"Mono Jojoy"

"Finally, he fell!" - Q'hubo, Columbia (24 Sept)

We were wondering if "Mono Jojoy" and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the Marxist-Leninist guerrilla arm of the Colombian Communist Party, would be ideological relatives of the NPA (Bagong Hukbong Bayan or New People's Army) and its kumanders in the Philippines.

We looked for some patriotic or revolutionary meaning of this alias but found none although we learned that "mono" refers to a monkey in Spanish.  May be it was a term of endearment of FARC supporters for "Jorge Briceño Suárez", another alias of the real Victor Julio Suarez Rojas. He's thought to be the FARC's most revered and yet feared general who headed the Eastern Bloc, said to be the most powerful fighting division.

He was dead at 57 on Thursday, September 23, two days after the Colombian military, the police and the Ministry of Defense launched Operation Sodom (does this mean, "take them from behind?") 200 miles south of Bogota.  This is how BBC (Sept 25) described the assault:

"In the early hours of Wednesday 22 September, 78 aircraft headed for the area known as La Escalera in the Macarena mountain range in Meta province. They dropped dozens of bombs on Mono Jojoy's camp, which Defence Minister Rodrigo Rivera has described as "the mother of all lairs" for its size and the number of hidden tunnels it had. About 400 members of the Colombian special forces then abseiled from helicopters and surrounded the camp. After hours of fighting, another 400 soldiers and police moved in on the camp, taking it in the early hours of Thursday morning. General Javier Florez, the commander of the joint task force leading the attack, said his men were able to identify Mono Jojoy by his scars, eye colour and the fact he carried insulin for his diabetes."

And this is how Hoy (25 Sept) of Ecuador illustrated the Sodoma:

"GPS in Mono's boots gave him away"

 There were two causes of Mono Jojoy's fall:  treachery--a deep penetration agent (a police sergeant) in his unit for the past two years--and modern technology--a GPS chip embedded in his boots.  Thus, his physical whereabouts was known far and wide by the military.

"Traitor and hidden GPS ended Mono Jojoy" - inside page, Las Ultimas Noticias, Chile (25 Sept)

"Jojoy's boots guided the bombs"- Q'hubo, Colombia (25 Sept)

"A chip betrays Mono Jojoy" - La Hora, Ecuador (25 Sept)

  

"Secret hero pursued Jojoy" - El Tiempo, Colombia (26 Sept)

"Two years of infiltration .." - El Mercurio, Chile (26 Sept)

 "The FARC has faced serious setbacks in recent years," Colombia Reports said, "with high-level commander "Raul Reyes" killed by a Colombian air strike on Ecuadorean territory in March 2008. The group's founder and supreme leader "Manuel Marulanda" died of natural causes in 2008. An airstrike by the Colombian armed forces on Sunday killed FARC commander "Domingo Biojo," political leader of the organization's 48th Front, along with at least 26 other rebels. Current supreme commander "Alfonso Cano" remains at large."

Below is the roster of top-level FARC officials who have fallen since "Sonia" was captured in February in 2004:

El Salvador, Colombia (24 Sept)

Sources:

1.   "FARC commander "Mono Jojoy" killed. (2010, September 23). Colombia Reports.  Retrieved from http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12002-mono-jojoy-killed-colombian-media.html

2.   "Colombian police examine Farc rebels' laptops." (2010, September 25).  News Latin America and Caribbean.  BBC Mobile. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11412720.

2.   Jerry McDermott. (2010, September 23). "My Meeting with Mono Jojoy".  News Latin America and Caribbean.  BBC Mobile. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11402694.

33 Chilean trapped miners celebrate their country's bicentennial

Last Saturday, 18 September, the whole of Chile--including the 33 miners trapped 750 meters under the earth--celebrated the 200th anniversary of their independence.  "Con gestos y espiritu de unidad," bannered the El Mercurio, "Chile mira al futuro y celebra sus 200 anos  (With action and spirit of unity, Chile looks at the future and celebrates its 200 years)."
 
The next day, the bottom picture, front page of Ultimas Noticias showed one miner dancing to the beat of "La Consentida," probably a popular song in Chile.  The inside feature said the 33 miners celebrated their bicentennial "pura alegria" (pure joy) as they sang loudly and danced ("cantaron a todo pulmon y hasta bailaron cueca"); they also hoisted their flag simultaneously with the ceremonies up on the earth above them.

El Mercurio said at the bottom of the page that the drilling machine has 624 meters below the earth, and is now in the final phase of the rescue operations.

The Hoy of Ecuador on the same day said the driller--commissioned by the Chilean military--has gone 630 meters down, and the front page had an illustration of the equipment with a description of its features: it's a steel plated and cylindrical; 2.5 meters tall - enough to accommodate one man; has an oxygen line, wheels for damping, an intercommunicator, bandages to prevent damage to the eyes, and a door coated with 3mm of transparent polycarbonate; and it's provided with a escape system in case the equipment gets stuck on the way - the person can open the bottom door and descends with a rope.

The miners shaved and wore red shirts during their celebration down under.  They may be home for Christmas!