The International Crisis Group, an influential think-tank, said a peace accord with the FARC would not end the conflict in Colombia.
There would be breakaway renegade fighters and other drug-funded crime gangs, pointed out the the Brussels-based think-tank.
Such observations are not surprising. The bacrim (“bandas criminales”) began as splinter groups from the paramilitaries (supposedly) demobilized during the Uribe government.
A Colombian intelligence source told Reuters that some FARC commanders in southern Colombia, where soil conditions are perfect for cultivation of coca – the raw material for cocaine – are against the peace talks.
Talking About Colombia 
What is in Colombia’s best interests and what is in America’s best interests are not the same thing.
The Drug War from the very beginning was a deliberate plan by the United States to destabilize large swathes of Latin America, guaranteeing them an opportunity to intervene both militarily and covertly.
Of course the US is against legalization. A stable, peaceful Latin America where drugs are legal would mean an end its neo-colonial rule. You think Santos doesn’t know this? It’s precisely why he’s going to the US right now to demand legalization.
And it’s precisely why it is time for Colombia to make a permanent break with the United States, legalize drugs, and tell Uncle Sam to go fuck himself.
By: J.M. Porup on October 2, 2012
at 3:35 pm
It amazes me how many people refuse to see this.
The only way to guarantee peace in Colombia is to legalize cocaine. The only way to legalize cocaine is to tell America to go fuck itself.
And so Colombia will continue to bend over and get shafted by Uncle Sam.
By: J.M. Porup on September 30, 2012
at 1:52 pm
Hello:
Shafted or bending over to Uncle Sam aside (!), is the world ready for legalizing drugs? 1) It seems there is no world incentive to provide legal employment for all those working in the drug industry; eventually, would an under-layer/ sub-employment in some kind of illegal industry arise anyhow? 2) In many countries where drugs grow (Colombia, Peru, Bolivia), there don’t seem to be institutions accountable to its citizens or strong enough to provide a sound justice system and legal democratic channels. What difference does it then make to legalize? 3) No real incentives exist to legalize drugs because there are no real opportunities for people once legalized anyway: Land is concentrated in few hands (at least in Colombia.)
Lastly, in “First Nations,” to whom would they sell the arms?
Thoughts?
– Paula
By: Paula Delgado-Kling on October 2, 2012
at 2:25 pm