Talking About Colombia

The evening news are again inundated with images of death: Forty-five Colombian police, soldiers and guerrilla fighters were killed last week.

The FARC believes that if they show they are still a threat, they will corner the government into peace talks. But by attacks and violence, what they are doing is forcing the new administration of Juan Manuel Santos to take the same tough stance as President Uribe’s, and after all, Santos was Uribe’s defense minister. Santos has the muscle.

Proof that guerrillas are desperately on the defensive is that the FARC has attempted to team up with the smaller and weaker ELN, National Liberation Army. The FARC has about 8,000 members and the ELN has about 1,500.

Images of hell—of a torched police convoy in which 14 police officers were killed after the vehicle was sprayed with gasoline; or of a police station blown to bits by homemade missiles which killed six policemen; or of an intelligence office with windows shattered and twelve people walking by seriously hurt after a bomb package left by a lamp post exploded—make Colombians ask Santos for more pressure against the rebels.

Enough is enough.

Colombians will not buy any of this crap about peace talks while images of death inundate the news.