December 7, 1999

ELN has destroyed some one hundred electrical transmission towers this year, most of them in the past week. This has caused a near collapse in the electrical supply in northeast Colombia, forcing rationing and brownouts. The ELN campaign is in response to attempts to privatize the local electric company. So far this year, the war against the guerillas has created over 140,000 refugees, with a total of 800,000 people refugees within the country.