Bogotá attains "lowest murder rate in 30 years"

Colombia's capital Bogotá was said to have "stabilised" its lowered murder rate in 2013, after a significant fall over 2012-13 attributed to factors including effective policing and restrictions on carrying arms and drinking. Coroners were cited as counting 1,279 murders in Bogotá in 2013, four less than in 2012, which translated into a rate of 16.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, El Tiempo reported on 27 January. The rate was far below those of the continent's most dangerous cities for 2013. The last of a recently published list of the 50 most murderous cities in the world in 2013 was Valencia in Venezuela, with a killing rate of 30 per 100,000 inhabitants. El Tiempo cited a security specialist Jairo Libreros as saying that it was difficult for Bogotá's murder rate to fall much more immediately, given the significant fall from a rate of 22.1 to 16.9/100,000 over 2012-13. Authorities reportedly attributed 39 per cent of killing deaths in 2013 to "vengence" and 35 per cent to brawls, while firearms were responsible for 61.5 per cent of killings.

Over 200 killed in Caracas in fortnight

The principal morgue in Caracas was reported to have received 210 bodies in 2014 up to midday on 16 January, or roughly 12 a day and including seven policemen, Venezuela's El Universal reported, confirming the city's reputation as one of the world's deadliest. Caracas was recently cited as the world's second most dangerous city in 2013, with a murder rate of over 134 killings per 100,000 inhabitants. Insecurity has become a chief point of dispute between the socialist government of Nicolás Maduro and liberal opposition forces, and reportedly one of the reasons why many Venezuelans were emigrating. President Maduro urged political actors on 17 January to exclude security from politics, saying it was "criminal" to make "economic and political capital" out of people's grief, El Universal reported. He urged state governors and mayors to join the Government's efforts to curb crime but also to help change a pervasive media culture, which he said "adulated" drugs and violence. The opposition he alleged, had engaged in a policy of "throwing stones" at his government, but he also denounced the "death statistics" or polls that publicised crime rates in the country. The Mexican NGO Citizens Council for Public Security and Penal Justice recently reported 4,364 criminal killings in 2013 in Caracas, which has just under 3.248 million residents.

Gang says helped reduce Medellín crime, murders increased in Cali in 2013

The Colombian city of Cali, one of the country's most violent, countered the downward trend in violent crime authorities reported for 2013, while gangs claimed in the city of Medellín that they rather than police had curbed violence there in 2013. In Medellín officials counted 920 murders for 2013, 331 less than in 2012, which reduced the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants from 52 in 2012 to 38 in 2013, El Tiempo recently reported. The city witnessed 37 days with no murders that year, compared to 13 in 2012, El Colombiano reported on 9 January, citing a deputy-mayor Luis Fernández Vélez Suárez. The daily cited the head of a local NGO, Corporación para el Desarrollo y la Paz, as saying that one of Colombia's main criminal gangs, Los Urabeños, distributed pamphlets in parts of the city last November stating that "in spite of what officials say," the reduction was for the "efforts" made by several gangs to give residents some "peace and quiet." This was apparently a reference to a ceasefire in place since July 2013 between the Urabeños and the rival Oficina de Envigado, activists were cited as saying. Deputy-mayor Fernández said violent crime has steadily declined in Medellín since 1991, and fell sharply in 2012, regardless of any pact. Reported murders increased however in the south-western city of Cali, and officials have asked the local military to extend provisional restrictions on carrying arms, due to end on 31 January 2014. City Ombudsman Andrés Santamaria said the arms ban that began on 13 December was clearly effective as December murders had dropped from 236 in 2012 to 136, the Cali newspaper El País reported on 9 January. It observed that the local garrison, which emits arms permits, was reluctant to extend the ban, going against the trend in Bogotá and Medellín. There were 1962 reported killings in Cali in 2013 - 89 per cent being shooting deaths - 123 more than in 2012, El País reported.

