Security & Strategic Review September 2010 (ISSN 1741-4202)

Santos hails killing of the Farc’s military chief as a turning-point

Last month saw the 46-year internal conflict between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) and government reach a new level. First it was the Farc’s turn, when it launched an offensive it codenamed Operación Renacer (‘Operation Rebirth’), designed to show that, far from having been defeated, it retained the capacity to deliver strong blows against the government forces, underpinning its message that it was willing to negotiate but that the government was not in a position to dictate the terms. Then came the government’s turn, with the killing of two top Farc leaders in rapid succession.