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. Chemical and Biological Terrorism
in Latin America:
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Mariano C. Bartolome
Maria Jose Espona
National Defense School
Maipú 262, Buenos Aires, Argentina
ABSTRACT
A revision
of the main global approaches towards chemical and biological weapons
and their eventual use by terrorist groups permits the identification
of two major conceptual mistakes. First, that the terrorist organizations
that might use weapons with chemical and biological agents will use
them to cause massive damage. Second, that there are no records in Latin
America about organizations willing to use chemical or biological agents
as weapons to cause massive damage.
Both assertions
prove to be false, given that in the intrastate conflict taking place
in Colombia there are reports about the use of chemical and biological
agents by the oldest terrorist group in the region, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARCs). This tactical modality is a result
of the know-how transmitted by other insurgency groups elsewhere, particularly
the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
In our paper,
we analyze the Colombian case, describing the conflict and its main
insurgency player, the FARCs. We then describe three basic tactics of
the use of chemical substances and biological agents by this organization:
cyanide bombs; pollution of water sources with agricultural toxic agents;
and bombs and ammunitions saturated with human feces. Finally, the conclusions
will show the impact of these terrorist modus operandi in the evolution
of the conflict in Colombia.
I. THE COLOMBIAN CONFLICT
For more
than three decades, Colombia has suffered from a blood-shed domestic
conflict. Three insurgent groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARCs)[1], the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the United
Self-defenses of Colombia (AUC) are fighting against the State for the
monopoly of violence and territorial control. Currently the insurgency
is present in more than 70% of the country.
The FARCs
appeared in the mid '60s, with almost 15,000 active members distributing
their activities in more than 60 "fronts" all over the country. The
ELN, on a smaller scale, has 5,000 troops that are distributed in almost
35 "fronts". Finally, the AUC comprises several self-defense groups
which emerged at the end of the '70s, because of the State's failure
to provide peasants a proper level of security against guerrilla forces.
Moreover,
the Colombian conflict cannot be separated or unlinked from the drug-trafficking
issue. The cocaine crop case and its processing and subsequent marketing
in foreign markets began to be relevant in Colombia in the early '80s
specifically via two organizations or cartels: the Medellin and Cali,
respectively.
Colombia
currently produces 80% of the world's cocaine. It also supplies 70%
of the cocaine and 65% of the heroine marketed in the USA, thus having
a virtual monopoly on the US drug market. It is estimated that the revenues
from drug-trafficking in Colombia represent from 3.5% (minimum hypothesis)
to 6.5% (maximum hypothesis) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and
are equivalent to 25% to 35% of the legal exports of the country.
In recent
years, the expansion of coca crops has been observed mainly in areas
under guerrilla control. This is due to the fact that the FARCs collect
taxes ("gramajo") from the drug-traffickers, for the protection of the
crop. It also operates their own drug business using drug plantations
and trafficking. The drug revenues obtained by this organization, according
to various sources, are from US$ 300 million and US$ 600 million annually.
In the late
'90s, the control on a vast jungle area, the so called "Demilitarized
Zone" and virtually a "State within a State" - equivalent to Switzerland's
size - was granted to the FARCs by the then President Pastrana. Within
this area are the major coca plantations, laboratories for processing
and covert landing strips for distribution.
In the year
2000, the Colombian Government's Executive Branch implemented a complex
program to combat the drug problem - the Colombia Plan. This plan involved
the eradication of the coca and poppy plantations with a crop substitution
scheme; a direct fighting scheme against trafficking gangs and insurgency
groups; and the enforcement of legal institutions (judiciary branch,
police, etc.). The Colombia Plan is now in its stage of full implementation
and has already achieved impressive first results.
Recently,
the President of Colombia closed the so called "Demilitarized Zone".
II. USE OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL AGENTS AS WEAPONS
Historically,
in the Colombian armed conflict, the first insurgent group to use banned
arms was the ELN. Through the so-called Training Camps of Popular Arms
(TAP), their fighters were trained with arms and non-conventional tactics
by both local and foreign instructors who had earlier gained their expertise
in countries such as Vietnam, Cuba and the Soviet Union.
