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World News
Colombia: Who Is In Control?
by Elizabeth Fennell
Information in this article was
obtained from the September 5, 6, 7,
1989 issues of the Winston-Salem
Journal.
Colombia is a country in Central
America that has had many
obstacles lately invading its
normal day-to-day processes. A
major difficulty on the forefront of
Colombia's long list of problems are
the drug barons. The drug cartel,
which has been a deep part of
Colombia's history, is actually
asserting "a state of 'total war'
with the government of Colombia."
How is a country supposed to work
efficiently if the country's richest
are fighting its own government?
This is exactly what Colombian ,
President Virgilio Barco is trying to
figuring out. Thus far, he has
"...ordered a crackdown on the drug
traffickers...[by] confiscating -
millions of dollars worth o£
property and arresting 11,000.:^
suspects."
An attorney working for the,
Colombian drug barons -named
Diego Cordoba contends "...iri
interview with a Brazilian
newspaper...that drug trafficking
has done more to alleviate poverty
and hunger in Latin America then
any government in the^egion."
This is true in that Colombia's
"...cocaine-generated revenues
bolstered last year's (federal)-
economy" by about $4 billion.,-
(Colombia produces and supplies-
80% of the United States’ and
Europe's total drug supply. But
how is President Barco going to be
able to do anything for his people
if he's constantly looking over his
shoulder for a drug cartel to have a
gun at his back? Since Barco is
working against the country’s
richest, that is where the
government's main focus should be
headed. Once resolved, or if, this
difficulty becomes a reality,Barco
had better work for the peoples of
his country instead of inspiring
more bitterness by not facing the
problems of the country.
Another lawyer employed by the
traffickers, Mario Arango, "...wrote
in a best-selling book that the drug
business has opened new
opportunities for the under
privileged classes. 'The money from
the drug traffic has acted as a
brake on the social and political
deterioration of the country...'"
However, that does not mean that
the production and merchandising
of drugs is correct for the^
Colombians.
President Barco strongly
continues with Ijis stance on
hard-line and no negotiations, as is
President Bush of the U.S. Barco
says ’"we will not be cowed...we
shall prevail over the forces that
would destroy our democracy and
enslave our nation.'"
Raymond Hesse, one of the top
bureaucrats in the State
Departments' Bureau of
International Narcotics Matters,
believes the problem of the drug
cartel is too large and widespread ’
for one government to try and
control. He forewarns “that unless
decisive action is taken soon, the
drug traffickers may prevail"
through a drug "superstate.”
Since a dr^iig cartel is a
“--combination of independent drug
businesses who pool their resources
together to decrease competition, it
is only rea^nable that'an alliance
of drug Cartels could originate to
^orm a drug "superstate." This term
r-was used by-an assassinated
"Attorney general last year when he
mentioned that this "superstate"
alreadyhas a defense^
.’ establishment, controls Jargt.
swatKffr’^f territory, issues
communiques and even boasts what
amounts to a /'commerce
department/ . which assiduously
promotes the export of cocaine and
. other illicit drugs."
-™^,?r^of of their defense
establishment is shown as follows:
:only SOlhcHcopters are at the
disposal of the'Colombian" police
while Jorge Luis Ochoa, a part^of
tlie cartel,"has 50 aircraft and an
arsenal of weapons," The main
reason for Colombia’s hindered
arsenal is”^^all the red tape in the
government - it takes months "and
sometimes years to acquire
weaponry for its military” while
the cartel "can get what they want
in days or even hours."'
With the cartel's declaration of
"'total war'" on the government of
Colombia, the drug "superstate" is
not an impossibility anymore, but
rather a very real venture on the
horizon. Douglas Payne, the
director of hemispheric studies for
the Freedom House (a research
organization for the promotion of
democracy), states that "with the
combined economic, political, and
military powers of a government...
the cartel is now acting like a state
and asking to be treated like one."
Recently, a few events have
occurred in Colombia to cause much
worry for everyone the world over.
