Columbia: War!

The government of Andres Pestrana has bowed to pressure from the USA and has attacked the positions of FARC in the demilitarised zone, breaking three and a half years of peace talks.

Gesticulating wildly and shouting on a TV programme, President Pestrana announced that the Columbian armed forces was unilaterally abandoning the peace process because senator Gechem was kidnapped by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia). Pravda.Ru received a communication from the FARC central command three days before the kidnap, stating that the government was planning to attack. Therefore, this was an excuse, not a reason.

The real reason is the expansionist and imperialistic policy pursued by the United States of America. The reason: oil in eastern Columbia. FARC is an organisation which has a political programme for social justice in Columbia, a notion which is extremely difficult to find in South America, where oligarchies corrupted by Washington’s dollars perform acts of terrorism, murder, genocide, torture, rapes and robbery unchecked.

Pestrana’s presidential term coming to an end, with the right-wing opposition candidate Alvaro Uribe, declaring that he is in favour of open conflict with FARC, leading in the opinion polls, this political minion of the USA had to act. He preferred to break the peace process and revert to armed conflict to a continuation of the discussion with FARC over social and political policies to implement a serious government to address the country’s severe problems.

On Wednesday, military aircraft flew 200 sorties, bombing 85 positions of FARC in the demilitarised zone, without warning. 13,000 government troops, armed and trained by the USA, are preparing to combat FARC’s 17,000 guerrillas. The operation is called “Operation Thanatos”, the Greek God of death, giving an insight into the mindset of the Columbian government and their US backers.

Human rights groups are concerned that the regular army will be followed by the Fascist paramilitary groups, AUC (United Self-Defence groups of Columbia). These groups use North American mercenaries and carry out acts of indescribable torture against civilians in areas controlled by FARC.

FARC has denounced the activities of these savages constantly but the protests fall on deaf ears. The United Nations Organisation has described the end of the peace talks “a tragedy”. Fred Eckhard, UN spokesperson, declared “The breaking of the peace process has enormous consequences for the people of Columbia; it is a disastrous event”.

The oligarchic government of Columbia, backed by the USA, never seriously intended to conclude the peace process. This military intervention is the beginning of a US invasion of the South American continent, hidden behind a cloak of anti-terrorist and anti-drug trafficking activity.

FARC is neither. As we have stated before, the big money from cocaine is made inside the USA. FARC has nothing to do with this trade, although it is admitted that coca leaf is grown inside areas controlled by FARC, as also in government-controlled areas.

Juan BLANCO