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While Colombians want peace, the
United States fans the flames of
war. General McCaffrey says "the
U.S. has a right to defend its
interests in Colombia", so
therefore using military aid to
combat guerillas is okay.

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 OUR AMERICAS   ---   http://www.wbaifree.org/ouramericas/

The United States is at War in Colombia
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By Mario Alfonso Murillo


The United States is at war in Colombia. I think it's time we begin looking 
at it this way. Sure there's talk of fighting the drug problem, there's 
decertification two years in a row, there's even military assistance granted 
with human rights strings attached. But when you look at what's going on in 
Colombia now and the posture Washington is taking, there's no other way to 
look at it, except that the United States is at war, and the Colombian 
government is welcoming it. 

Consider two recent developments, which, to a certain extent, can be seen 
as a turning point for Colombia. On the one hand you had municipal and 
departmental elections that was for the most part a victory of the status 
quo. On the other hand, you had the head of the United States office on drug 
control policy taking an uncharacteristically tough stand against the 
guerillas in a high profile visit to Colombia. 

Looking at the elections, we must remember it was a wartime election. This 
is demonstrated clearly by the guerilla's all-out electoral boycott and its 
ongoing attacks against both military and police targets in recent months. 
It's also demonstrated by the massive aerial bombardments by the 
Colombian Air Force against suspected guerilla strongholds in certain parts 
of the country during the week's leading up to the vote. It led even some 
government officials to refer to the areas targetted as "Little Vietnams." 
By all standards, the country is at war. 

Nevertheless, President Samper talks as if elections in the country can go 
on as planned during wartime, and any attempts at destabilizing the process 
is an attack against democracy. Let's not forget that during the height of 
the wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, both the armed and legal 
opposition did NOT participate in elections organized by the state, but 
instead tried to torpedo those elections. It was not until the guns had 
stopped, until peace was slowly beginning to develop, until guarantees were 
made, that the opposition took part in the fledgling democratic process.

Let's also not forget that the war in Colombia is directly related to the 
failure of democracy to function properly in the first place. Why does the 
U.S. and Colombian media conveniently leave out the liquidation of the left-
wing Patriotic Union Party - who lost over 3,500 members since it was 
founded in 1985 - when they collectively denounce the guerillas for being 
against democracy? The strategy of the guerillas to threaten the electoral 
process, as destructive and counterproductive as it may be, should be 
understood in this context, whether we like it or not. 

Let's also look at how one wins an election in Colombia. Reports from 
almost every region of the country after the election described questionable 
practices at best, outright fraud at worst. The candidates of the local 
power brokers easily defeated candidates that were considered the 
favorites in the days just before the vote. Oneindependent mayoral 
candidate from the Province of Cauca told me vote buying was widespread 
by the major parties, making it almost impossible for them to have an 
impact at the polls.

Samper says Colombians want peace. He points to the results of the so-
called mandate for peace of October 26th as evidence. But who would not 
vote for peace under the current circumstances? It's like having a 
referendum on wanting clean water to drink or fresh air to breathe. As Jael 
Quiroga, director of the NGO Reiniciar said, the mandate for peace should 
have been clearer, perhaps as a vote for a negotiated settlement to the 
conflict as opposed to an escalation of the war, which is what is happening.

While Colombians want peace, the United States fans the flames of war. 
General McCaffrey says "the U.S. has a right to defend its interests in 
Colombia", so therefore using military aid to combat guerillas is okay. 
Nevermind that there's no way either side can win this war. The Colombian 
goverment's high commissioner for peace, Daniel Garcia Pena, said so 
himself in a report to the President in August. 

So while Colombians clamor for peace, while thousands more become 
displaced, while paramilitary violence increases, and the guerillas continue 
to grow in strength, the only response Washington has is to send in more 
guns. Talk tough against the "narcoguerilla", as if the insurgency were the 
only ones linked to drugs in Colombia. "We have a right." "It's in the U.S. 
interest." General McCaffrey said so last week. 

And the Colombian political and military establishment accept this, while 
kidding the people into thinking they're on the right track. They blame 
others in the country for being the so-called "violent ones", "los violentos". 
I don't think I'm being too alarmist. We should begin pointing out to the 
world that the United States is at war in Colombia. The Colombian 
government welcomes it.

And only Colombians are dying!