President says crime dropped in Colombia over 2012-13

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos expressed satisfaction at the apparent reduction of violent crimes in Colombia over 2013, writing on his Twitter account on 5 January. Mr Santos said that homicides dropped eight percent, from 16,033 cases in 2012 to 14,782 in 2013, while reported kidnapping cases dropped four per cent in that time. His comments, reported on the Presidential website, were likely based on figures given by the Defence and Interior ministries and the armed forces. He observed that no kidnapping was reported in 2013 in 981 municipalities of Colombia or 89 per cent of its territory. Other positive figures given included the capture of 1,087 fighters of the two guerrilla armies, the FARC and the ELN, and the dismantling of 106 extortion gangs. The Defence Ministry reported on Twitter on 5 January that it caught 2,757 suspected criminals in 2013. Colombia's last, conservative president Álvaro Uribe Vélez questioned the claims - repeatedly urging Mr Santos not to "confuse" Colombians on his Twitter account - asserting that kidnappings increased 13 per cent over 2010-13, during the Santos presidency, Caracol television reported. He wrote that thefts against shops and businesses increased 47 per cent in that period, while there was a 223 per cent increase in attacks on oil and gas pipelines. Mr Uribe's statistical sources were not immediately clear on Twitter. Separately, troops shot on 2 January three suspected guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in fighting in the southern department of Caquetá, and later destroyed a makeshift drug laboratory, El Espectador reported, citing Agence France-Presse. Locals were said to have tipped off the authorities of the presence of guerrillas, provisionally identified as from the FARC's Front 14, though reports did not specify where the fighting took place.

Troops shoot Colombian guerrilla sought for 60 killings

Colombian troops shot dead a captain of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) thought responsible for certain recent FARC attacks that have killed more than 30 soldiers in the north-eastern department of Arauca, Caracol radio reported on 10 December. The guerrilla dubbed Jainover, identified as a commander in the FARC's 10th Front, was killed in an undated gun fight at an unspecified place near the Venezuelan frontier, possibly in the Arauca department where he was active. The army was cited as saying that after a shootout troops caught up with a car that sought to take Jainover's body into Venezuela; four presumed FARC fighters were arrested in the operation. The Army also attributed to Jainover attacks in 2005 that killed 30 soldiers in the central department of Meta. He was said to have filmed the attacks he orchestrated.

Colombian judiciary sacks Bogotá's mayor

The Inspector-General of Colombia Alejandro Ordoñez, the official empowered to discipline state officials, ordered dismissed on 9 December the mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro Urrego, for incompetence and the "chaos" he said the mayor provoked in December 2012 as he changed the city's trash collection system, Europa Press and Colombian media reported. Mr Petro was barred from holding office for 15 years, Caracol radio and Colprensa agency reported. The irregularities cited included the mayor's transfer of collection to the municipal firm Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá, which the Office of the Inspector-General (Procuraduría General de Colombia) stated lacked then sufficient experience and equipment for the job; the work was previously done by private firms. Radio Santa Fe observed this was the second time in recent years that the capital was left without a mayor; the state prosecution service dissmissed Samuel Moreno Rojas in May 2011 for irregularities in handing out public contracts. The Inspector-General told a press conference on 9 December that Mr Petro broke the law when he entrusted the municipal firm with duties he "knew" it could not implement, but also for restricting competition from private firms. That he said led to failure to collect 6-9,000 tonnes of trash from the capital's streets followed by "chaos" as the Municipality took makeshift measures to remedy the situation on 18-20 December, when the scheme began. The dismissal prompted the Minister of Justice Alfonso Gómez Méndez to say that the constitutional article allowing an unelected official to dismiss an elected one should be revised, Caracol radio reported.

Parliament gives Venezuelan President extraordinary powers "to fight corruption"

Venezuela's legislature voted in on 19 November an Enabling Law giving the socialist President Nicolás Maduro powers to "dictate decrees with the rank, value and force of law," to fight corruption and defend the economy, El Universal reported on 20 November. The law was to last 12 months from 20 November, and allowed Mr Maduro to impose by decree punitive measures against the "inadecuate use" of public resources, act to prevent capital flight and defend the national currency against "attacks." It effectively gave him greater powers over the economy. Opponents likely saw this as another step toward a communist dictatorship. The opposition MP Maria Corina Machado called it a "shameful day" for Venezuela and the opposition coalition Table of Democratic Unity dubbed the law "fraudulent," Spain's El Mundo reported on 20 November. The leading opponent Henrique Capriles, the Governor of the northern state of Miranda, had urged Venezuelans to ignore its future provisions in October, Europa Press reported on 20 November. According to the agency, the President proposed the law on 8 October but this could not be approved as the Government lacked by one vote the majority needed to pass the law. The problem was resolved when a week before the vote, Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice prevented one opposition parliamentarian from voting after she was accused of corruption. After approval, Mr Maduro announced he would lead from January a "hair-raising offensive" against corruption and hoarding in Venezuela, which has witnessed shortages in a range of consumer goods in recent months. Authorities have blamed shortages on unspecified sabotage or attacks on the socialist economy; Europa Press cited the President as accusing opposition forces of planning a power blackout on 8 December, when municipal elections were to be held.

