Guerrilla attacks Ecopetrol Oil Field in Colombia
Leftist guerrillas attacked an oil field Friday for Ecopetrol in northeastern Colombia, as part of an escalation of attacks on the economic infrastructure of the country that holds in tension the peace negotiations between the Government and the FARC. Ecopetrol said the two attacks affected the Tibú field, located in the department of Norte de Santander, which borders Venezuela, with a production of 1,800 barrels of oil per day. "Ecopetrol rejects the attacks against a team workover and field season Tibú, Norte de Santander, which endangered the lives of workers and neighboring communities," said a statement from the company that produces 750,000 barrels of oil a day.
Submersibles Used to Ferry Narcotics
It was on a routine patrol that the Colombian coast guard stumbled upon an eerie outpost amid the mangroves: a mini-shipyard where suspected drug traffickers were building submarines. Perched on a makeshift wooden dry dock late last month were two 55-foot-long fiberglass vessels, one ready for launch, the other about 70% complete. Each was outfitted with a 350-horsepower Cummins diesel engine and enough fuel capacity to reach the coast of Central America or Mexico, hundreds of miles to the north. The vessels had cargo space that could fit 5 tons of cocaine, a senior officer with the Colombian coast guard's Pacific command said in an interview. The design featured tubing for air, crude conning towers and cramped bunk space for a crew of four, he added.