The FARCs
followed this trend afterwards, although they chose an alternative source
for specific knowledge, the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA played
a key role in the implementation and different uses of the "explosive
cylinder" (adapted propane gas cylinders) as a main armament of the
FARCs, evolving from explosive to incendiary modes and ending up in
its use as a chemical weapon[2].
According
to a report made by the National Defense System of Information (SIDEN),
the incendiary cylinders emerge in the Colombian conflict by the end
of the 90's. In what could be the first attack of its kind, on March
24, 1998, the Puerto Lleras (Meta department) police department was
attacked by the FARCs' force of 43 guerrillas who used the cylinders
with glue and plastic substances which caused serious injuries to two
children and an official.
In similar
events, the FARCs also used as explosives - white phosphorous, petrol
and tar. Substances such as glue, tar or rubber have the effect of adhering
in flames to the clothes or skin of the military, their vehicles or
buildings[3].
As regards
the IRA, in mid August 2001, the Colombian army captured three members
of this European organization and charged them with training fighters
of the main guerrilla force of the country in the use of explosives
and the construction of non-conventional weapons. The IRA members, who
carried two false British passports and an Irish passport, had been
in the so called "Demilitarized Zone" training the FARCs.
On this
occasion, the Chief of the Colombian Army, General Jorge Mora, found
that the FARCs gave the IRA drugs, money and weapons in exchange for
training. Although the weekly Voz, the voice of the FARC's, said that
the IRA members had visited the area only to "talk and exchange opinions",
traces of explosives were found on the clothes of the arrested members.
The inquiry
carried out by the Colombian authorities on this case, together with
the one made at the same time by the Irish reporters, made it possible
to establish that during the 90's, around 25 IRA members visited Colombia
in order to train local terrorists in the use of explosives. According
to the daily Evening Herald of Dublin, three FARCs defectors confessed
to having been trained in explosive tactics by a five member - IRA cell.
Three of them were arrested, the other two might have fled through Venezuela,
and then returned to Ireland[4].
CHEMICAL WEAPONS: CYANIDE
Records
on the use of chemical agents for offensive purposes by the Colombian
guerrilla groups, date back to December 2000. On that occasion, the
ELN attacked the police department in Cajibío (Department of Cauca),
with pipettes loaded with sulfuric acid and ammoniac. Two civilians
and two uniformed officials died[5].
The next
year, the bombing carried out by the FARCs on September 2 at the location
of San Adolfo (Department of Huila), 370 km from Bogota, might had been
the scenario of the use of chemical weapons. In this case, four policemen
died after inhaling a gas that a local military chief, Col. Francisco
Caicebo, described as "toxic". Supporting such hypothesis, none of the
corps presented external body wounds.
The events
in San Adolfo were clarified almost a year later, after many expert
reports performed by Colombian and American governmental agencies. The
reconstruction of the facts showed that when 20 policemen confronted
a terrorist block, more than ten policemen were kidnapped after running
out of ammunition. These policemen, who had inhaled toxic gases - that
contained cyanide in the formula, probably cyanogen chloride[6]- during
the confrontation were taken to a closed facility, where five of them
were forced to drink liquids that combined with the gases generated
pulmonary edemas. Four officials died, while five survived with permanent
after effects.
In addition,
two days after the confrontation, the Colombian Army intercepted communications
from the FARCs, where a guerrilla explained to his chiefs details of
the attack with chemical agents in San Adolfo, receiving congratulations
for these actions[7].
Regarding
the details of this guerrilla action, the expert reports confirmed that
initially the FARCs had thrown against police facilities bombs, in the
form of hand-grenades, composed of explosives and a compound of cyanide
inside plastic containers. The Colombian Institute of Legal Medicine
had detected in the autopsy of the officials who died in the confrontation
a "chemical pneumonitis by exposure", adding in the report: "It is confirmed
that the death was caused by the inhalation of chemical substances that
produced the break of lung tissue, producing a pulmonary edema with
a significant increase of size and weight".
