A prize scalp

FRESH off a bruising strike on a camp belonging to the FARC guerrillas earlier this week, Colombia’s army announced an even bigger success today: the killing in a bombing raid of Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas, nicknamed “Mono Jojoy”. Mr Suárez was the group’s military-operations chief, a member of its seven-man ruling secretariat, and the commander of its Eastern Bloc, the strongest unit, with an estimated 4,000-5,000 fighters. Also known as Jorge Briceño, he is believed to have been behind the FARC’s direct offensives against army posts in the early 1990s, a wave of kidnappings of politicians and many of the organisation’s cocaine-trafficking operations.

Since Juan Manuel Santos was sworn in as Colombia’s president last month, the FARC had stepped up attacks on the military as a show of strength to the new government. After Mr Suárez was confirmed killed, Mr Santos, in New York for the UN General Assembly, said the death of a “symbol of terror” was “our welcome to the FARC” and “the most resounding blow against the FARC in its entire history.”

The government’s sustained campaign against the group has pushed them back to remote jungles and mountains, and claimed the lives of several top commanders, including Raúl Reyes, its “foreign minister”, who was killed by a bomb on a camp in Ecuador in 2008. Another leader, Iván Ríos, was murdered by his own bodyguard. And the FARC’s founder, Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda, died of natural causes in 2008. Mr Suárez was perhaps the most valuable remaining target. “Jojoy was a living legend in the FARC”, says Ariel Ávila, a political analyst. “They respected him highly. This is a blow to the structure and culture of the guerrillas.” The government may reap additional benefits from the strike if it demoralises some of Mr Suárez’s followers and encourages them to demobilise. Mr Suárez has no clear successor.

UPDATE: Colombian officials have revealed how they located Mr Suárez. He suffered from diabetes, and had ordered a new set of boots to reduce his foot pain. The government intercepted that communication, and managed to insert a GPS tracking device in one of the boots before Mr Suárez received them. From that point on, his days were numbered.

China donates USD 1 million to Colombian Defense Ministry

An agreement was signed by Colombian defense minister, Rodrigo Rivera ,and China’s Colonel General Liang Guanglie, who arrived on Sunday to Bogotá on an official visit. The money will be spent to acquire defense equipment. "We have signed the Agreement on Free Help from China to Colombia for the sum of eight million yuan (about one million dollars) for the purchase of logistics’ material" said Rivera in an appearance before the press with Liang.

Ingrid Betancourt’s husband won’t read her book

“I will not read it, I prefer to leave that chapter behind”, said Juan Carlos Lecompte, Ingrid Betancourt’s husband, about the book she wrote, which was published this week, entitled “Even Silence Has an End”. In addition, her estranged husband demands part of the assets of the politician, who was kidnapped by the FARC in 2002 and released in the Jaque military operation in 2008. He also wants to include part of the royalties from Betancourt's book in their divorce settlement.

Santos meets Obama in New York

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos declared himself “very satisfied” with the meeting he held on Friday with United States President, Barack Obama. The leaders spoke about the pending Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. Santos was one of the five presidents Obama invited for a private discussion in New York after attending the United Nations General Assembly. He revealed that they also discussed ecological issues, after being congratulated by Obama on Colombia military’s success in killing FARC No. 2, “Mono Jojoy”.

Santos to offer speech before the UN in New York

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos will attend to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and will offer a speech in which he is expected to expose Colombia’s advance’s in security issues. “In New York we will take advantage as is usual in these types of meetings to have bilateral meetings with many heads of state”, said president Santos, referring to Colombia´s intentions to use this trip to improve relations with other countries. Santos is also set to meet for the first time with President Barack Obama on Friday September 24.

Colombian army kills top Farc rebel leader Mono Jojoy

One of the most senior leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) has been killed, say reports.

Jorge Briceno, also known as Mono Jojoy, died in a military air strike in the Macarena region, known to be a Farc stronghold, local media said.

President Juan Manuel Santos said Jojoy's death was "the hardest blow" in the history of the rebel movement.

The Marxist Farc rebels have been fighting the Colombian authorities since the mid-1960s.
Jojoy was believed to be leader of the Farc's strongest fighting division, the Eastern Bloc, and had eluded Colombian security forces for almost 10 years.

The United States had offered a reward of up to $5m (£3.2m) for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

"A military source has confirmed that it defeated a group of rebels during an operation involving the four branches of the military," Colombia's attorney general Guillermo Mendoza said in a radio interview.

He said soldiers had found the body of Jojoy.

"The symbol of terrorism in Colombia has fallen," Mr Santos said.

"To the rest of the Farc: we are coming after you, we are not going to let down our guard."

A White House spokesman welcomed the news, calling it an "important victory" for Colombia.
Another 20 rebels were also killed in the attack, an official at the defence ministry told the AFP news agency.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Bogota says Jojoy's death will be a major coup for Colombia's new President Juan Manuel Santos.

It also leaves the Eastern Bloc without a leader, which is likely to seriously affect rebel morale, says our correspondent.

The rebels have said they are prepared to find a political solution to the conflict, and have appealed to Mr Santos to enter talks.

But they have stepped up their violent campaign since Mr Santos took office on 7 August, killing more than 40 security personnel in the past month.

Mr Santos has said the rebels must give up their arms and release all the hostages they are holding before talks can take place.

It comes a few days after another guerrilla Farc commander, Sixto Cabana, was shot dead along with 27 other rebels close to the border with Ecuador.

The US State Department said Mr Cabana has been behind the export of hundreds of tons of cocaine around the world and was responsible for hundreds of murders.