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Four other Mexican students and former students of the Autonomous National University of Mexico were killed in the cross-border incursion ordered by Colombian President lvaro Uribe. The attack triggered a major diplomatic crisis, with Ecuador breaking off ties with Colombia, and Venezuela mobilizing troops to its border.

In the past, [Daniel Ortega] has referred to the members of FARC as "brothers."

The right-wing opposition criticized Ortega for granting asylum to the three women, complaining that the move made Nicaragua "a sanctuary for terrorists."

She was the presidential candidate of the Green Oxygen Party - a group that she had created after leaving the Liberal Party in 1998

San Vicente de Caguan was also one of the most dangerous areas in Colombia, as it was considered one of the strongholds of the guerrillas protected, forming part of the demilitarized zone of the army.

political kidnapping for extortion that are used purely as a means of financing at this stage of the life of the guerrillas

During the 1980s, the FARCcollected most of its revenues through kidnappingand extortion.

The FARCattempted to extract taxes from the new landlords using techniques it had successfully used with the existing landed elite: threatening retribution if those elites refused to pay, or kidnappingfor ransom

30 percent of its territory literally under FARC control,

Jorge Briceno, chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was convicted of co-masterminding the kidnapping and killing of three US activists in 1999, a Colombian court said Tuesday.

The FARC, with about 17,000 fighters, is the largest armed rebel groups in Colombia and controls nearly 40 percent of the territory.

In this context, the FARC has adopted strategies to strengthen its presence at the local level that play upon the weak mechanisms of accountability that exist in local and regional government. For example, by kidnapping or threatening municipal authorities, the group has sought to establish "armed oversight" over the use of municipal funds

Based on this information, the insurgents have targeted corrupt politicians in their kidnapping and extortion campaigns, though they often utilize public funds to finance their own activities. L

two scientists

(FARC), a violent insurgency group known for ransoming abductees, has claimed responsibility.

prepare a biological survey of a potential national park.

such as kidnapping civilians for ransom-to finance their war.

Causes of Displacement Young people's vulnerability to abuses is the motivating factor for fleeing in many cases. The UNHCHR reports that threats by guerrillas and paramilitaries are the primary reasons for families to seek refuge elsewhere. According to CODHES, in 1998, 36 percent of families fled with their children because of direct threats; 25 percent because of fear; 22 percent because of massacres and killings; 8 percent because of battles; 4 percent because of "disappearances"; 3 percent because of armed attacks; and 2 percent because of torture. According to the ICG, armed conflict accounted for 66 percent of displacement cases in Putumayo in 2002. Families regularly cited fear of forced recruitment of children into armed forces as a reason for fleeing from their homes. For example, 60 families fled from their homes in the municipality of Cunday, in Tolima department in August 2002, following the announcement of a recruitment order by the FARC-EP for everyone over the age of 12, according to the UNHCHR (E/CN.4/2003/13, Annex). In 2002, fighting for territorial control between guerrillas and paramilitaries in western Urabá forced a group of 64 civilians, including 36 children, to flee to the Punusa area of the Darién jungle in Panama, near the Colombian border (UNHCR). World Vision Colombia reports in Victimas Civiles en Medio del Conflicto Armado, 2002, that paramilitary forces committed six massacres during the last quarter of 2002 that provoked displacements of at least 170 people each in Antioquia, Chocó and Córdoba departments. The report also cites 11 massacres by unidentified forces committed during the same period that also forced residents to flee. No specific locations or dates of these events are provided.