Moreover,
the American Defense Department's Pathology Institute, while analyzing
pulmonary tissue samples from the dead policemen, found that cyanide
concentrations exceeded 5 milligrams. Concentrations of 3 milligrams
are considered lethal[8]. Lastly, after all these expert reports were
revealed, the Colombian Prosecutor's Office opened a case against the
leader of the FARCs, Manuel Marulanda Vélez (aka "Tirofijo") and nine
other guerrillas under the charge of using chemical weapons against
State forces.
Another
different use of cyanide as a weapon by the FARCs is filling ammunition
heads, specially made hollow for this purpose. Evidence of this methodology
was obtained during "Pegasus Operation", a military action launched
in late 2002 in the province of Soto (Santander Department) in order
to find underground stockpiles of weapons belonging to many of the FARCs
fronts. This ammunition, which contained the chemical agent, killed
the victims[9].
The most
recent evidence suggest that the filling of the ammunition heads with
chemical agents is a tactic that is now being adopted by the ELN. In
mid-March 2003, 200 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunitions with these features
were seized from this organization in Alto Basilio (Antioquía)[10].
CHEMICAL WEAPONS: AGRICULTURAL TOXIC AGENTS
Both the
FARCs and the ELN have used chemical agents as weapons to poison fresh
water resources used by the civil population.
On February
22, 2002 in Pitalito (Department of Huila), authorities found that the
local water pipeline had been polluted with an unidentified but suspected
chemical agent. The chemical substance, that had been delivered in one
of the pipeline's inlets located in the spot named Bruselas, showed
a high concentration of chromium, sodium and nitrate. The expert reports
pointed out that the ingestion of this water would have caused serious
damage in vital organs of the victim, possibly death, depending on the
concentration of the ingested chemical substances.
This attack
did not produce victims, since local authorities had previously learned
of the attempt via interception of the FARCs' communications, where
the water pipeline had been declared a "military target" and could be
contaminated. According to the manager of the public companies of Pitalito:
"we avoided a catastrophe"[11] by taking swift actions.
A second
event of similar characteristics to the situation in Pitalito took place
a month later in the town of Libornia, located at 100 km from Medellín.
In the water tanks that feed the water pipeline, an important quantity
of the toxic component parathion was delivered, a substance used to
fumigate crops. The early detection of the attack prevented casualties,
although the town remained 24 hours without fresh water while the tanks
and pipelines were cleaned. As in the case of Pitalito, the attack was
attributed to the FARCs[12].
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS: HUMAN FECES
There are
records on the use of human feces as biological agents with offensive
intentions, that date back to 1998. According to a report by the SIDEN,
on March 6 of that year explosives were detonated, which were placed
by ELN guerrillas near a patrol car of the Army in Cúcuta (north Santander).
This resulted in the death of a soldier. The autopsy and other expert
reports carried out by specialists from Legal Medicine confirmed that
the attackers "used fecal material in explosive devices, causing a high
degree of contamination in wounds"[13].
In mid 2002,
evidence suggested that the Colombian insurgence could employ rudimentary
forms of biological weaponry. During the first days of June, in the
context of an offensive action with bombs in the region of Cundinamarca,
the police inactivated in Silvania a cylinder bomb charged with 5 kilos
of homemade explosive R1, potassium chlorate, aluminum powder, sawdust,
scraps of iron and "a mix of clay with human feces".
The danger
of these explosive devices are that, when exploding, they produce lethal
skin and organic infections to the person affected by its splinters.
For this reason, the police declared that if the bomb has exploded,
it would have triggered "a tragedy of great proportions"[14].
Human feces
is also used in filling hollowed ammunition warheads. "Operation Pegasus",
already mentioned in this paper, provided concrete evidence of this
issue.
III. CONCLUSIONS
By and large,
this paper demonstrates that the two assumptions identified in the abstract
are false; i.e., that a potential use of chemical and biological weapons
by terrorist organizations should be a "massive destruction" modality;
and that there are no records of Latin American terrorist organizations
attempting to use chemical or biological weapons in order to cause massive
damage.
