(BBC) - Colombia's army says it has shut down the main radio station operated by the Farc rebels, after 15 years on air. Troops captured transmitters and other broadcast equipment when they overran a guerrilla camp in the Meta region.The rebel radio station Voice of Resistance broadcast the Farc's revolutionary message across large areas of eastern and central Colombia. The army also disrupted its broadcasts last year, but the left-wing rebels got the station back on air.
Troops found the clandestine broadcasting operation in a rebel base protected by some 60 improvised bombs, the army said. The captured equipment included microphones, computers, amplifiers, a mixing console and a generator.
'Indoctrination'
"This is a powerful blow to the Farc terrorist group, as this broadcaster was an important tool for the hard boys' daily work," the army said in a statement. "For more than a decade it has been fundamental for the political indoctrination of Farc members as well as for broadcasting strong criticism of the institutions of state," it added.
The capture of the radio operation comes two weeks after the Farc leader Alfonso Cano was killed by the security forces. He has been replaced by Rodrigo Londono - better known by his alias Timochenko.
The Farc (
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)FARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a narco mob based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and
donations. It has lately begun calling itself
Bolivarianand is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border.
are the country's oldest and biggest rebel group.
The have been fighting to impose a Marxist revolution since the 1960s.
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