Bogotá
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe declared a state of emergency this week after a rebel offensive left 100 people dead in his first few days in office. The violence began when leftist guerrillas fired mortars into the capital during Uribe’s inauguration. Two shells landed near the Presidential Palace and Congress, where Uribe was being sworn in. Uribe, who campaigned on a promise to crack down on insurgents, decreed an emergency tax to raise $778 million for two new elite military squads with 3,000 soldiers each, and 10,000 new police officers. “The nation is subject to a regime of terror in which democratic authority is sinking,” said Interior and Justice Minister Fernando Londono.
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