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Missing Governor Found Dead in Colombia

   VOA News 23 December 2009
   Outside of home of Luis Francisco Cuellar

Photo: AP

   Police  and  residents  stand  outside the home of Gov. Luis Francisco
   Cuellar  after  he  was  kidnapped  by  alleged  rebels  in Florencia,
   Colombia, 21 Dec 2009

   Officials  in  Colombia say a provincial governor who was kidnapped by
   suspected  leftist  rebels  has  been  found  dead in southern Caqueta
   province.

   Authorities  say  the  body,  which  was surrounded by explosives, was
   discovered  Tuesday  near  the  Caqueta's  capital, Florencia, one day
   after Governor Luis Francisco Cuellar was abducted from his home.  The
   kidnappers  had  used  explosives  when  raiding  the governor's home,
   killing one police officer.
   Investigators  believe  a unit of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces
   of Colombia, or FARC, was responsible.
   President  Alvaro  Uribe  had  ordered  the military to search for the
   missing   governor,  and  offered  a  reward  of  about  $500,000  for
   information  leading  to  Cuellar's  liberation.  President Uribe told
   reporters  that  Colombia  cannot  continue  to submit to the whims of
   terrorists.
   The Caqueta province in southern Colombia is a remote region where the
   rebels maintain a strong presence.
   The  FARC  has  been  waging  an insurgency against the government for
   four-and-a-half  decades,  but its ranks have been decimated in recent
   years by an ongoing offensive by the Colombian military.
   The  FARC  is  holding  hundreds  of people in secret jungle camps for
   ransom  or  political leverage, including about 24 police officers and
   soldiers.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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