11.   Congressional Republicans cited the slayings as another reason to beef up U.S. assistance to the Colombian army.

12.   Despite recent improvements, the Colombian army lacks the manpower, aircraft and equipment to roll back rebel gains or to defeat the guerrillas, analysts say.

13.   FARC rebels regularly slip into Venezuela to escape the Colombian army, run guns and pull off kidnappings.

14.   Firms must pay a dollar-per-barrel war tax, and have signed multi-million dollar contracts with the Colombian army for extra protection.

15.   Gunman shot and wounded the son of a Colombian army general who was critical of President Ernesto Samper, police said.

16.   In a telephone interview from Washington, Vivanco said it was too soon to say whether the changes would help the human rights problems in the Colombian army.

17.   In February, he earned the wrath of the Colombian army when he accused officers of collaborating with right-wing paramilitary death squads.

18.   In fact, some military analysts believe the Colombian army has been doing better against the guerrillas in recent months.

19.   It also links the United States with an ineffective and abusive Colombian army, which maintains extensive ties to murderous paramilitary militias.

20.   Liberal Democrats liked the plan even less, and said they would try to link any new aid to the human rights performance of the Colombian army.