Nine People Killed

By Margarita Martinez
Associated Press Writer

BOGOTA, Colombia –– Suspected rebels raided a banana plantation Friday in paramilitary-controlled northern Colombia, killing nine people and blowing up the
packing plant.

The mayor of Apartado, the town closest to the plantation, blamed the slayings on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Apartado is about 275
miles northwest of Bogota.

The rebel group was pushed out of the area five years ago by a right-wing paramilitary group acting with the support of landowners.

"The FARC is trying to retake the region. This is a demonstration of force and also of how depraved they have become," Mayor Jesus Agudelo told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview.

Banana workers threatened a protest strike, saying the killings were retaliation for a local union's decision to support anti-rebel candidate Alvaro Uribe in upcoming
presidential elections.

There was no immediate comment from FARC.

Agudelo said a group of FARC rebels attacked the plantation just after sunrise, dynamited the packing plant and took nine people away at gunpoint.

"Five hundred feet from the plant, they forced them onto the ground and assassinated them," he said.

The dead included seven workers, a man looking for work and a woman beggar, Agudelo added.

                                                   © 2002 The Associated Press