Rebels desert as Colombia army advances

FARC down to half its strength
The FARC is now down to about 9,000 fighters, the government says, half its strength of a decade ago when it regularly overran army outposts. Padilla said 30 of the rebels who surrendered in the past year had more than 20 years each in the FARC.

"The FARC subsists at the moment because it still has money from drug-trafficking and also because of (its) hostages," Padilla said in an interview. "If the hostages didn't exist, nobody would be interested in the FARC."

Many of the die-hard combatants who accept amnesty offers in this provincial capital where Colombia's eastern plains meet the Andes mountains have an added incentive for surrendering: A $100 million government fund provides cash rewards to those who betray their commanders, with more than $5 million being paid out to date.

The fast-talking Canizares wasn't eligible — he didn't turn anyone in but himself. He said he'd use a modest government stipend — about $300 a month — to study to be an auto mechanic.

Until the United States helped overhaul Colombia's military with more than a half-billion dollars in annual aid, soldiers barely penetrated the jungles in which the FARC moves so deftly. An army unit would take casualties and retreat.

"Now it enters an area and stays for a year or two," Canizares said. "If we fire off a few shots at the army, in 25 minutes it has four or five planes bombing and strafing the area."

Air force bombs lethally accurate
As recently as three years ago, rebel deserters say, air force bombs rarely hit their marks. Now they are lethally accurate. In addition to U.S.-made, Gatling gun-equipped Blackhawk helicopters, Colombia recently acquired 24 new Brazilian-made Super Tucanos turboprop attack planes fitted with U.S. avionics and "smart bombs."

Resupplied by air, commandos now spend weeks at a time on patrol, and U.S. spy satellites and planes that intercept radio traffic have strangled the FARC's ability to communicate and move in large numbers.

A U.S. military analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, says the rebels are doing little more than surviving.

They have lost key leaders in recent months: their foreign minister, Raul Reyes, was killed in a March 1 raid on his camp just inside Ecuador. Finance chief Ivan Rios' severed hand was delivered by the reward-seeking bodyguard who killed him, and rebel patriarch Manuel Marulanda died of a heart attack on March 26 at age 78.

But even senior government officials aren't predicting the rebel army's imminent demise.

The FARC still holds an estimated 700 hostages as bargaining chips, including three U.S. military contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. And it is fearful of disarming, given that when its movement tried to enter politics in the 1980s, far-right death squads killed some 4,000 activists.

Rebels increasingly use land mines
As the FARC hunkers down, rebels are increasingly inflicting casualties with land mines and sniper attacks. Nearly half of the 471 soldiers and police it killed last year were land mine victims, the military says.

The FARC's biggest units and top commanders, meanwhile, are believed to be hiding out in barely accessible mountains and jungles in southern and eastern Colombia from which it is very hard to dislodge them, the U.S. military analyst said.

Meanwhile, the Colombian military's onslaught has cut FARC income from the cocaine trade to an estimated $200-$300 million a year — about half what it earned a decade ago, according to Bruce Bagley, a drug war expert at the University of Miami in Florida.

Canizares says his disillusionment began three years ago when a new front commander, alias "Rodrigo," alienated the locals by shortchanging coca farmers and enriching himself with skimmed cocaine profits.

Part of Canizares' job was overseeing the delivery of 800 kilos of cocaine — collected as a tax on growers — to Venezuela every few months. Each shipment earned the FARC about $3 million. Now that Canizares' rebel front is wiped out, there's no one to collect from growers.

More from msnbc.com Racist webcam? TheGrio's test says no View an interactive, HD panorama of N.Y.'s 30 Rock Insider theft a big problem for small charities British music fans celebrate 'anarchy Christmas miracle' Census workers wanted, local roots preferred Answer Desk: Gold may be riskier than it seems Send your holiday pictures to troops

MORE FROM AMERICAS

Americas Section Front

Decision expected soon in Brazil custody fight Mexico City lawmakers OK gay marriage Colombia to Chavez: Santa, not ‘spy plane’ World Blog: Finally, Cuba celebrates with Kool Stepfather says needles were meant to kill boy Brazil ruling on U.S. boy expected Tuesday Tijuana chief takes aim at corrupt cops Castro: Obama seeking to topple Cuban communism Bus drivers fall victim to brutal Guatemalan gangs Americas Section Front   Add Americas headlines to your news reader: