Deadly Rebel Attack Dims Hopes for Colombian Truce

BOGOTA, Colombia â€”  Rebels dampened hopes for a Christmas truce and prisoner exchange with a massive weekend attack on a Colombian marine base near the Panamanian border that authorities said left at least 23 marines and 42 guerrillas dead.

Witnesses told local radio stations that the deaths occurred between Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning. Up to 600 guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the initials FARC, tossed grenades and exploding natural gas cylinders at the marine base in the township of Jurado, about 10 miles from the Panamanian border. The telephone office, police station, electric plant and nearby houses also were damaged.

“The situation is complete devastation,� Father Bernardo Nino, a parish priest, told RCN radio. “We are suffering a total nightmare.� He estimated that 40 marines were killed.

The Colombian navy reported that 23 marines, one police officer and one civilian were dead, two marines were missing, 33 injured and three kidnapped.

The FARC did not immediately comment on witness reports, confirmed by the government, that 42 rebels died in the fighting.

Proximity of the base to Panama underlined fears that the 35-year-old conflict may spill across Colombia’s borders, a concern that is becoming more acute as the United States closes the last of its military bases in Panama and prepares to turn over protection of the Panama Canal to that country Dec. 31.

The attack also pointed out the seeming contradiction of the government’s effort to negotiate peace in the midst of an intensifying civil war.

“Until now there has not been a single sign of a correlation between the government’s generosity, the anxiety of the Colombian people and what [the guerrillas] want for Colombia,� said Sen. Enrique Gomez Hurtado, leader of the Conservative Party caucus, the second-largest delegation in Congress.

The base was attacked hours before government negotiator Victor G. Ricardo met with FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, known as “Sure Shot,� to discuss an exchange of nearly 500 soldiers and police held by the insurgents for hundreds of jailed rebels. Two days earlier, FARC representatives said that they were considering the government’s proposal for a Christmas truce.

The attack on the marine base followed a flurry of weekend rebel incursions in northwestern Colombia, including one in San Luis in Antioquia province in which seven police officers were killed.

In addition, Colombia’s second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, has damaged 172 electric towers in recent weeks, forcing power rationing in Medellin, the country’s second-biggest city. The guerrillas’ aim is to short-circuit government plans to sell the electric distribution company to private investors.