Right-wing party picks candidate against Colombian President

The party formed around the conservative convictions and political aspirations of Colombia's former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Uribe Centro Democrático, chose on 26 October the former finance minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga Escobar as its presidential candidate for 2014. Mr Zuluaga will compete with President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón should he run again for office. Speakers at the Democratic Centre's convention were critical of various aspects of the Government but Mr Uribe and his allies have in recent months been vociferous when denouncing its peace talks with the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which began in October 2012 and have yet to yield clear results. Mr Santos called the enemies of the talks "vultures" on 26 October. While Mr Zuluaga lacks Mr Uribe's fame, Mr Uribe has already been president twice and cannot aspire to a third term. He will head his party's list of senatorial candidates in 2014 and many suspect he would dominate a hypothetical president from his party. Speaking to the party's convention on 26 October, Mr Zuluaga set out five policy directions including he said the renewal of the "democratic security" policies that curbed crime in Colombia when Mr Uribe was president in 2002-10, El Espectador reported. "Real peace is built with more security and more justice" he said, not following "impunity and political privileges for violent people. We shall relentlessly fight small-time trafficking, extortion, city crimes and terrorism." Mr Uribe deplored the President's vulture comments, particularly it was observed because a FARC commander had at one point qualified opponents of talks as "scavengers." "President Santos calls us vultures with his allies the FARC" he wrote on the website Twitter, El Colombiano reported on 28 October. Mr Santos said on 26 October while visiting Viotá south-west of Bogotá that "we have enemies...who some say look very much like vultures because they live off death...they live spreading everything that is negative...injecting pessimism...they want to continue war." The daily observed that the President's sharp remarks were a "furious" response to provocative speeches made at the Democratic Centre convention.

Mexico counts over 100,000 killings in six-year drug war

A Mexican interior ministry agency reported that over 104,000 people were killed in criminal violence between 2006 and 2012 when Mexico's last president, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, waged a relentless and controversial war on drug cartels and organised crime, papers reported on 25 October. The present government, led by Enrique Peña Nieto, seemed to face similar levels of violence in spite of boasting better intelligence and a more coordinated approach to fighting organised crime. The figure given by the SNSP (Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública) for reported or registered homicides during the Calderón presidency was 104,096 victims. Mexican authorities have repeated that most of these were were criminals and cartel operatives killed by each other or in shootouts with state forces. The report identified 2011 as the most mortiferous year with 22,856 homicides followed by 2010, with 20,681 homicides, the daily Milenio reported on 25 October. The newspaper cited figures showing a steady rise in homicides from 2007 to 2012. The SNSP counted 15,552 homicides in the first ten months of the Peña presidency, which began on 1 December 2012, Milenio reported on 25 October.

"Clown" shoots Mexican mobster at birthday party, nine killed around country

A gunman reportedly dressed as a clown shot on 18 October a member of Mexico's Tijuana cartel, one of the country's powerful gangs of the 1990s, at a family or children's party in the resort zone of Los Cabos in Baja California. The victim was identified as 63-year-old Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix who headed the Tijuana cartel with two brothers and was briefly imprisoned in the United States in 2007-8. Reports did not immediately clarify if the cartel remained active. The newspaper Reforma cited witnesses as saying that a "clown" walked up to him and shot him in the chest and head; police and troops apparently failed to find the gunman in spite of a subsequent search, Proceso reported on 19 October. In other incidents, two children aged 12 and 13 and a 19-year-old girl identified as their cousin were shot dead in Mexico City late on 18 October, Tabasco Hoy reported. They were shot with assault rifles used by the Army, and Proceso cited investigations as provisionally attributing the incident to a settling of criminal accounts. The review reported on 19 October the discovery of the bodies of four men shot days earlier, in a ditch south of the district of Culiacán in the north-western state of Sinaloa, while shooting incidents in the western port of Acapulco injured 10 and killed one on 19 or 20 October, Milenio reported. A young man was stabbed to death in the eastern city of Villahermosa early on 20 October, after refusing to "share a can of beer" with two suspected gangsters on the street, Tabasco Hoy reported.