- Currently, the FARCs are a clear example of the existence of Latin
American insurgent organizations inclined to an offensive use of chemical
and biological agents, with intensity levels below "massive destruction".
- More specifically, the meaning of this pattern of actions by the
FARCs must be analyzed in four different levels, although interrelated:
a tactical level, related to the development of the Colombian conflict;
a legal level, related to the compliance of international rules; a
technical level, referred to the chemical and biological agents used;
and a psychological level, related to the effect in subconsciousness
of the opponents to the FARCs.
- Regarding the Colombian conflict, the use of chemical and biological
agents as weapons by insurgent organizations has not shown any concrete
benefit to its users. On the contrary, it has produced a degradation
of the conflict and a greater damage, totally unnecessary, to the
civil population.
- Legally, the offensive use of chemical and biological weapons constitutes
a clear violation of the rules in force in Humanitarian International
Law, that were formulated to be applied in interstate armed conflicts,
but which are also binding to all parties involved in internal conflicts.
- Specifically, we observe a clear violation of sections 35 and 51
of Protocol I of the Geneva Convention. The first prohibits the use
of weaponry and combat methods that cause unnecessary suffering to
its victims and generates significant damage to the environment. The
second condemns indiscriminate attacks, referring to aggressions that
do not affect only military targets, but also civil individuals or
assets.
- However, the Geneva Convention is not the only international institution
violated by these actions. The same applies to the 1925 geneva Protocol
and Chemical Weapons Convention.
- From a technological point of view, the pattern of actions by the
FARCs shows clearly that biological and chemical weapons could be
used by subnational groups, without the possession of advanced technical
skills and facilities and equipment.
- The obvious physiological impact of the risk of being attacked with
non conventional weapons is a fear factor that could paralyze the
official response against insurgency groups.
REFERENCES
- Indeed, FARC-EP (Popular Army) name assumed in 1982 which confirms
its offensive nature
- "Armas químicas: Lo último en degradación del conflicto" ("Chemical
weapons: The latest in conflict degradation"), Vanguardia, September
10, 2001.
- Uso de armas químicas estrategia terrorista de las FARC y el ELN
("Use of chemical weapons: FARCs and ELN terrorist strategy"), National
Defense System of Information (SIDEN), Ministry of National Defense
of Colombia, May 29, 2002.
- "Tres presuntos guerrilleros irlandeses son arrestados en Colombia"
("Three suspected Irish guerrillaas arrested in Colombia"), CNN in
Spanish, August 14, 2001; "Sospechosos del IRA visitaron Colombia
para conversar, dice jefe rebelde" ("IRA suspects visited Colombia
to Talk, saids Rebel chief"), CNN in Spanish, August 22, 2001.
- "COLOMBIA/N.IRELAND: More Links Drawn Between IRA and FARC", Emergency
Response Research Institute (ERRI), 08 Jan 2002.
- The quantity of chlorine in this agent could justify the pulmonary
edema, but not in itself the effects of the hydrogen cyanide.
- "Farc están usando armas químicas: FBI" ("The Farcs are using chemical
weapons: FBI"), El Espectador, August 20, 2002.
- "Uso de químicos revelaría degradación del conflicto" ("The use
of chemicals would reveal the degradation of the conflict"), El País
(Cali), August 21, 2002.
- "La mala hora de ELN" ("ELN's bad time"), Revista Cambio, March
2003.
- "Brigada XI detecta químico en proyectiles decomisados al ELN"
("The XI Brigade detects chemicals in missils seized to ELN"), El
Universal, March 27, 2003.
- "Ataque químico alarma a Pitalito" ("Chemical attack alerts Pitalito"),
Diario del Huila, February 23, 2002.
- "Restablecen servicio de agua en acueducto envenenado" ("Water
service restablished in poisoned water pipeline"), EFE, March 25,
2002.
- Use of chemical weapons..., op.cit.
- "Las Farc casi repiten tragedia en Bojayá" ("The Farcs almost repeat
tragedy in Bojayá"), El Espectador, June 4, 2002.
KEY WORDS
Terrorism, Latin America, FARCs, chemical and biological weapons.
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