SEPT. 11 ATTACKS END FARC FARCE

From Drug Traffickers And Threatened To Overthrow The Democratically
Elected Government By Force.

Before Sept. 11, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was
able to call such actions a legitimate form of rebellion and drew upon
a network of international support.

Now FARC is on the U.S. list of terrorist groups and FARC commanders
are upset that they are being associated with the likes of Osama bin
Laden.

Some sources of rebel funding and diplomatic support have been cut
off, and there is the potential that they could be hunted by the U.S.
military in the same way bin Laden is being pursued.

FARC commanders have demanded that the U.S. and Colombian governments
stop calling their group "terrorists" and "drug traffickers." They
even threatened to cancel a three-year-old peace process unless
President Andres Pastrana orders officials to stop using those labels.

FARC, Latin America's largest guerrilla group, insists that its
Marxist rebellion has no relation to the events of Sept. 11.

FARC commanders, however, have refused to condemn the Sept. 11
attacks, while objecting to the U.S.-led military offensive against
Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the international community is distancing itself from the
guerrillas.

In December, the European Union voted to revoke visas it had granted
to representatives of the FARC and National Liberation Army, breaking
with a longstanding practice of allowing those groups to circulate
freely, conduct meetings and even raise funds.

The FARC insists it does not traffic in drugs but rather imposes "war
taxes" on farmers and middlemen who engage in the trade.

The U.S. government doesn't seem to see the distinctions and
Ambassador Anne Patterson has raised concerns American troops could be
sent to intervene directly in the Colombian conflict.