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Santos invites Brazil to list the FARC guerrilla as a “terrorist group”
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos said the best way Brazil can help to find a solution to the internal conflict of Colombia is by declaring the FARC guerrilla a “terrorist group”. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesInteresting crossroad
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 12:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0The United States and the European Union have FARC listed as ‘a terrorist group’.
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 12:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0What is going with Latin America? When are they going to stand on the side of a young sister democracy trying to root out an evil terrorist organization?
Surely not a crossroad to be decided from a reductionist view, dear José.
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 01:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0Pheel,
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 10:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0Even though I may not have all the facts about the inner workings of the relationship between Brazil and Colombia, or between Mexico or any other LatAm nation and Colombia, I can still see the following facts:
1. Colombia is a democracy, imperfect as it may be, but so is Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and every other country in the region. With Costa Rica's exception, our democracies are all young.
2. Farc is a terrorist criminal organization, this fact is uncontrovertible, unlike other genuinely insurgent movements in the region, they resort to criminal activities in order to finance their subversive operations and they also resort to terrorism to try to achieve their goals and inspire terror in the Colombian society.
3. Farc is a fundamental bloc in the region's narco traffic problem, they control vast laboratories and distribute their drugs to drug cartels that operate in all latinamerica. This is also uncontrovertible.
Now you think this is a “reductionist view” but explain not why. Why don't you shed some light on the regional situation that prevents Colombia's neighbors from denouncing the Farcs I will be happy to hear them.
José,
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 01:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I don´t have an special call for giving any kind of advising to my neighbours and Latin America countries, as we in Argentina have enough trouble to solve.
And this site is not the best place to discuss our internal affairs, the audience is mostly hostile against our countries, there are many partisans, also the foreign language doesn´t contribute for an adequate expression.
Said that, I will fell again at the temptation of answering your request.
:-)
From my very far point of view, I can see Santos not so different from Uribe, as he was the author of the main FARC defeats as Uribe Defense Minister! They play a smart game, as Uribe acted as the bad guy and Santos as the negotiator and law respectful. Chávez bought the game full-conscious because it serve to him stopping an absurd words-war escalation and for attending his economic problems. Latam “Progressism” including the attacked Ecuador´s Correa, expressed in the same way.
“No reductionism”: FARC has not appeared from the air, I agree that they use Terror as a tactic that is unforgiveable, but I would look to have them acting in politics. If declaring them terrorists by Brazil and other Latam countries, serve to that goal, fine. If not, go step by step until they become forced (no only by the guns) to participate peacefully in that democratic process. Is the Santos program as I can see. Cos they acknowledge that Colombia has a difficult track record in social injustice, and they are focusing in generating a future which solve it. For that, I assume that they need the “izquierda loca” inside the political process, not annihilated. Reductionism is the attempt to put “the good boys” here and “the evil” outside. An invitation for not thinking, as the real world is different.
For narcos, sorry but almost no political movement is fully clean there. I agree with you that narcotics as a financial source, as the use of terrorism, are evil and have to be defeated. From the FARC or from other sources, you know.
I guess labelling FARC with the terrorist tag would give legitimacy to foreign interference in the area.
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 01:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(5) Pheel
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 01:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well............ those hours inside “la 31” left an indeleble mark can I see... A good one....
“La Bajo Belgrano” and “la de Colegiales” marked me to somehow :-)
7 Think
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 01:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yea...it sow me inside a ridiculous call for building bridges between human beings...most of the time a dissapointing condemned-to-be- seen-as-a-naive call! :-)
I was so happy with my Braford cows...
Ugly beasts............... but they surely make better conversation partners than many posters in here :-)
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 02:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 04.- You have forgotten to mention that the FARC have been trainning “guerrilleros” for others countries in the region (like the indigenous from Chile - probed when the 2nd head of FARC was killed on Ecuador), as well they are involved other countries with their support (Ecuador & Venezuela - with money, guns and entrance permission).
Sep 03rd, 2010 - 04:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It´s very difficult to reinsert those people into the democracy because they are brainwashed about the only way for them is the guns, and it´s real due the most people in the region don´t believe their goals from decades ago that now have no value. The world have changed and there are other tools to solve the problems.....
At least, Chile have the FARC listed as “terrorist group” and have offered our cooperation to the Colombia Gvt. to fight them.
Upppps..... mentioning “Ugly Beasts” at (9) see who appears?
Sep 04th, 2010 - 08:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0The spirit of Pinochet.... With sunglasses and in full gala......
Pheel,
Sep 06th, 2010 - 05:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0You’re certainly right that FARC’s didn’t come out the blue, they originated because there were and still are conditions of hardships, extreme poverty, discrimination and abuse of power in Colombia’s society.
But unfortunately, it isn’t only Colombia, Mexico fits the same profile entirely, and all of Latin America has had a long and wretched history of social injustice, inequality and lack of upward social mobility.
In societies such as ours, merit accounts for nothing or almost nothing, and many a time deception, skullduggery and chicanery govern the success of prosperous individuals, political elites and special interests groups while entirely disenfranchised populations endure a life of hardships at the bottom of the barrel with nowhere to go.
Again and again people feel that they can change this on-sided status quo by turning the tables violently, and though they might be entitled to do that, it only reverses their country´s way instead of advancing their call for justice.
FARC is one such good example of how things can go very bad when the tables are turned from the bottom up in a country, it withheld once, probably decades ago, the hopes of millions of Colombians for a better society but today they arrest Colombia’s development and road to prosperity.
My hope is that our countries one day will learn that no violent revolution has ever had a happy ending and that changes must come by way of democracy and by building institutions to secure justice and law for all.
José,
Sep 06th, 2010 - 04:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0My comment was oriented to understand all the process: violence has not been monopolized by the FARC.
The dialogue process has already been boycotted by the 14 killings by the FARC that are reported here in another article.
I undoubtly share your hope of not violent changes, including in my hope a realist vision of the forces in struggle.
Peace is not easy, warmongerers are everywhere, including a lot of them that use to write here.
Pheel,
Sep 07th, 2010 - 01:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The more I read about the Colombia conflict the more complex it gets. Farcs are violent, but so are the paramilitary. But I am to put my money on somebody there that will have to be the state.
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