BOGOTA'S COURAGEOUS MAYOR

One of the most surprising discoveries that awaits a visitor to Colombia is
that the capital city of Bogota is a delight.

Despite the three-way war being waged against the country by leftist
guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and ruthless drug cartels, and the
fact that city is literally under siege, Mayor Antanas Mockus has made
Bogota one of the most attractive and enjoyable cities in the world. It is
his success and popularity that has made the mayor and more than 100 of his
fellow mayors, who have also bravely defied the triple terror that menaces
Colombia, targets for assassination.

Mayor Mockus has been warned that unless he resigns, he will be murdered by
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by their initials, FARC.
In all, 110 mayors have received death threats from the FARC, a guerrilla
army that controls a large but isolated area of Colombia. Some have also
been threatened by the right-wing, self-styled Auto-Defense Forces, which
have been likened to death squads.

To their credit, many of the mayors and more than 100 other municipal
government officials defied the death threats. The FARC and the
second-largest left-wing group, the National Liberation Army, have been
intensifying terrorist attacks on civilian targets and innocent civilians.
This reflects the frustration of the guerrillas over their failure to win
power by military means.

The targeting of Colombia's mayors, who are civic heroes, is a warning that
the three and a half decade-long civil war is increasing in its
viciousness. The reason is that the newly elected president, Alvaro Uribe,
who takes office next month, has declared his intention to return Colombia
to rule of law, and has announced that he will give no quarter in battling
the guerrillas. By threatening civil authority at the mayoral level, the
guerrillas/terrorists hope to destabilize an already weakened democracy and
thwart Mr. Uribe's intention to bring peace to Colombia through strength.

In a landslide election victory, he was given a clear mandate by the
Colombian people to scrap fruitless peace negotiations and take the war to
the strongholds of the guerrillas. In a display of determination and
courage that is reminiscent of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's leadership
when terrorists struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center, Mayor
Mockus has announced that he is staying on, despite the threats to his life.

Mayor Mockus and President-elect Uribe are with us in the fight against
terrorism. We must be with them.