Defense Minister Calls Colombia Fighting a War

The scores of Colombians, including civilians, killed during ongoing battles last week between the army and guerrillas in this nation’s southern, cocaine-producing region are an unfortunate aspect of war, the defense minister said Saturday.

“Colombia . . . has to understand that what is occurring is part of a confrontation where all of us must decide whether we are going to support democracy . . . or deny our army support in the moment it most needs it,” Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverri Mejia said.

“Colombians have not noticed that we are at war,” he said. “This is Colombia’s war, not just the army’s war.”

Local authorities reported Friday that 28 civilians were killed in an aerial bombardment of the region by the armed forces.

The army is trying to clear the area of rebels to permit recovery of survivors and bodies from the bloodiest confrontation in 35 years of guerrilla war.

On Saturday, rebels were blamed for incidents of violence across the country--from burning vehicles to grenade attacks--as they began enforcing a ban on movement in an effort to disrupt today’s congressional elections.

Meanwhile, in southern Colombia, guerrillas ordered civilians to evacuate whole counties in the war zone.

“Hear me well: This battle is still going on,” Echeverri said.

Reinforcements have been sent into the area where a battalion was ambushed by guerrillas last week.

So far, only nine survivors have been recovered from a battalion of 153 soldiers, according to an army officer in Florencia, near the war zone.

When the survivors were located and airlifted from the area on Friday, they had no idea what had happened to their comrades, the officer said.

Guerrillas have said that in fighting Monday and Tuesday, they killed 80 members of the elite army unit and took 43 prisoners, leaving the rest dispersed in the jungle.

The officer in the war zone said the final death toll could be even higher than the guerrillas’ figure.

The armed forces will not release casualty figures until the military has secured the area and can be sure the numbers are accurate, Echeverri said.

The bombing was part of the effort to secure the area. However, the armed forces came under pressure to halt bombings when refugees fleeing the area reported civilian deaths.

“The civilian population must be protected,” said Robin Kirk of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Colombia has signed an international agreement not to use tactics such as indiscriminate bombing against civilians, Kirk said.

Civilians living in the southern, rebel-controlled areas make a living growing coca, the leaf used to make cocaine, and the army repeatedly has accused them of supporting the insurgents. The guerrillas rely on cocaine “taxes” for their income.

“The fact that a coca farmer pays taxes [to the rebels] does not make him part of the war,” Kirk said.

However, Echeverri said the southern conflict is about cocaine, not ideology.

“This bloody week has permitted Colombians to realize that the narco-traffickers protected by the guerrillas have taken over [about 14,400 square miles] of our national territory where we are fighting today,” Echeverri said. “The motive is obvious. That is the world’s largest coca and cocaine paste production center.”

Echeverri insisted that the confrontation was the result of successes the armed forces have recorded since September in an operation to force guerrillas from the region.

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The battalion that was attacked participated in the destruction of 73 cocaine laboratories three weeks ago, he said.

The troops had left on a patrol March 1, Echeverri said.

The army officer in the war zone said that one soldier was killed that day. The battalion knew that it was outnumbered but decided not to withdraw, even though heavy cloud cover prevented commanders from sending in reinforcements.

The fighting began in earnest Monday, but the heaviest casualties occurred Tuesday, he said.

The armed forces tried to send in reinforcements in five helicopters Tuesday, when the clouds lifted, but the choppers could not land because of guerrilla fire.

The battalion cut off radio contact Tuesday night for security reasons. When reinforcements entered the zone Wednesday, they could not find survivors.

Seven soldiers, commanded by Maj. Jhon Jairo Aguilar, made radio contact Thursday and were recovered Friday, according to the officer. Aguilar changed into a clean uniform and accompanied the reinforcements back into battle. A ninth survivor also appeared under circumstances that were unclear.

“What you saw in Vietnam, we’re seeing here,” the army officer said. Reminded that the United States lost in Vietnam, he replied: “We are losing here.”

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Times staff writer Darling reported from Bogota. Special correspondent Lawrence reported from Florencia.