Venezuelan President says "plot" against him hatched in United States

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro insisted on 26 August that the arrest of two Colombians allegedly sent to assassinate him indicated that a plot was being hatched in the United States, and asked President Barack Obama whether he was ignorant of such machinations or involved. Mr Maduro made his remarks after a children's sporting event in Caracas; he said the Government had "coherently" reported on the plot's origins and President Obama would be "the first" not to know about it if he did not, the official AVN news agency reported. "Is President Obama so weak that they take decisions for him...to kill a Latin American head of state without his knowing?" he asked. Or was he too weak to prevent them he asked again, or "has he decided to physically eliminate me?" Officials earlier cited former US diplomats or officials of past Republican administrations, as well as Colombia's former president Álvaro Uribe, as elements allegedly involved in this and previous "plots." Mr Uribe rejected the latest, "infamous" charges; he said "the Venezuelan dictatorship should permit that country to recover democracy and repeat the elections as the last ones were a fraud," Europa Press reported on 27 August, citing comments he made on television. He was referring to Venezuela's April presidential elections. Mr Maduro said killing him would provoke a civil war and that he had observed "extreme nervousness" among the opposition in spite of its bid to "trivialise" the affair. "I have no doubt the main leaders of the fascist Right agree with this type of incident," he said. The country's leading opponent and former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles dismissed the allegations as a "tale," speaking in public on 26 August. He also wrote on the website Twitter that this was another "distraction" intended to "cover up for insecurity, the hospital crisis, shortages, inflation, corruption." The President he wrote had a "record" number of such plots; "of the 11 conspiracies Maduro has denounced, four were to assassinate personalities. He does not know how to cover his incompetence," El Universal reported, citing Mr Capriles's comments on Twitter.

Venezuelan opposition scoffs at "another plot" to kill President

As if in the grip of the Cold War, Venezuela's socialist rulers have denounced yet another foreign-backed plot against Venezuela, this time in the form of a plan - foiled in time - to assassinate either the President or the Speaker of Parliament. On 26 August the Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres revealed that two Colombians aged 18 and 22, said to be members of a 10-man squad sent from Colombia, were arrested in a Caracas hotel on 15 August, their hotel room revealing an incriminating paraphernalia of guns, binoculars, army badges and pictures of "targets." The Minister said the plan was to kill President Nicolás Maduro, and failing that the Speaker of Parliament Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Cuba's Prensa Latina agency reported. The country's leading opponent Henrique Capriles Radonsky said the claims were laughable. Not for the first time the detained were linked to Colombia's former conservative president Álvaro Uribe Vélez. Mr Uribe, who had precarious ties at best with Venezuela's late leader Hugo Chávez, has become a bête noire for the Maduro administration, which accuses him of conniving with Venezuelan opponents to undermine the regime. Mr Rodríguez suggested Mr Uribe was involved because "he has relations with and is connected to a group of drug traffickers...he is undoubtedly informed of what is happening," Europa Press reported. Mr Capriles told a gathering in Caucagua in the state of Miranda that day that "nobody believes this tale...people merely laugh at these announcements," though he cautioned the incident's "impact" should be observed, Venezuela's El Universal reported. How many times he asked, "have they spoken of plots to kill leaders (magnicidio)...does anyone really believe these lies?" President Maduro in turn thanked "the Government of Colombia for all its cooperation in identifying the gunmen...and the...hired gang," writing on the website Twitter. He added that "the Right's immediate reaction to the gunmen's capture showed these fascist groups' lack of scruples." On 24 August Mr Maduro warned Venezuelans to expect the opposition's "psychological campaign" and "dirty war" ahead of municipal elections set for 8 December, the official AVN news agency reported.

Colombia's former president may run for Senate

Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombia's former conservative president and, according to polls, one of the country's most popular political figures, was said to be considering running for a Senatorial seat in elections scheduled for March 2014. Mr Uribe has in recent months become an outspoken critic of his successor as president, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, and denounced ongoing peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the guerrilla force he battered relentlessly when President from 2002 to 2010. Mr Santos, who has generally sought to avoid public spats with his predecessor, told a television interview on 21 August that Mr Uribe would make a good senator and was "welcome" in the Senate. After months of speculation about Mr Uribe's political future, he seemed to have conveyed his decision to head the list of his own party the Democratic Centre, to Senator Liliana Rendón Roldán, Europa Press reported on 24 August, citing the Senator's comments to Caracol Radio. She was cited as saying she was confident the list could win 25 to 30 seats in the Senate, which would be almost a quarter or third of its 102 seats. The presidential "Unity" party she said, should "tremble, let's see how many senators and representatives they will get, people are tired of so much tepid water and the Democratic Centre list will sweep through." Observers sometimes state that the Unity party backing the current president, and including both Conservatives and Liberals, hides an unknown number of Mr Uribe's supporters or admirers, reluctant to publicise their sympathies before presidential elections set for May 2014. The Democratic Centre's main weakness appeared for now to be the absence of a charismatic presidential aspirant, with several figures cited as possible candidates who had very limited public following or recognition compared to the present and last presidents.

