador and Venezuela.

President Barak Obama congratulated Colombia’s puppet president, Juan Manuel Santos, calling the killing “a big day for those who are seeking peace in the region.” Over the past few years the U.S. has supplied over $6 billion in military aid to Colombia. Santos, who was defense minister before taking his current post as president, was jubilant: “This was Operation Welcome” he boasted in New York. “To the rest of the FARC — We are going after you.” (AP, Sept. 24)

Santos has another reason to be jubilant. Analysts in the U.S. had recently reported that the FARC-EP was regrouping, and wondering aloud whether Santos was up to the job of carrying on the fight against the guerrillas. Santos knows full well that the U.S. has a long history of discarding puppets that do not perform adequately.

Jorge Briceño and the other slain FARC-EP leaders are of course heroes, both in Colombia, and to the revolutionary movements around the world. Briceño literally spent his entire life in the struggle, joining the FARC-EP guerrillas at age 12. He and the others will be sorely missed.

Most imperialist media worldwide quickly hailed the killing as a blow to FARC-EP, and predicted its imminent demise. Most of these sources misunderstand the role of leadership in revolutionary movements and organizations. Leaders are certainly important, but they are not the source of the movement. Indeed, just the reverse is true.

Aaron Mannes, a “counterterrorism expert” who once was director of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank founded by a former member of the Israeli intelligence group Mossad, had this to say about the FARC-EP:

“Decapitation strategies (that is targeting the leaders of terrorist organizations) have a mixed record. More robust organizations (such as the FARC or Hezbollah) can readily replace their leaders — and worse carry out revenge strikes. Israel learned this lesson in 1992 after assassinated Hezbollah secretary — Gen. Abbas Musawi. Only a month later Hezbollah responded by blowing up Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires. For its credibility the FARC will almost certainly have to carry out a counterstrike and its still formidable resources mean that it could be deadly.” (terrorwonk.blogspot.com)

Mannes had earlier urged the U.S. to utilize the right-wing death squads, which are still very active in killing Colombian peasants, union leaders and other civilians.

The U.S. and a few of its allies, like the Israeli state, have become infamous for the use of the tactic of political assassination from aircraft or drones, without regard for civilians, as a means of carrying out national policy.