Colombia Minister Quits Over Concessions

This nation’s fragile peace process was pitched into uncertainty and its armed forces rocked to their foundations Wednesday when Defense Minister Rodrigo Lloreda resigned, accusing the government of conceding too much to leftist rebels.

Lloreda quit over the government decision to give the guerrillas indefinite control of an area in southern Colombia the size of Switzerland.

“Too many concessions [to insurgents] have been made by the government, and that is the perception of an overwhelming majority of Colombians,” Lloreda said at a news conference announcing his resignation. His departure signals a significant breach between the government and the military on the issue of tactics for achieving peace.

Lloreda also stated that the armed forces have been humiliated during the peace process, apparently referring to the absence of a military representative at the negotiating table and the suspension of two officers whom rebels accused of having links to right-wing private armies.

His resignation was quickly followed by those of two of the country’s 36 generals, and more top officers were widely expected to step down. Gen. Fernando Tapias, the armed forces commander, was named interim defense minister and quickly dismissed reports of massive military resignations.

Troops were evacuated from a 16,000-square-mile area in November for 90 days to pave the way for initial talks to end the government’s 35-year struggle with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, the nation’s oldest and largest rebel group with an estimated 15,000 troops.

The life of the “no-fire” zone has been extended twice. Last week, the government announced that the zone would remain a guerrilla sanctuary indefinitely.

Lloreda accused the rebels of using the no-fire zone to become militarily stronger. However, he stopped short of repeating media reports that the rebels are using the area as a recruitment base and a staging ground for kidnappings, which provide a major source of financing for the guerrilla war. Extortion and “taxes” on heroin and cocaine production provide the rest of the funds.

“I think that my leaving will revive . . . a much-needed debate over the path the country should take, about risks, about dangers involved in the progress of a peace process that is not properly controlled,” Lloreda said.

Indeed, a recent poll in the respected newspaper El Tiempo found that while nearly half the 1,224 people questioned nationwide favored extending the time limit of the no-fire zone as long as unspecified conditions were met, only 18.7% supported ceding the area indefinitely.

Military support of the peace process is indispensable to its success, said political analyst Jaime Zuluaga. For that reason, Lloreda’s resignation is considered the most serious obstacle that the peace talks have confronted.

Analysts speculated that President Andres Pastrana may try to assuage the armed forces’ concerns by naming as his new defense minister prominent industrialist Nicanor Restrepo.