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Colombian Terrorism
The Latin American News Service (LANS) of San Antonio, Texas issues detailed and highly informative reports on Latin Ameerican violence. One special report (Sept. 26, 1997) contains a surprising section on the the ties between clerics, the Basque terrorist movement ETA, and Colombian terrorism. The Esquipulas accord, engineered largely by the Costa Rican Nobel Peace laureate Oscar Arias some ten years ago, is alleged to have facilitated Colombian terrorism. The Pope has condemned clerical political activities and violence, but they continue and are alleged to be behind the blowing up of pipelines in Colombia. A Spanish priest, Perez, is described as the agent of ETA in Colombia. Apparently this report comes from Colombian intelligence. ETA has had ties with the IRA; terrorism is a world-wide problem, and the connection between the various terrorist groups is naturally very murky. Algerian terrorism, today the major problem, has puzzling ramifications. The success of terrorists in establishing the state of Israel contributed to the spread of terrorism. It shows little sign of
abating. Although reports like that of LANS must be subject to scrutiny, they deserve analysis.
Ronald Hilton, 9-28-97
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