Troops disarm militia in western Mexico amid protests

Soldiers detained and disarmed on 14 August 45 members of the self-styled, self-defence group (Autodefensa) of Aquila in the western state of Michoacán in a rare intervention against one of the groups Mexico's government denounces as illegal. The groups have emerged in several states, but particularly in Michoacán and Guerrero in reaction to the extensive, violent and near-unchecked activities of criminal gangs there. This was presumably the militia that briefly took over the Aquila municipal government in late July, disarming the police; the newspaper Milenio reported on 15 August that it had controlled Aquila since 23 July. When troops arrived in town to arrest four or five members of the militia including its leader Agustín Villanueva, they found that 40 other members of the militia carried weapons used exclusively by the armed forces and other arms thought to have belonged to the Aquila police. They were disarmed and detained for the illegal possession of such arms; the army later stated that some 300 locals sought to obstruct the operation and effectively held 30 soldiers hostage for six hours. Sixty local residents were said to be travelling to Mexico City to demand the release of the 40 militiamen, La Jornada reported on 16 August. Self-defence groups in the nearby districts of Buenavista Tomatlán and Tepalcatepec were said separately to have threatened to "paralise the state" with unspecified actions from 19 August if these were not released, La Jornada reported. The acting governor of Michoacán Jesús Reyna García has accused the militia of "sowing fear" in and around Aquila and obstructing circulation, although according to Milenio he had not explicitly accused the group of having ties to organised crime. He was cited as saying he was not informed of the other militias' threats.

Daily sees "slight" fall in murders in Bogotá for arms ban

The ban on carrying arms in Bogotá, imposed in recent months by the city government and the army, is said to have had an "insufficient" effect on reducing violent crimes, according to the newspaper ADN. The daily is freely distributed on the streets; it was citing figures from the police and state coroners. The daily's website reported on 14 August that there were 708 homicides in Bogotá from 1 January to the end of July 2013, five per cent less than the 743 homicides counted for that period in 2012; 453 of those killed in the period cited in 2013 were shot dead, evidently in spite of the existing arms ban. The ban is regularly renewed, and the capital's police chief Luis Martínez Guzmán said it was best it be maintained. Police confiscated 1,473 "illegal weapons" in the capital in the first seven months of 2013, ADN reported.

Residents hand in firearms in northern Bogotá, given tokens

Residents of the district of Usaquén north of Bogotá handed in on 29 July lethal objects including firearms and grenades in exchange for supermarket vouchers in another of the disarmament events that have become part of the measures taken by the city government to curb crime in Colombia's capital. Twenty three residents responded to the local municipality's calls to leave items that included in this case 25 hand grenades and 10 firearms; children handed in plastic guns and "martial toys" in exchange for T-shirts, caps, chocolate and board games, the office of the Bogotá Government Secretary coordinating security in the capital reported. Usaquén had a population of a little under 480,000 in 2012. Those who disarm this way are exempt from police investigation; in Usaquén they received shopping vouchers to spend in Éxito supermarkets on food and household items but not alcohol or tobacco. The mayoress of Usaquén Julieta Naranjo Luján termed this first disarmament event in Usaquén a success, telling a gathering it would "reduce homicides, crimes and personal injuries to much lower levels in the city." The Usaquén Police chief Colonel Pedro Ruiz Pulido was cited as saying that there were 33 homicides "so far this year" in Usaquén, of which 88 per cent were committed with firearms. Authorities attributed 91 per cent of homicides registered in Usaquén to "personal problems resulting from social intolerance" and acts of vengence "mostly" following excessive drinking, the office of the Bogotá Government Secretary reported.

