Colombian guerrillas kill 7 anti-narcotics police in attack

BOGOTA, Colombia – Seven Colombian anti-narcotics police were killed and at least 12 wounded in an attack by suspected guerrillas as they conducted a mission to destroy illegal coca crops and labs in northeast Colombia, authorities said Thursday.

The attack Wednesday night occurred in the rural Tibu area in North Santander province near the Venezuelan border, a zone known to be the center of coca crops and cocaine processing labs, said anti-narcotics police commander Gen. Luis Alberto Perez.

Perez said members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, led the attack, which included crude home-made explosives. The police were accompanied by a civilian team of eradicators whose job is to uproot coca plants.

The police killed one guerrilla and captured five.

“We had put ourselves in the heart of the illegal crops of these guerrillas" Perez told reporters. “We say to the people of North Santander that we will not abandon them.”

The FARC is thought by Colombian and U.S. counter-narcotics officials to traffic in cocaine to finance their war on the government. Much of the drugs processed in the rural Tibu area are shipped over the border to Venezuela and on to the U.S. via Central America and Mexico.

The incident Wednesday and other attacks by the FARC reflect the area’s strategic importance to the rebels not only as a drugs production and transit zone but as a refuge for those who use the rugged area and adjoining Venezuelan mountains to flee from Colombian military operations.

Perez said Thursday that President Juan Manuel Santos had ordered police to take control of the area after weeks of rising violence. In late March, a mine planted by suspected members of FARC in the nearby Convencion township in North Santander left one policeman dead and five wounded.

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-- Chris Kraul and Jenny Carolina Gonzalez

 

High-ranking Colombian FARC rebel captured in Ecuador

QUITO, Ecuador, and BOGOTA, Colombia --  An Ecuadorean judge on Tuesday ordered the indefinite jailing of a suspected Colombian rebel leader captured a day earlier by Ecuadorean forces just a few miles from the border.

Wilson Tapiero, the alleged financial chief of the 48th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was captured near the spot where Colombian commandos briefly invaded in 2008 to kill the FARC's second-ranking leader.

Three men and three women were also arrested on a farm in northeastern Ecuador.  Army units also recovered arms, motorcycles, uniforms and FARC literature.

Army Col. Arturo Coral said the purpose of the suspected rebels’ presence and activities was unknown, although the Colombian rebel group has been known to use lightly patrolled Ecuadorean border jungle areas as sanctuaries from pursuit by the Colombian military.

In March 2008, Colombian military commandos briefly crossed one mile into Ecuadorean territory and killed the FARC's then second in command, alias Raul Reyes, and 24 others. The incident nearly led to war as Ecuador and Venezuela called up military units to their borders with Colombia.

Colombian police announce the surrender of top narco to the DEA

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Authorities on Monday announced the surrender of one of Colombia's most wanted drug traffickers and leader of the notorious Rastrojos criminal band that allegedly funnels Colombian cocaine to Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Javier Antonio Calle Serna, a member of a clan known as the Combas, or warriors, surrendered to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials in Aruba on Friday and then was flown to New York City, where he faces a federal indictment on drug trafficking charges, Colombian police said.

Calle Serna had been negotiating terms of his surrender for weeks, sources told The Times. The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the 43-year-old’s arrest, alleging that he and his associates had shipped 30 tons of cocaine into Mexico bound for the United States. Calle Serna was once a member of the leftist rebel group FARC.

The Rastrojos are thought to be among the most powerful of half a dozen Colombian cocaine cartels known as bacrims, which is Spanish shorthand for criminal bands. The gangs filled the vacuum created by the demobilization of paramilitary militias, which along with the FARC were thought to have controlled the bulk of the illicit drug trade here.

At a news conference in Bogota, Colombian National Police Gen. Roberto Leon Riaño said the agreement leading to Calle Serna’s surrender was the end product of Colombian authorities’ “relentless pursuit” of the fugitive. A months-long operation that involved 3,000 wiretaps and the seizure of 15 tons of cocaine led to his arrest, he said.

