Tres Esquinas, Colombia - Republic of
COLOMBIAN SOLDIERS IN FRONT OF A COCA LABORATORY NEAR TRES ESQUINAS.
Colombian soldiers chat inside an illegal plantation of coca leaves,
during the burning of a coca laboratory part of an army operation near
Tres Esquinas, November 8, 2001. Tres Esquinas has become the linchpin
of Colombia's U.S.-backed war to fight drug traffickers and rebels in
southern Caqueta and Putumayo provinces. An antidrug battalion based at
Tres Esquinas, drawing on U.S. lessons in Vietnam, will rely almost
exclusively on helicopters to fly into battle against
narco-traffickers, peasant farmers and Marxist guerrillas.
REUTERS/Daniel Munoz
JMG/ME