[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                                THE FARC

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB BARR

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 8, 2002

  Mr. BARR of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, as we are aware, one of the 
Colombian terrorist organizations, the FARC, recently stated that U.S. 
citizens and friends of U.S. citizens would be killed. The FARC has 
already kidnapped 77 American citizens and murdered 12 in the past 
decade. This has taken place virtually without notice in the United 
States. In the first action to make good on that threat against 
American citizens and their friends, a young, dynamic Colombian woman, 
Eugenia Delgado Sanchez, was brutally assassinated as she was opening 
the door to her home in the town of Salento, Colombia at 1:30 a.m. on 
August 24. This defenseless woman went down in a hail of gunfire, 
receiving six shots to the back from two vile and cowardly terrorists 
wearing ski masks. I want to ensure that what she did and the purpose 
for which she made the ultimate sacrifice, is never forgotten. Her name 
now joins the names of over 40,000 innocent Colombians who have been 
killed in the growing narco-violence we witness today.
  Ms. Delgado Sanchez was fully engaged in the effort against 
narcotics. She had reasons, one very personal--the narcos had killed 
her parents when she was 6 years old--but her greatest concern was for 
the young children who are offered drugs and addicted before they can 
even understand the danger that drugs present. She had worked with the 
Colombian anti-narcotics police and had become a trusted asset to that 
organization.
  She undertook very dangerous assignments based on her deep 
convictions and concerns for people. She spent some time penetrating 
narcotics operations in the Jackson Heights area of New York City, 
where she saw dealers giving drugs for free to elementary school kids, 
just to get them addicted. She was passionate about protecting those 
children. Her efforts and information have resulted in numerous 
convictions.
  Many in this House, and congressional staff members, remember meeting 
with Eugenia during delegation trips to Colombia or in the United 
States in the company of General Rosso Jose Serrano, the heroic former 
Director of the Colombian National Police. In April of this year she 
attended the USCINCPAC Change of Command for Admiral Dennis Blair, and 
she was going to marry a classmate of Admiral Blair's in October at the 
U.S. Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis, MD.
  Eugenia had been a model and actress, who was at ease with the rich 
and famous, but never lost sight of the common touch and the less 
fortunate. Protecting children, poor people and animals were her 
passion.
  After the devastating earthquake in January 1999, centered near the 
city of Armenia near where she grew up, she organized relief efforts 
for the children and the poor to bring them clothing and food. She 
managed to get the first relief in and on the ground, even before the 
Colombian government or private organizations could get in motion. 
After providing earthquake assistance, she returned to live in the town 
of Salento, Quindio where she had grown up as a child.
  During her childhood, Salento was a tranquil town at the foot of the 
mountains devoted primarily to cattle farming with the slow, peaceful 
pace of life that accompanied agricultural pursuits. As she spent more 
time in her hometown, she was alarmed by the changes in life because of 
the drug trade. The mountains were no longer safe. The FARC, to ensure 
that they had safe lines of communication to bring drugs out and 
weapons and ammunition in, focused on attacking these rural towns. One 
night she called her U.S. fiance and gave him a minute-by-minute 
account of an ongoing FARC attack on her town. The FARC were going 
house-by-house looking for people who were ``cooperating'' with either 
the Colombian or U.S. governments. That night the FARC got to within 
two houses of where she lived before the Colombian National Police beat 
them back in a counterattack.
  Eugenia cheered when President Bush made his announcement of the 
``War on Terrorism,'' and asked her U.S. fiance if he thought the 
United States would assist Colombia with its terrorism problems, 
particularly since the FARC had kidnapped and executed U.S. citizens 
with no U.S. military response. She felt the new United States 
Administration under President Bush would be very serious about 
protecting U.S. citizens, and citizens of other countries, against 
terrorists. Obviously there were laws that needed to be enacted or 
changed to permit the United States to provide more direct assistance 
against terrorists. She said she hoped these changes would happen fast, 
since information she possessed concerning the FARC, indicated they 
were massing strength in the mountains near Salento.
  Eugenia, by virtue of her training, always kept her eyes and mind 
open and her mouth shut while living in Salento. In this manner, she 
was able to see, hear and observe what was going on, and then pass it 
along to U.S. sources in Bogota, without fear of telephone 
interception. Eugenia started accumulating a tremendous amount of 
information concerning how the FARC guerrillas were operating, along 
with identifying key FARC supporters in the village. She was able to 
unravel how they were able to obtain provisions, and transportation, 
how they moved kidnap victims, and how they organized weapons and 
ammunition stashes.
  This information was always passed on in general terms to visiting 
U.S. delegations and others in the U.S. government. Eugenia always made 
herself available to provide briefings to U.S. personnel and for many 
she became ``the face of Colombia.''
  Increasingly a race against time developed. Eugenia accumulated 
information on FARC and narcotics activities, while waiting for U.S. 
laws and regulations to change so this information would be useful and 
actionable. The FARC then sent word it wanted to meet with Eugenia. 
When her fiance tried to pressure her to leave Salento, Eugenia said 
that she would but she wanted to get all the details on the location of 
safe houses the FARC used to transport kidnap victims. She told him, 
``Imagine what it is like to be kept blindfolded and placed in cages 
under the ground. God would not forgive us if we had the opportunity to 
help these people and we turned our backs because we were cowards. 
Remember, they kidnap both U.S. and Colombians; the next kidnapped 
person might be you.''
  In an e-mail sent to her fiance on February 6, 2002, she laid things 
out in chilling detail:

       On the other hand I want to tell you that have thought a 
     lot about you due to the things that are going on in my 
     country. I don't know what will happen. I am very worried 
     because I think that about 90% of the population of this town 
     is guerrilla and our president (Andres Pastrana) is not doing 
     anything.
       Say hello to President Bush and ask him to help us . . . 
     the reality is that we will die at the hands of the 
     guerrillas and no one will say anything.
       OK, I love you and if I have to die for you or your 
     country, I will--I love you.

  When she was gunned down by terrorists on August 24, she had less 
than 48 hours remaining before she would have permanently departed 
Salento, to be safe and alive in Bogota. Obviously, the terrorists 
feared the information they thought she would provide, not realizing it 
was already too late.
  The terrorists who killed Eugenia should remember the words of 
President Bush to the recovery crews after the terrorist attack on the 
World Trade Center. . . . ``soon the people who did this will hear from 
all of us.''
  Today, from the U.S. Congress I am proud to pay tribute to the 
tremendous strength, valor, and nobility of Eugenia and her efforts on 
behalf of the United States and Colombia. She served as a tremendous 
inspiration, and demonstrated what an amazing difference one single, 
dedicated person can make in the lives of so many people. I am sorry 
more of my colleagues did not have the opportunity to know her; you 
would be as proud of her life and legacy as I am.

                          ____________________