As part of the same operation, Calle Serna’s brother Juan Carlos was arrested in Quito, Ecuador, in March by police who had been tipped to his presence there.

According to an indictment filed by prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York in 2009, Calle Serna  was responsible for various aspects of transporting loads of cocaine to Central America and Mexico via so called go-fast outboard motor boats and semi-submersible submarines.

The Calle Serna clan was part of the North Valley drug cartel until a falling out led to a bitter and bloody power struggle. At the news conference Monday, Riaño said Calle Serna was responsible for the 2008 murder in Venezuela of Wilber Varela, a former North Valley capo turned sworn enemy.

According to the State Department, the Rastrojos also conduct extortion of businesses and individuals in several areas of Colombia. Calle Serna has been linked to kidnappings, tortures and assassinations in Colombia, Venezuela and Panama.

Riaño issued a public ultimatum to Daniel “El Loco” Barrera, perhaps the nation’s most powerful drug trafficker still at large -- and Calle-Serna’s associate in the Rastrojos -- to surrender. Giving himself up, Riaño said, is the “only way out for narco traffickers and terrorists.”

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Colombian rebels say they have French journalist Romeo Langlois

-- Chris Kraul

Photo: Javier Antonio Calle Serna in an undated photo. Credit: Colombian police

Colombian rebels say they have French journalist Romeo Langlois

BOGOTA, Colombia -- In a video posted on YouTube, a self-described commander with the Colombian rebel group FARC said the insurgents are holding French journalist Romeo Langlois, whom they captured April 28 during a bloody firefight between the rebels and government forces.

The leader, who identified himself as a member of the 15th Front of the FARC, also said the rebels hope to "overcome the impasse" surrounding negotiations for Langlois' release, a hint that the Frenchman might soon be liberated.

The video posted Sunday is the first apparent confirmation that the journalist working for Le Figaro newspaper and France 24 cable channel was in rebel hands. The rebel spokesman also said Langlois had been shot in the arm but was in no danger. Military officers quoted by local media Sunday said the rebel leader speaking in the video is a known insurgent.

Langlois was traveling with an army unit tasked with destroying illicit cocaine laboratories in southeastern Caqueta province when they were ambushed by members of  the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. In the video, the commander described Langlois as  a “prisoner of war.”

Venezuela's Chavez breaks silence with lengthy phone call

REPORTING FROM CARACAS, VENEZUELA, AND BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- After 10 days out of sight and with rumors swirling that he had died while undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a half-hour telephone call to a state-run television  station, claiming reports of his demise were part of a “dirty war.”

“These are desperate rumors,” Chavez said. “I’m coming out fine from all the exams.”

Chavez announced in February that he had a recurrence of the cancer diagnosed last June, which he had previously declared to be in remission. He said Monday that his treatments were going well, and that he would return to Venezuela this weekend, possibly as early as Thursday.

The 57-year-old leader has undergone four rounds of chemotherapy and three surgeries to treat tumors in his pelvic area. He has never said precisely what kind of cancer he has, nor its exact location.

Chavez also dismissed the electoral prospects of Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate he will face in October. He said even polls conducted by canvassers not associated with the government are giving him a 20-point lead over Capriles.

He referred to Capriles as “majunche,” a term meaning someone of poor quality and no consequence. Capriles in recent days has accused Chavez of governing by Twitter, a reference to Chavez’s medical absences and the social medium the president uses frequently.

Chavez also took the opportunity to comment on the flight this month of a former judge, Eladio Aponte, to Costa Rica and then on to the United States in a U.S. government airplane. Aponte gave an interview to a U.S. Spanish-language television station saying that Chavez government officials had personally pressured him to release or go easy on suspected drug traffickers.

“This person is a delinquent,” Chavez said, denying Aponte’s charges that he had personally called the judge by adding that “eagles don’t hunt flies.”

