Posted May 09, 2003 The Associated Press

SHAWANO — A Wisconsin mother is heartened to learn that a man accused of killing her daughter has become the first leftist Colombian rebel extradited to the United States.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday ordered Nelson Vargas Rueda to face murder charges in the 1999 slaying of three American activists in Colombia, including Ingrid Washinawatok, 41, a Keshena native and member of the Menominee Tribe.

Ingrid’s mother, Gwen Washinawatok, said it was good news for the family.

“I didn’t think anything more was going to happen, other than to get her home,” she said. “That is a great development for us.”

Vargas is one of six members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, indicted in April 2002 in federal court in Washington for the murders of Terence Freitas, 24, of Los Angeles, Lahe’ena’e Gay, 39, of Pahoa, Hawaii, and Washinawatok, who was living in New York City.

They were in northeastern Colombia to help set up a school system for the 5,000-member Uwa Indian tribe when FARC rebels kidnapped them in February 1999, according to the indictment.

Days later, the kidnappers shot the victims. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found across the border in Venezuela.

Facing international outrage, the FARC admitted its fighters killed the Americans. They blamed a rogue lower-level commander and said he would be punished internally.

The murders prompted the United States to suspend all contact with the FARC, a leftist rebel group that has been fighting a series of elected governments in this South American nation for 38 years.

The United States considers the FARC an international terrorist organization and has provided Colombia with millions of dollars, mostly military aid, to fight the organization and other rebel groups.

The State Department considers most of the country unsafe for Americans. Vargas has five days to appeal the order, the first Uribe has approved. The United States has also asked for the extradition of several other FARC rebels, including top leaders, in drug trafficking cases.

May 8, 2003

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- For the first time, President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday ordered a leftist Colombian rebel extradited to the United States. Nelson Vargas Rueda faces murder charges in the 1999 slaying of three American activists.

Vargas is one of six members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, indicted in April 2002 in federal court in Washington for the murders of Terence Freitas, 24, of Los Angeles, Ingrid Washinawatok, 41, of New York City and Lahe'ena'e Gay, 39, of Pahoa, Hawaii. Washinawatok was a Menominee Indian originally from Wisconsin.

They were in Colombia to help set up a school system for the 5,000-member U'wa Indian tribe.

FARC rebels kidnapped the three in February 1999 in northeastern Colombia, the indictment says. Days later, the kidnappers shot the victims. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found across the border in Venezuela.

Facing international outrage, the FARC admitted its fighters killed the Americans. They blamed a rogue lower-level commander and said he would be punished internally.

The murders prompted the United States to suspend all contact with the FARC, a leftist rebel group that has been fighting a series of elected governments in this South American nation for 38 years.

The United States considers the FARC an international terrorist organization and has provided Colombia with millions of dollars, mostly military aid, to fight the organization and other rebel groups. The State Department considers most of the country unsafe for Americans.

thehawaiichannel.com POSTED: 3:16 p.m. HST May 7, 2003 UPDATED: 3:19 p.m. HST May 7, 2003

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia President Alvaro Uribe has signed an order to send a leftist rebel to the United States to face murder charges in connection with the 1999 murder of three American activists, including a Hawaii woman.

Nelson Vargas Rueda will be the first rebel extradited to the United States by Colombia.

Vargas is one of six members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, indicted in April 2002 in federal court in Washington, D.C., in the murders of Lahe'ena'e Gay of Pahoa, 39, of Hawaii; Terence Freitas, 24, of Los Angeles; and Ingrid Washinawatok, 41, of New York, a Menominee Indian originally from Wisconsin.

They were in Colombia to help set up a school system for the 5,000-member U'wa Indian tribe.

The indictment said the rebels kidnapped the three in February 1999 in northeastern Colombia. Days later, the kidnappers shot the victims. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found across the border in Venezuela.

Tue May 6, 2003 11:30 AM ET (Updates with details, background)

BOGOTA, Colombia, May 6 (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Colombian crude output in March fell to 552,756 barrels per day, down 7.4 percent compared with the 596,982 bpd in the same month a year ago, state oil company Ecopetrol said on Tuesday.

The March result was also only slightly higher than 545,986 bpd turned out in February, Ecopetrol said.

The company did not offer an explanation for the results, but analysts have attributed the year-on-year drop in production to a natural decline in oilfields in Latin America's No. 4 oil producer.

Colombia's largest oilfield, Cusiana-Cupiagua, operated by oil major BP Plc BP.L , produced 200,086 bpd in March, down 17 percent from the 241,286 bpd in same month last year.

Colombia's No. 2 oilfield, Cano Limon, operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Inc. OXY.N produced 100,914 bpd in March, up 35.7 percent from the 74,373 bpd in March 2002.

Rebel bombings of the Cano Limon crude export pipeline have fallen significantly over the past year, due to heightened security measures in the violent oil rich region near Colombia's northeastern border with Venezuela. U.S. Special Forces have also been sent to the region to help train troops in counterinsurgency techniques.

Colombia depends on Ecopetrol revenue and oil royalties to finance government operations, including a broad security agenda aimed at stemming a 40-year-old guerrilla war.

The conflict claims thousands of lives a year, and has hurt growth and scared off foreign investment including some oil exploration.

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 23 Apr 2003, 23:02 UTC

The Colombian Supreme Court has approved the extradition of a leftist rebel wanted in the United States for the 1999 murders of three American Indian activists.

Authorities say the court ruled Wednesday in the case of Nelson Vargas Rueda, a member of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Vargas would be the first member of the group known as FARC to be extradited from Colombia to face charges in the United States.

The three Americans, Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahee'Enae Gay, were kidnapped in February 1999 as they worked with Indians in northeastern Colombia.

Days later, their bodies were found across the border in Venezuela. Vargas was one of several rebels indicted last year for killing the activists.

The United States considers the FARC and other outlawed Colombian groups as terrorists. In recent years, the United States has given Colombia about $2 billion in mainly military aid for counternarcotics efforts.

Washington has now expanded that effort to counterinsurgency efforts.