BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia’s military killed the No. 2 leader and top military strategist of the country’s main rebel army in a blistering bombardment of a major jungle camp, officials said Thursday, adding that rebel informants helped prepare the demoralizing shock to an already weakened insurgency.
The death of Jorge Briceno is a huge setback for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has been reeling from a decade of pressure by the U.S.-backed military.
President Juan Manuel Santos said the attack is “the most crushing blow against FARC in its entire history” — more important than the March 2008 bombing raid across the border with Ecuador that killed FARC foreign minister Raul Reyes or the bloodless rescue that July that freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. contractors and 11 other hostages without firing a shot.
Santos, who was defense minister during both operations, explained what Briceno’s death means to Colombians: “It is as if they told New Yorkers that Osama bin Laden had fallen.”
Briceno, 57, joined FARC as an illiterate teenager and spent the rest of his life in the jungle, becoming a feared and charismatic commander. Analysts predicted his loss might nudge FARC to seek renewed talks.
Santos told reporters at least 20 rebels were killed, including other senior insurgents, in operations that began Monday night with bombing raids involving at least 30 warplanes and 27 helicopters and ended with ground combat Wednesday.
But the key to the operation’s success was intelligence, including “the collaboration of members of the FARC itself,” said Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera. “The FARC is rotting inside.”
He did not offer specifics, though other officials told The Associated Press that reward payments to collaborators were being discussed. The U.S. State Department had offered a $5 million reward for Briceno.
