President Alan Garcia signed an accord with his Colombian and Brazilian counterparts Sunday to reinforce surveillance of the Amazon region’s rivers, to combat the illegal traffic of arms and drugs and rebel groups such as Colombia’s FARC guerrillas.
“This tri-national action in the Amazonian jungle rivers will bolster our work in this very important territory and prevent it from becoming a zone where illegal crops are cultivated and arms are trafficked,” said Garcia.
The pact, which includes Brazilian air and satellite monitoring of the region’s rivers, was signed by Garcia, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the Colombian jungle border city of Leticia.
This joint effort is extremely important, according to Colombian Defence Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, because the rivers will become the highways of tomorrow for the guerrillas, drug traffickers and arms dealers.
Before the private meeting, the presidents were greeted by Colombian singing sensation Shakira, who led an international day of protest demanding the release of hostages taken by Colombia’s FARC. The “Day against kidnapping,” which coincided with Colombia’s Independence Day, was celebrated throughout Colombia and via 17 Colombian embassies around the world. In Lima, a march in the district of Miraflores coincided with the annual peace march held in commemoration of the car bomb attack by Sendero Luminoso insurgents in July 1992.