The Venezuelan government had accused Aponte of complicity with suspected drug trafficker Walid Makled. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Aponte had “sold his soul” to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

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--Special correspondents Mery Mogollon in Caracas and Chris Kraul in Bogota

Photo: A picture provided by Venezuela's presidency shows President Hugo Chavez, center, and his daughter Rosa Virginia being welcomed by Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Machado at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana on April 15. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency

Argentina newborn found alive in icy morgue suffers medical setback

BUENOS AIRES -- Doctors in Argentina on Friday struggled to save the life of a baby who was mistakenly declared dead last week and spent 12 hours in a refrigerated hospital morgue before her mother discovered she was alive.

Luz Milagros Veron, who survived in a tiny wooden box in the morgue at Perrando de Resistencia Hospital, on Thursday suffered cardiopulmonary failure and an infection. She was in critical condition and in the neonatal intensive care ward Friday, hospital administrators said.

The baby was born three months premature, weighing slightly more than a pound and apparently stillborn. Doctors at the hospital signed a death certificate and sent her to the morgue.

Before leaving the hospital later that night, her mother Analia Bouter, asked to see her infant’s body one last time. After a hospital worker pried the lid off the box, she heard her frost-covered baby whimper and saw her make slight movements, Bouter later told reporters at a news conference. The baby was in stable condition until her Thursday emergency.

Hospital director Dr. Jose Luis Meiriño has insisted that the hospital follows “strict medical protocols” and that the baby was born with “no apparent vital signs.” Her birth was attended by an obstetrician, a gynecologist and a neonatologist, he said.

The provincial health minister, Francisco Baquero, has said an investigation would be conducted, adding, “We’re dealing with a human error.”

The baby’s father, Fabian Veron, told reporters: “In spite of everything, we believe that if my daughter is still with us its because it’s a message that she will survive.” The couple have four other children.

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Photo: Analia Bouter and her husband, Fabian Veron. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency

Argentina president Fernandez proposes oil firm nationalization

BUENOS AIRES -- Blaming a lack of investment in domestic energy production for a spike in oil and gas imports, Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner sent a proposal to congress Thursday to nationalize a majority interest in YPF, the country’s largest oil company.

If approved, the government would acquire a 50.1% interest in the company, whose majority owner is Spain-based Repsol. News of the proposal sent YPF share prices soaring 8.6% in New York Stock Exchange trading, as investors positioned themselves for the government’s possible purchase of shares.

Fernandez has ramped up her criticism of the oil industry in recent weeks, blaming it for a doubling of energy imports last year and a reversal of the country’s once sizable energy surplus.

But industry analysts point to Fernandez’s populist fuel price controls and consumer subsidies as reasons for the production decline. By forcing producers to charge customers less than market prices for gasoline, diesel and gas, she makes them loath to spend millions of dollars in drilling for new reservoirs, analysts said.

In a recent interview with the Times, energy consultant Daniel Gerold of Buenos Aires said Argentina's price controls thus feed a “vicious cycle” of decreasing domestic supplies and rising imports, cutting Argentina’s trade surplus.

The issue has become a political football. Local politicians in several states who support Fernandez have revoked about a dozen of YPF’s exploration permits in the last month. Meanwhile, YPF this week promised to invest $4.4 billion over the next five years in several projects in Santa Cruz state.

Fernandez on Thursday met with member governors of the Federal Organization of Hydrocarbon Producing States and was expected to address the nation about nationalization.

Opposition senator Maria Eugenia Estenssoro criticized the proposal as the “third rape of YPF in 12 years,” referring to formerly state-owned YPF’s privatization in 1999, and the 2008 sale of a large stake in the energy company to a close ally of the president “who didn’t put up any money.”

Many of Latin America’s former state-owned oil companies have undergone partial privatization in recent years, a hybrid  policy that has enabled former monopolies such as Petrobras of Brazil and Ecopetrol of Colombia to expand production and profits.

Conversely, tighter state control at Venezuela’s state-owned petroleum company PDVSA since massive strikes in 2002 and 2003 prompted President Hugo Chavez to fire 20,000 workers there has led to a sharp decrease in crude output and efficiency.

