Its getting scary.Be careful my American brothers.
http://wire.ap.org/?SLUG=COLOMBIA%2dELECTION
MAY 23, 01:56 ET
Colombian War Zone Spreads to Cities
By MARGARITA MARTINEZ
Associated Press Writer
AP/Ricardo Mazalan [30K]
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MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) — Soldiers crouched behind a Coca-Cola sign, squeezing off bullets at an unseen enemy. Frightened teen-agers stumbled through the streets, carrying wounded children in their arms.
For many Colombians, images from this week's battle in Medellin underscored a terrifying new phase their country's long cycle of violence: urban warfare.
Colombia's civil war has been fought mostly in the countryside for the last 38 years. But in recent months, leftist rebels, rival right-wing paramilitaries and even common criminals have battled for control of the hillside neighborhoods that surround Medellin, the country's second-largest city.
AP/Ricardo Mazalan [24K]
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``We're looking for control of the cities because whoever has that is one step ahead in the war,'' said a man who called himself Gomelo, a paramilitary leader in a Medellin barrio who guided an Associated Press team around his territory during a recent trip.
His fighters, dressed in the camouflage uniforms of the illegal United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, openly roam some neighborhoods. Children watch with apparent admiration as they walk by with Kalashnikov rifles slung over their shoulders.
The paramilitaries didn't participate in Tuesday's street battle, which erupted after security forces raided one of the hillside slums early Tuesday morning. Among the nine dead were two small girls. Another 30 people were injured during the gunfight.
The guerrillas control some neighborhoods, the paramilitaries others. And then there are the ones that are being fought over. The fighting hasn't reached downtown yet, and hasn't spread to other cities.
AP/Ricardo Mazalan [23K]
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Gomelo stood overlooking the city, pointing out areas that the AUC's ``Metro Block'' control just two miles from Medellin's center. He described a recent battle — his fighters killed two people they believed were helping the guerrillas. The guerrillas responded with a rain of gunfire in Metro Block territory.
Despite the battles, some residents say they are glad the paramilitaries have invaded their neighborhood, taking control from the common criminals.
``They're the ones who take care of the neighborhood,'' said an old man who would only say his name was Samuel. He said he had come to this neighborhood to escape violence in the countryside.
Colombia's other large cities, like Bogota and Cali, also have guerrilla cells, but their principal job is to support the rural fighters. Medellin is the first to see major urban fighting.
A city of 3 million people in central Colombia, Medellin has a history of violence. It was the home of the late cocaine lord Pablo Escobar and the base for his drug trafficking empire.
During the height of the drug wars, in 1991 and 1992, Medellin had one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with 444 people for every 100,000 residents dying annually. The rate fell to 150 per 100,000 residents in 2000, but it's going up again. Last year it was almost 200.
In comparison, New Orleans had the highest homicide rate of any large city in the United States in 2000, with only 20 killed per 100,000 residents, according to the FBI.
In the early 1990s, drug traffickers based in Medellin collected money to arm a force to fight their rivals, the guerrillas. Later, the group evolved with help from cattle ranchers and businessmen tired of being targeted by the guerrillas.
``We're living in the recycling of the drug trafficking violence, transformed into new structures and groups,'' said Luis Pardo, a former peace commissioner in Medellin.
Jose, another leader of the Metro Block, says his father was killed by the guerrillas. To avenge his death, Jose joined the rebels so that he could get to his father's murderer. After he killed the alleged assassin, he defected to the paramilitaries.
In Medellin, he appears to be on the winning side.
Medellin police chief Gen. Leonardo Gallego said 70 percent of the city's slums are controlled by the AUC.
``They're gathering up various gangs and the ones who don't join them disappear,'' he said.
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