Colombian town votes to block local mining by multinational

Almost all voting residents of the district of Piedras in the central Colombian department of Tolima voted on 28 July to block the continued activities of the mining firm Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) after deciding they threatened local water supplies, the review Semana reported. It observed this was the first such vote in Colombia, one of several Latin American countries where mining activities have angered local populations. Just over 5,100 residents of Piedras were eligible to vote and 3,007 did, with 2,971 voting against the firm's continued activity and 24 voting in favour, Semana reported. The review observed that local opposition to the firm began in early 2013 with protests against a gold processing centre in nearby Doima whose activity it was thought would use millions of litres of water needed for farming. An AGA spokeswoman was reported on 18 July as telling W Radio in Bogotá that the firm's activities used a small part of local water supplies and AGA did not in any case need permission to continue working, apparently responding to a suspension order from a regional environmental authority Cortolima. The mayor of Piedras organised the vote after consulting with Tolima's Administrative Court and according to Semana, the results were binding pursuant to the Law 134 of 1994. There was no immediate consensus on this however as authorities in Bogotá were reported elsewhere not to recognise municipal authority over mining affairs. El Espectador reported on 28 July that the Mines Ministry had decreed on 9 May that local bodies could not vote or decide on mining affairs, such decisions pertaining to national mining and environmental authorities. Residents of Piedras believed the decree did not supercede the vote, which was a participatory mechanism foreseen in Colombian legislation, El Espectador reported.

New Mexico district "on verge" of banning plastic bags

Most city councillors of Santa Fe in New Mexico were reportedly backing a proposal to be voted in August and intended to ban distribution by shops of free plastic bags, the website of the Albuquerque Journal reported on 22 July. One councillor was reported as having suggested in preceding days a subsequent, undated ban on plastic bottles. The daily reported that almost no councilmember opposed the initiative, although the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce had urged the municipality to wait for the completion of an ongoing study on solid waste. Several west-coast cities including Los Angeles and Seattle have imposed similar bans to curb use of millions of bags that often are not recycled and pollute both the land and sea. The daily reported that the ordinance would ban "most single-use plastic bags" and require shops to charge most customers "no less than" 10 cents for paper bags, but allow "some smaller plastic bags" such as thin bags used for fruit and vegetables. Eateries were to be allowed to provide bags for food taken out.

Thirty guerrillas surrender in Colombia, one detained

Senior Colombian officials including President Juan Manuel Santos and his Minister of Defence personally received in Cali on 16 July a company of 30 former guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) who formally surrendered their arms and abandoned their fight against the Colombian state. President Santos said this was the "biggest demobilisation" of fighters in the ELN's history, praising the guerrillas for their decision and the armed forces for the relentless pressures exerted on the ELN, which the state has declared convinced the 30 to surrender. Media reported that state intelligence agents had visited the company's camp several times in preceding weeks, presumably to discuss the mechanics of a surrender. The guerrillas who demobilised at an army base in Cali constituted the Lucho Quintero Giraldo company of the ELN's South-Western War Front, the Defence Ministry reported. "I want to thank all the group, its commander aka Tiger, henceforth Mr Collazos and all of you. You took the right decision," the Presidential Office cited Mr Santos as telling them. He said the "state will receive you with all the guarantees we have promised," allowing them he added to begin to rejoin civilian and family life. The Defence Ministry separately reported on 17 July that troops caught a suspected head of a support or logistical network working with the ELN's Darío Ramírez Castro Front, active in the Bolívar department in northern Colombia. The detained was identified as Bautista his nom de guerre, and caught in the district of San Pablo in southern Bolívar, the Ministry reported. Bautista was being sought for suspected "financing" activities for the guerrilla that included drug dealing, extortion from local farmers and firms and the forcible recruitment of peasants.

Criminals shoot land activist in northern Colombia

Unidentified gunmen shot dead on 11 July an activist working to restore stolen lands to their owners in the northern Colombian department of Bolívar, El Tiempo reported on 15 July. The Colombian Government has encouraged rural families who fled lawless districts in past years to return and reclaim lands stolen from them; decades of conflict between the state and the two communist guerrilla forces have fomented insecurity and relative lawlessness in parts of Colombia that have become breeding grounds for armed gangs and paramilitaries engaged in activities including extortion and land grabbing. The national broadcaster Señal Colombia regularly publicises the progress of the Government's land restitution programme, depicting contented peasants resuming farming activities in bucolic settings. Yet the programme was bound to generate resistance - which in Colombia often means violence - from those who took over stolen lands. The 31-year-old activist José Segundo Turizo, said to have been shot in the neck and head in the district of Tiquisio, was coordinating the restitution of the lands to 14 families. The daily described him as a farmer and father of five. Separately, the daily Vanguardia Liberal reported on 15 July that 19 people were shot or found dead around the capital Bogotá over the weekend of 12-14 July.