MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Following killing of 14 policemen Colombia rules out any dialogue with FARC

Defence Secretary Rodrigo Rivera: “the slogan is get tough, get tough”

Colombian Defence minister Rodrigo Rivera ruled out any dialogue with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas after they killed five soldiers and 14 police officers, and called on the Army to get tougher on terrorist actions.

“There's no possibility of dialogue with terrorists or with anybody who thinks they can use violence and terror to get their point across,” Rivera said in an interview with Caracol radio. He added the new administration of President Juan Manuel Santos “will never give in to this sort of blackmail.

”We're going to defeat these terrorists, because the slogan is get tough, get tough, get tough with this narco-terrorist group“ he underlined echoing Santos's words when he vowed to step up a military crackdown on FARC.

Santos took office August 7 amid FARC peace overtures after eight years of setbacks under former president Alvaro Uribe's hard-line policy against insurgent groups -- part of the crackdown was led by Santos himself as Defence minister from 2006 to 2009.

The new president left the door open to negotiations but demanded FARC first release all its hostages, stop pressing minors into their ranks, halt violence and turn in their weapons.

But after the 14 police officers were killed last week in southern Caqueta department when their patrol vehicle went over a land mine -- guerrillas shot and burned to death those injured in the blast -- the government's stance hardened.

Five soldiers were also killed in separate clashes with FARC in Norte de Santander and Narino departments, on the borders with Venezuela and Ecuador respectively.

”The fight continues with bravery and determination,“ said Rivera, ”because we have the solidarity of the Colombian people.

”And despite the death of 19 of our country's heroes, the armed forces will fight on with even more spirit, and that's why (in recent combats) 18 insurgents were also killed.“

Interior Minister German Vargas warned FARC that the government considered last week’s police massacre a ”crime against humanity“ and that such actions ”will never benefit from an amnesty or a pardon”.