[NYTr] NYTimes' Chief Hugo-Basher Writes of Colombian Rebel's Visit to Havana Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:53:47 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [The photo accompanying the article clearly contradicts Romero's description of Havana as "threadbare." Red snapper, known as pargo in Cuba, is much more commonly available than he lets on (and so much cheaper and more delicious than the same fish available in US city restaurants). It's been a while since this dinner took place, but only the caption tells you when it was -- "recently." (Note the dateline is Havana, but has no date). Romero clearly hasn't much to report so the Times dug this collection of hostile cliches to publish before it is completely irrelevant. It says the last talks ended badly -- this stale piece being published as a major new mediation effort was underway by Hugo Chavez. Pathetic and bizarre. -NYTr] The New York Times - Sep 9, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/world/americas/09havana.html PHOTO CAPTION: Pablo BeltrC!n, a negotiator for the E.L.N., a Colombian guerrilla group, in Havana recently. Cuba, a Rebel Groupbs Birthplace, Becomes a Refuge By SIMON ROMERO HAVANA b Dinner with the guerrillas was a civilized affair. A chauffeured Mercedes, courtesy of Cubabs government, delivered guests to the villa where the leaders of one of Colombiabs most resilient rebel groups often stay when they are in town. Francisco GalC!n, a former seminarian with a long white beard, poured glasses of AC1ejo de Caldas rum and distributed cigarettes from a pack of Marlboro Lights. Before sitting down to a meal of red snapper, a treat commonly reserved for visitors with hard currency, Pablo BeltrC!n, the lead negotiator for the National Liberation Army, or E.L.N., offered a toast: bTo Cuba.b To Cuba: a fitting tribute to a nation that nurtured the insurgency from its origins here in the 1960s and has since become something of a refuge for the aging rebels, who occasionally come here for medical care. It is also, paradoxically, the place where the revolutionaries are trying to peacefully end their movement after decades of violent struggle against a string of pro-American governments. This is one of the only places where the E.L.N. feels safe enough to engage in cease-fire talks with Colombiabs government. bHavana is a place where things move in slow motion in comparison with other cities,b said Mr. BeltrC!n, 53, who went from university studies in petroleum engineering to bombing oil pipelines and kidnapping employees of foreign energy companies. bItbs the perfect place to negotiate with tranquillity and contemplate what comes next.b In this largely threadbare city, away from the threat of assassination or even random crime, the relative luxury the E.L.N.bs leaders experience speaks volumes about how much has changed in Colombia and Cuba b and perhaps how much they themselves have changed. Relations between Colombia, led by a conservative government, and Cuba are warming despite their very different political philosophies. And after years of isolation and conflict, the rebels seem content, once the daybs negotiations have ended, to visit this citybs jazz clubs or stroll along the seawall without having to look over their shoulders. The E.L.N.bs leaders, including Mr. BeltrC!n and Mr. GalC!n, are mainly men in their 50s who have spent their adult lives entangled in war, in mountain encampments or in prison cells. Mr. GalC!n, whose real name is Gerardo Antonio BermC:dez, travels here from MedellC-n, where he has been living since his recent release from prison. Mr. BeltrC!n, who was born Israel RamC-rez Pineda, travels from rebel camps in the border region between Venezuela and Colombia. Juan Carlos CuC)llar, another E.L.N. commander at the negotiating table, comes on furlough from his prison cell on the outskirts of MedellC-n. The E.L.N. came together when priests intoxicated with the ideas of liberation theology allied with Colombians who had studied in Havana in the early years of Mr. Castrobs revolution. Together they pledged to dislodge Colombiabs moneyed elite. The E.L.N.bs current leader, NicolC!s RodrC-guez, who uses the nom de guerre Gabino, joined the group in the mid-1960s as a teenage peasant. The group emerged as a favorite of Mr. Castrobs among foreign guerrilla movements, along with the insurgency in Bolivia that Che Guevara was guiding at the time of his death in 1967. For years afterward, Cuba did what it could to help export its revolution to Colombia, including allowing the rebels to use Cuba as a listening post. The E.L.N. was decimated by counterinsurgency forces in the 1970s, but it regrouped by focusing attacks on foreign-owned oil infrastructure. In more recent years, Cuba took on a different supporting role, as battles with right-wing paramilitaries and other leftist rebels eroded the E.L.N.bs strength. And Colombia, which broke off diplomatic relations in the early 1980s over Mr. Castrobs support for rebel groups, changed its stance with Cuba. President Clvaro Uribe of Colombia, the Bush administrationbs closest ally in South America, has improved ties with Cuba, and the two countries have been in talks over how to lower trade barriers. The E.L.N.bs commanders now visit less for ideological reasons than for practical ones. They are sometimes clandestinely flown here for medical treatment. Manuel PC)rez, the Spanish-born priest who preceded Mr. RodrC-guez as the E.L.N.bs leader, was reportedly treated here for complications from hepatitis before his death in 1998 at age 54. And then there are the various rounds of cease-fire talks. For those, Cuba has offered to act as host, but has also provided the rebels with the villa in El Laguito, a gated area with pre-revolution homes meticulously preserved for use by foreign dignitaries. So far, peace remains a distant goal. The recent talks ended late last month on a note of bitter discord. The E.L.N. rejected a proposal for its leaders to be transferred outside Colombia. (Another round of talks has been taking place in Venezuela this week, but details have not been made public.) Cubabs future role as a base for talks, meanwhile, remains uncertain. And so the E.L.N. soldiers on. It is not Colombiabs largest rebel group, a distinction that belongs to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Nor is it especially active, having avoided in recent years actions like its 1999 hijacking of an Avianca jet. The group, branded as terrorists by the United States, still finances itself through extortion and kidnappings, holding an estimated 200 captives, and says it has 5,000 members; private military analysts say that may be an exaggeration. bThe E.L.N. is neither at war nor at peace,b said LeC3n Valencia, a former E.L.N. commander who writes on security issues in BogotC!. So much of the commandersb lives is lived in a gray zone: for those still wanted by Colombian authorities, orders for their arrest are suspended to allow them to travel to the negotiations. Havana may be the only place where the rebels escape the feeling of limbo. Here, they can almost be regular visitors. Besides visiting jazz clubs, they sometimes stroll the streets of Old Havana, where the background chatter in Russian no longer belongs to Soviet advisers, but to sunburned beach enthusiasts. Sometimes, after dining in their villa, the guerrillas walk around the nearby lake, lined with mansions that once belonged to Cubabs elite. On occasion, the Colombian governmentbs negotiators, who stay in the same complex, have the same idea and the two delegations bump into each other. bWe greet each other cordially,b said Mr. BeltrC!n, bbefore getting on our way.b Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================