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Juan Carlos Pinzón sworn in with instructions to come up with a definitive strategy against the guerilla group Colombia’s new defence minister, Juan Carlos Pinzón, received the same instructions when he was sworn in this week as dozens of his predecessors: finish off the Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), South America’s oldest leftwing insurgency. But though the rebels have been weakened by a series of bruising blows to their leadership and massive desertions, the Farc is back on the offensive, recruiting new fighters, ambushing government troops and creating the sense that security gains made in the past decade are slipping. Across the country, the guerrilla group – which first appeared in 1964 – has stepped up attacks on the military and civilians. In Puerto Guzmán, a small town in the southern Putumayo province, residents fear the guerrillas could attack at any time. The police are jumpy and suspicious of outsiders. The small army contingent in the centre of town hunkers down behind sandbag barricades, trying to maintain a sense of control. But outside the urban perimeter the Farc is still in charge. “We have to ask permission from the guerrillas to move around the countryside, and there are landmines everywhere,” said Yolanda, a woman in her 50s who spoke in hushed tones in the front room of her house. “You never know who might be listening,” she explained. Ten years ago there was no police presence and rebels placed a plaque in the town centre declaring Puerto Guzmán “Farc territory”. Every Monday residents were made to clean the streets and almost every day someone in the town was killed on rebel orders. Government forces returned in 2002, amid a nationwide military campaign launched by the then president, Álvaro Uribe. His tough security policies brought the country back from the brink of collapse but used questionable methods : civilians were murdered and passed off as guerrillas killed in combat, and illegal phone taps were put on opposition figures, journalists and human rights activists. A string of senior rebel leaders were killed while army operations and desertions cut Farc ranks from 18,000 in 2002 to about 8,000 today. Senior military commanders started talking about “victory” over the 47-year-old insurgency. But analysts and some army officers say such talk does more harm than good. The Nuevo Arco Iris organisation, a thinktank that monitors the conflict, said in its latest report that the security gains under Uribe were “overrated”. And one army colonel in southern Colombia said: “The worst thing that could have happened for us was when the commanders started talking about the ‘end of the end’ of the Farc. That’s when the rebels started changing their strategy.” The Farc rebels have gone back to their roots, using traditional guerrilla tactics, making themselves more mobile, more agile and more dangerous. They have also declared a truce with their smaller rival, the National Liberation Army, and according to intelligence sources the two groups now plan and execute attacks together in some areas. Elsewhere, the Farc is allied in the cocaine trade with criminal bands made up of former rightwing paramilitaries – once their arch-enemies. Intelligence sources say only a third of the Farc forces are armed fighters. The rest blend in with the civilian population, although they are well trained in the use of explosives or act as snipers. This makes it harder for the government to combat them and also places the civilian population at risk. One humanitarian worker in Putumayo said she received daily complaints of abuse by police and the military that “tend to think everyone is a guerrilla”. The president, Juan Manuel Santos, has dismissed concerns that security is deteriorating, but this week named a new defence minister and a new high command. Topping the new minister’s priorities is to “design a definitive strategy against the Farc”, he said. “We are right at the moment of confrontation when it is again necessary to innovate and respond effectively to the challenges that we face,” Pinzón said. Only the most hawkish of generals believes the Farc can be defeated militarily. Amid the increase in violence, both sides have been making overtures towards possible peace talks. Santos said the door to peace talks was not locked but insisted he needed to see real will on the part of the Farc. The rebels’ senior commander, Alfonso Cano, said the guerrillas were open to talks and even praised some of the government’s policies on land restitution. But Colombians are still wary about negotiations after a failed peace process from 1999-2002 only left the Farc stronger and richer. “The guerrillas will have to be weaker before any formal talks can start,” said one general overseeing counter-insurgency offensives in the southern jungles. Colombia Farc Sibylla Brodzinsky guardian.co.uk