Colombia's largest rebel group FARC is forbidding cellphones in La Uribe, Meta and say they they planted a minefield around the village, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said in the town Sunday, before giving away free cellphones.
According to the Minister, the guerrillas "are distributing pamphlets in which they say they mined all roads, making the civilian population the first victim and also saying they prohibit the use of cellphones."
Santos said that La Uribe is a town that "is flourishing again, we have reinstalled State control and eradicated violence. We will not allow the FARC to have any influence here."
The Minister visited the town with high military officials and his own family and was giving away free cellphones "to the mothers of La Uribe."
Santos asked the inhabitants of the town to use the cell phones to warn the army if there is guerrillas activity. "The cell phones help to inform the army, our forces, to know where the guerrilla is, that's what they are for. Any citizen should work with the security forces so that there comes an end to violence in this country," the Minister explained.