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-- Special correspondents Andres D'Alessandro in Buenos Aires and Chris Kraul in Bogota, Colombia.

Photo: Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner arrives for an event at the government house in Buenos Aires on Thursday, April 12, 2012. Credit: Eduardo Di Baia /Associated Press

Venezuela's Chavez has surgery in Cuba; no word on cancer spread

REPORTING FROM CARACAS, VENEZUELA, AND LOS ANGELES -- A statement issued by the Venezuelan government Tuesday said President Hugo Chavez had undergone surgery in Cuba with "a satisfactory result," but it left several questions unanswered, including whether his cancer had spread.

The statement said Chavez would need several days to recover and that results of tests from the surgery would be made public. It did not specify when.  

Chavez announced this month that tests had shown evidence of a lesion close to where a tumor was removed by Cuban doctors in June. He has never given the precise location nor the type of original tumor.

Weeks earlier, he had declared himself free of cancer.

Ecuadorean president pardons newspaper in defamation case

REPORTING FROM QUITO, ECUADOR, AND LOS ANGELES--Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Monday pardoned three owner-editors and a columnist at the El Universo newspaper who had been convicted of defaming him in a controversial press freedom case.

Brothers Carlos, Cesar and Nicolas Perez and columnist Emilio Palacio had been ordered to pay $42 million in fines and serve three years in prison for publishing an allegedly libelous opinion piece by Palacio in February 2011 in the Guayaquil-based paper, the nation's second largest.

In the article, Palacio referred to Correa as a dictator and accused him of ordering authorities to fire indiscriminately at a hospital crowded with civilians during a 2010 police mutiny.

"Even though many don't want me to make concessions to those who don't deserve it, this is something that I decided in my heart to do some time ago, along with relatives, friends and close comrades, to pardon the accused and to revoke the sentences they deservedly got," Correa said during a televised speech at the presidential palace in Quito on Monday.

He added that the sentence proved three things: that the editors lied, that a newspaper is responsible for what its writers publish and that citizens shouldn't be afraid of confronting the news media.

"It showed you can prevail against abuses of media power," Correa said of the libel verdicts, which were upheld this month by the nation's supreme court. Correa said at that time that he was considering pardons, partly to keep his political programs on track.

Press freedom advocates, while acknowledging that the newspaper went overboard in its antagonistic coverage of Correa, criticized the verdicts as excessive and as having a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

Correa's pardon is the second given to Palacio in defamation cases in three years. Correa earlier had ignored a request from the the Organization of American States' human rights panel to reconsider his suit. Since the beginning of the case, Correa had said he would drop it if El Universo issued an apology, which it refused to do. Two of the Perez brothers have fled the country, as did Palacio, who sought political asylum in the U.S.

Correa also said Monday that he was dropping his suit against authors of a book called "Big Brother" who wrote that the leader knew of and tolerated his brother Fabricio's allegedly corrupt business practices. Correa has acknowledged his brother was involved in shady dealings but he said he had no advance knowledge of them.

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--Cristina Munoz and Chris Kraul

Photo: Ecuador's President Rafael Correa during a news conference at the presidential palace in Quito. Credit: Dolores Ochoa / Associated Press 

49 killed as train slams into retaining wall in Buenos Aires

REPORTING FROM BUENOS AIRES AND BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- A commuter train went out of control and slammed into a retaining barrier in a central Buenos Aires train station during peak rush hour Wednesday morning, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 500, federal police officials said.
 
After impact, many cars pancaked or jumped the tracks, killing both passengers and people waiting at the station to board. No official cause of the accident had been determined by midday, but officials speculated that a brake or system failure or human error sent the train out of control.
 
Police spokesman Nestor Rodriguez said the train was traveling about 15 mph and that the toll could have been much higher had it been traveling faster.

PHOTOS: Train accident in Buenos Aires

The train that crashed was on the Sarmiento line that brings commuters to central Buenos Aires, the capital, from the western reaches of the metropolis.