Pubdate: Sun, 10 Dec 2000
Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2000
Contact:  http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/

COLOMBIA FIGHTS A DESPERATE WAR

Colombia continues to lurch from crisis to crisis, taking one step 
backward, followed by two steps backward. The gateway to South America has 
spent more than two decades locked in a three-way struggle that pits drug 
lords and political extremists of the left and right against the decent 
people. So far, the good people of Colombia have had few successes. And 
each time it appeared Colombia had moved forward, violence stamped on the 
progress.

Figures say a lot about Colombia. It has more murders than any nation on 
Earth, and the longest-running guerrilla war in the Americas. But the sad 
fact is that Colombia has failed the most important test, and that is the 
fight against corruption. The country has fallen under the distressing 
influence of the drug trafficking cartels that now are endemic in Colombia.

Colombia, to be blunt, has been known as a narcocracy for a decade. Ten 
years ago, it seemed that no criminal gang could ever match the infamous 
Medellin cartel of Pablo Escobar. It was the most brutal, and also most 
sophisticated gang of criminal smugglers ever assembled. Escobar controlled 
much of the nation and terrorised most of the rest. His political 
contributions tainted every politician including a former Colombian president.

Escobar was killed in a Bogota shootout seven years ago last month. Since 
then, a dozen traffickers have risen to take the place of the late, 
unlamented drug kingpin. Many are more ruthless than Escobar, and some are 
more crafty. Colombian officials, many of whom are dirty, have failed to 
come to grips with the new traffickers, by their own incompetence or by design.

More than any other important nation, Colombia has become a victim of 
corruption, and an unfortunate example of what happens when a nation 
completely loses its soul. It is vital to note that there is no shortage of 
decent people in Colombia. But many of those in charge of the government, 
security and political reform have been corrupted, cowed or so fatigued 
they can no longer fight for national dignity.

Since the death of Colombia, the country has gone deeper into the morass of 
drug dealing. No longer is it only an important source of cocaine and home 
to the top traffickers of that drug. Colombian drug kingpins have 
successfully corrupted tens of thousands of farmers into growing opium, and 
establishing heroin laboratories. In less than 10 years, they have become 
the world's third largest suppliers of heroin, after Burma and Afghanistan.

The government continues to dither. As in Thailand 25 years ago, many 
farmers have become willing slaves to the heroin dealers because of 
government incompetence. Colombian farmers still lack electricity, decent 
roads to move their crops to market, and access to change that could make 
their lives better. Just last week, the government began to consider the 
details of how to encourage crop-substitution programmes to win back 
farmers-a far harder job than it would have been 10 years ago simply to 
keep them on the government's side.

Also stepping into the breach left by the narcocracy are leftist 
guerrillas. The so-called Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are 
completely addicted to the drug trade, providing security to the 
traffickers in return for their money. After 36 years of fighting, the FARC 
has an estimated 20,000 troops. More than 80% of Colombians in a recent 
poll said they were opposed to FARC.

President Andres Pastrana may be honest. But he faces horrendous problems, 
including whether to embrace a contentious US offer of civilian and 
military aid. There are profound lessons for Thailand on the other side of 
the world. If corruption is really accepted as a way of life, then the 
corrupt will rule, and the drug traffickers will control the life of the 
country.
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