Last August 18, the Colombian
government formed and put into
working action the anti-drug view
for a crackdown on drug cartels and
traffickers. The catalyst for this
crackdown was the assassinations
of many important diplomats, one
of whom was the late General Luis
Carlos Gala. Gala was "the
leading presidential candidate and
an outspoken opponent of the
cocaine barons" which made him a
prime target for the barons'
# blacklists. With the catalyst of
these assassinations causing the
/ crackdown, the consequences
continue to worsen. -
The Colombian government has
the drug cartels declaring war on
them. In addition, there is an
increased amount of terrorist
bombings, a higher number of
vengeful assassinations, continued
hunger and poverty, among many
other problems. These are all areas
which could instigate further
crackdowns. * ,7/ s ■ z:”
^ In a matter of a fewt weeks,'
President Barco and the,resLpf7he
P government have "seizedjriofe than
ff/" 500/estates, office buildings^an^^
-I- .other properties,^including „cars,
aircraft',! - yachts, p^cattle'"'and
racehorses..whicK'proves“that"
the governments' labors" ap^'t alP
in vain.
The United States is helping by-
giving at least $65 million worth of «
emergency military aid. These
shipments are in the process of
arriving in the country in order to
help the government "convince" the
cartels of their determined stance
in this crackdown. The types of
armaments sent include rockets,
grenades, machine guns, rifles,
pistols, ammunition, and
bulletproof vest&- along with
armored ears for government
officials.
In the city of Medellin, which is
215 miles north of Bogota and is
home to the world’s largest drug
cartel, a kamikaze-type man
subjected the city’s only airport to a
shooting rampage killing fourteen.
This past Monday, September 4,
during the 7:15 morning rush, the
as-yet-unidentified man wearing
military fatigues apparently
stationed a get-away car outside
the terminal entrance while
randomly firing on victims. The
assailant shot three security agents
and eleven civilians during his
rampage.
One of the survivors, a business
executive, claimed the gunman
"appeared to be 18 to 20 years old...
[and during the rampage]
'everybody panicked and just threw
themselves on the floor, including
Ill
me.
Since last week a night-time
curfew has been placed in Medellin^
but terrorist actions are still
occurring with increasing frequency-
For example, a restaurant was set
on fire with gasoline after
armed gang forced everyone out. -H
was not immediately clear
whether the attack was related to
the cocaine barons' fight against
the government." Another instance
is the bombing of two banks. Police
have no details yet except for two
girls, a seven year old and an
eleven year old, that "suffered cuts
from flying glass and other minor
injuries" along with five others
who also received minor cuts and
bruises. An additional example »s
the assassination of Angela de
Guerrero, the wife of Colone
Carlos Guerrero, a logistics
planning officer for the joir'*
military forces. .On Tuesday^
- September 5>" Mrs. Guerrero was
sitting in: her car '’Joutside ^
~ yipermartet in-Bogotals northern
~ submrbs./[whenl:she was shot fooc
-- timesrby two'^nmen... Police gave
no [direetj motive’ for the slaying-
—~rrin., thy' ■/>f ~Monteria, n
7dfT re bomb eL:; nsport= plane
belongin^"tC3be7mitial_ narcotics
::.clivisiqn ofr:thl State Departments-
Acknowledgement oT Jthe badly
damag^ planeTwas made by the
U.S. Embas’sy; however, i*®
non-confirmation leads to nn
interesting confrontational
situation of whether or not we (the
U.S.) are going to get any more
involved than we are already.
A police confidante claims that
"...the government's crackdown on
traffickers has almost paralyzed
the nation's cocaine-producing
laboratories "showing that the
crackdown is working much better
then expected. However, the
cartel's retaliations against
innocent civilians leaves much to he
questioned about its future anu
present authority. Since the cartels
have to reassert their authority
through bombings and other
attacks, it shows that the
supposedly concrete foundations o>
their powers are being cracked
wide open and therefore broken
down. Once the drug cartels are
broken down completely Colomb'd
can work itself out of >1^
poverty-stricken rut and become n
self-sufficient country. Hopefully'
President Barco's hard-Hd^
no-negotiations- allowed stance
will be one of the ways in which to
save Colombia.