Colombia

The FARC

I first traveled through Colombia in the early 1940s, going up the Magdalena River in in a stern wheeler like those which used to ply the Mississippi, a trip which no one makes today. Colombia was peaceful then, and Bogota boasted that it was the Athens of America. My friends, President Eduardo Santos and the group of El Tiempo were indeed a highly cultured crowd. Then came la violencia, mostly of right-wing origin. I found at Stanford a refuge for the writer Luis Enrique Osorio, whose life had been threatened. In recent years, violence has been promoted mostly by the left-wing FARC, condemned by the US as a terrorist organization because of its ruthless murders.

It was therefore a surprise to read in the July, 2004 issue of the National Geographic a favorable account of them by Cartlos Villalón, who obtained permission from the FARC to travel three times during the course of five years through the borderlands along the Caguàn River next to Ecuador controlled by the FARC, taking notes and photographs for this article. One feels sorry for the desperately poor coca growers, who wish they could find another way of making a living. They complain "The government isn't helping us. What else can we do? We'll have to keep planting until there is a real alternative".It does seem hypocritical that the US is promoting the spraying of their coca fields while it pays subsidies to American tobacco growers. However, the surprising thing is that the FARC is described as bringing law and order to the region. Headlines proclaim that"Twenty years ago this region was totally chaotic"- Now there is "law and order". The FARC has imposed a strict code of conduct: No drinking from Monday to Friday. No brawling, and, ironically no drug use. Does the FARC have two faces, one brutal, the other benevolent? The FARC denies it is a terrorist organization.

The regional FARC leader Fabián Ramírez has assigned a female commander to each town because he believes that women relate to the locals more warmly than men. It is dangerous work. Sonia, the woman who had signed Carlos Villalón's permit, has been captured by the Colombian army. But the FARC means business: "Make no mistake--the rebels are at war". I do not quite know what to make of this article. Is FARC trying to set up a Castro-type regime, with this remote region serving as a base for FARC as the Sierra Maestra did for Castro? While the people are forbidden to us drugs, large quantities are being sold to the US. Is the FARC treating American drug users as useful idiots? I know nothing about Carlos Villalón. Is he a Castro sympathizer? Is this all part of a general move to the left in South America? Those wishing to pursue this matter can go to the forum on the cocaine trade at nationalgeographic.com/magazine//0407.

Night of the Assasins

NewsMax reports: "In some rural villages in Colombia, Saturday night is known as "night of the assassins" - the night of the week when Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia rebels target those opposed to their Marxist ideology for death. Christian leaders are at constant risk. Many pastors have been martyred over the past few years as the FARC terrorists continue their assaults against the church (over 30 killed in one year alone). But, in spite of the risks, Colombian pastors continue to be a bold witness for Christ. One recently told The Voice of the Martyrs that "Every time we leave church, we never know... if we will continue with life. We live under the shadow of death continually."

Ronald Hilton -

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