Colombian rebels execute 34 coca workers

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2004

BOGOTA (AFP) — Colombian rebels executed 34 workers at a paramilitary coca farm near the Venezuelan border, officials said.

"The information we have is that they were executed," Manuel Alberto Luna, secretary to the governor of North Santander said.

In the early morning hours, rebel command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked a coca farm near Rio Chiquito, three hours by boat from La Gabarra, 700 kilometers (435 miles) northeast of Bogota, according to Luna.

The rebels rounded up the workers found there and shot them, Luna said.

"Officially, there are 34 dead and five wounded," magistrate Sofia Villamizar told reporters.

Luna said that farm appeared to be property of a right-wing paramilitary group, which has been at...