Colombia: Non-Violence and Negotiation

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December 14, 2005: The government has made a major concession, and agreed to grant the FARC a small neutral (no government forces) zone up in the mountains, in return for negotiations on the freeing of 63 "celebrity" hostages held by FARC.

December 12, 2005: In the north, leftist and rightist rebels continue to battle each other, and terrorize civilians. But at the same time, the rightist AUC rebels continue to comply with their peace agreement, and disarm. This week, 2,000 AUC gunmen disarmed, surrendering two armed helicopters, and several armed vehicles as well.

December 10, 2005: Some of the country's 80 Indian tribes have developed a non-violent tactic to deal with attacks by rebels (who want their support), and police (often over land disputes). The non-violent demonstrations, accompanied by media coverage, have often been successful to get the rebels, drug gangs and cops to back off.

December 9, 2005: Brazil's Embraer company is selling 25 Super Tucano reconnaissance aircraft to the Colombian Air Force. The aircraft cost about nine million dollars each.