Future of Colombia rebels up in air under Cano

updated 7:33 p.m. ET June 9, 2008

BOGOTA, Colombia - The bearded Marxist intellectual who has just taken command of Latin America's last major guerrilla army has been put on the spot by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is calling on him to abandon armed struggle.

Alfonso Cano and his lieutenants, the subjects of an intense manhunt by Colombia's U.S.-supported military, are believed to be isolated in jungle and mountain hideaways. Their rebels are hunkered down as well, holding scores of hostages as human shields against increasingly successful attacks.

There was no question of their allegiance to the legendary Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, a septuagenarian who died of a heart attack in late March. But it is unclear how far other rebel commanders will follow Cano, a bespectacled former anthropology student and Communist Youth activist who took over last month.

Chavez, the main foreign backer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, urged Cano and his fighters during his weekly television and radio program Sunday to free all their hostages unconditionally and give up their arms.

Only five months ago, Chavez called on the world to recognize the FARC as a legitimate army. Now he calls their struggle "history."

"At this point in Latin America, an armed guerrilla movement is out of place," he said.

Will FARC call it quits?
The guerrillas haven't inflicted serious casualties since 2006, the government claims rebel numbers are dwindling and Chavez does have a point: Leftists elsewhere in Latin America have recently seen more success at the ballot box than they ever achieved through armed struggle.

But it's not at all clear whether Cano has inclination — or even the ability — to persuade his rebels to call it quits, especially given Colombia's history of death squad violence against rebels who opt for the ballot box. It also remains unclear whether Chavez will use his ample leverage to pressure the rebels to take his advice.

What is clear is that both Cano and Chavez are under pressure as never before.

With U.S. advisers and technology giving Colombia better human and eavesdropping intelligence than ever, Colombia has pummeled the FARC insurgency.

For the first time in the 44-year war, a member of the FARC's ruling seven-man secretariat was killed in action. Foreign minister Raul Reyes died in a March 1 cross-border raid into Ecuador and rebel finance chief Ivan Rios was slain a week later by a ransom-seeking bodyguard.

And the intelligence bonanza Colombia scored in the Reyes raid — laptops containing more than 11,000 electronic documents — have since made a strong case to the world that Chavez has tried to arm and finance the rebels.

Now Chavez has pivoted again.

"Enough of all this war. The time has come to sit down and talk peace," he said. "Cano, I'm at your disposal to look for ways to free the prisoners you have there in the mountains."

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