Colombia’s Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos Tuesday announced a
“strategic leap” to further diminish the military capacity of the FARC.
The plan consists of a joint offensive by the several branches of the armed forces in areas where the FARC has strong military presence.
“The beast is wounded and we have to keep the initiative to give it the final blow, to take it to a point of no return,” Santos said.
According to the Minister, the armed forces will first determine in which locations the guerrillas are at their strongest and begin a massive and long lasting offensive in those areas using troops from all over the country.
“We will combine this with intelligence work to identify and hit the high value targets that are there,” the Minister added.
Santos also says Colombia will strengthen its military presence on its borders to prevent guerrillas taking refuge in neighboring countries.
“We will also fight the political and legal war of these groups that, while being beaten in the military field, choose to infiltrate civil society with militias and presence in universities and NGOs,” Santos said.