AP News, January 9th, 2008
The army has captured a senior commander of Colombia's second largest rebel group, the government said Tuesday, calling it a major blow to the guerrillas that could push them closer to a peace deal.
Carlos Marin Guarin, who uses the nom de guerre "Pablito," was detained Monday in the capital of Bogota after months of intelligence gathering, army chief Gen. Mario Montoya said. He did not give further details on the operation.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos called the capture "the most important ever" of a leader of the ELN, as the group is known by its Spanish initials. He added that it could help tricky peace negotiations with the rebels.
"We know that on various occasions (Guarin) prevented the ELN's central command from signing a peace treaty with the government," Santos said.
Among other crimes attributed to Guarin are the 1992 murder of the Roman Catholic bishop of the state of Arauca and more than 200 attacks on the U.S.-owned Cano Limon oil pipeline in northern Colombia, Santos said.
He said Guarin oversaw military operations on three of the ELN's seven fronts nationwide.
Government and ELN negotiators have been holding exploratory peace talks on-and-off since December 2005 in Cuba.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered to sponsor future negotiations on how to implement diverging proposals for a cease-fire.
The dwindling ELN, with 3,000 fighters, is considered a pale shadow of the much larger and more potent Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Although both are classified by the United States as terrorist organizations, the smaller ELN has mostly steered clear of Colombia's cocaine trade — a strategic move that has thinned its ranks and hurt its ability to attack the state.
