Reporting here in the United States on the rescue of FARC hostages on July 2, 2008 provided United States citizens with an overly optimistic picture of President Uribe's progress against Colombian leftists.
The rescue is the most serious blow ever dealt to the 44-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who considered Betancourt and the three Americans their most valuable bargaining chips.
The words in themselves, from a respected source of objective journalism, do not do injustice to that one particular part of the ongoing conflict in Colombia. Taken in context of the overall picture, however, the delivered blow may only indicate that the insurrection in that nation may take on a new face, or revamp the old one.
More facts after the flip.
Colombia has become the most dangerous nation on the planet for labor activists; men like Guillermo Rivera, a trade unionist who was tortured and killed. Colombia news that citizens in the United States don't get from normal outlets:
... the Colombian Commission of Jurists, documented 346 cases of torture, in which 234 of the victims died, from July 2004 to June 2007. Last year alone, 93 cases were reported, in which 43 of the victims were killed.
Of the total number of torture victims documented by the human rights group, 18 were women and 11 were children.
The report blames 90 percent of the cases on the state - 70.4 percent for "direct perpetration" by state agents and 19.7 percent as a result of tolerance of, or support for, human rights abuses carried out by paramilitary groups.
The report from IPS noted that Colombia ratified the Rome Statute which created the International Criminal Court, or ICC, in August of 2002. The United States never joined the ICC, for reasons known only to those here who are guilty of similar crimes.
To return to the hostage rescue operation, dubbed Operation Jaque: The principal figure in the Colombian government that benefited from the operation was Juan Manuel Santos, the nation's Defense Minister. His approval rating skyrocketed to 70%. This was a good month for the government there, but there are ominous undertones:
Although the FARC may now be facing its worst institutional year in its 44 years of existence, as Juan Manuel Santos maintains, "the FARC is weakened, not defeated." Nevertheless, continued military attacks will not solve the problem, and instead will undoubtedly instigate more violence in the future. Although the Uribe’s administration has provided the Colombian population with short term fixes for some of the country’s profoundly complex problems, the deep underlying social and economic problems are likely to remain, corroding Colombia’s social and political fabric.
The rescue immensely bolstered Santos chances to become president in two years, and provided the family members and the hostages with the freedom they have deserved for so long. The rescue did not end the poverty, civilian abductions by the government and paramilitaries, or the humanitarian crisis in rural regions.
The Colombian government, aided hugely by United States, conducts aerial fumigation of the Colombian countryside in an effort to combat coca production. Caught in the crossfire, as always, are the poor people and farmers who lose their legitimate crops to the herbicides. The crops aren't the only thing affected by the use of Roundup. Sources of water become contaminated (Roundup isn't for drinking). Livestock and people suffer. This quote states the problem perfectly:
These consequences are:
- economic crisis and food insecurity in the rural farms
- poverty and hunger for poor village families
- health problems, damage to the flora and fauna; general deterioration of the environment
- displacement of many families to urban areas following the loss of their crop
- the removal and replanting of illicit crops to higher areas near streams and the source of rivers
- the complete violation of the fundamental rights of people and families: the right to food , health, a healthy environment and work.
Does anybody really believe that with such things continuing to happen in Colombia that people will stop fighting the government? The drug lords in the region do support the leftist guerrillas, but the men and women who form the ranks of the guerrillas don't join because of the drug lords. They join because of what has been done to their people and their country.
We here in the United States can still count our blessings. As of yet the Bush regime has not conducted aerial fumigation of the California countryside in an effort to eradicate marijuana. The myths and the realities of this world can sometimes be hard to tell apart. As somebody who is not in Colombia, this diarist can not tell you with absolute certainty what is true and what is not. However, the facts seem to indicate that the civil strife won't miraculously end because of Operation Jaque.
Thank you for your time.