In an agreement mediated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on January 10, 2008 the Columbian rebel group FARC, named a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department [1], released two of their more than 700 hostages. The women, Consuelo Gonzalez and Clara Rojas, were kidnapped in 2002. FARC currently holds not only former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt but three American contractors and a number of other high-value captives. [2] President Alvarez Uribe has refused as a matter of policy to cede Columbian territory to FARC in exchange for hostages. Chavez had attempted to portray himself as a neutral third party negotiator, but was excluded from formal negotiations by President Uribe after he tried to communicate directly with the Columbian military.
The day after the release of Gonzalez and Rojas, Chavez argued that both FARC and ELN, another Columbian guerrilla organization, were "insurgent forces," "real armies that...occupy a space in Columbia." [3] As such they should be removed from terrorist lists and given standing under international law. Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, Venezuela's Minister of the Interior, addressed FARC thusly: "President Chavez wishes to let you know that we pay great attention to your struggle. Keep up your fighting spirit and your force. You can count on us." [4]Chavez intends to wage war on Columbia, and FARC are to be his foot soldiers.
The ELN was formed in 1963 by admirers of Fidel Castro, primarily clergy and intellectuals who hoped to emulate his Cuban Revolution. FARC came to be in 1966 as a more militant group dedicated to the same ideology. Now only nominally in support of Marxist goals, in the 1980s it became involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping for profit. FARC uses Venezuelan territory on the border of Columbia as its base of operations. The drug trade that provides the lion's share of FARC's funding relies upon the good graces of the Venezuelan government, as that country is the primary trafficking route between Columbia, North America and Europe.[5] Since 2002 President Uribe has succeeded in restoring order to Columbia to the point where the country's tourism industry has boomed and a free trade agreement with the U.S. is pending. Meanwhile Chavez suffered a humiliating defeat in last December's referendum. Oil production and profits are down after privatization of that industry. His trade partner and would-be ally Iran has turned its attention to more pressing matters closer to home, and Castro, his idol, whose regime Venezuela subsidizes, [6] is too ill to provide even token support.
Columbia is a storehouse of natural resources, producing not only gold, copper and emeralds but also coal, petroleum and natural gas.[7] It is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, which makes it ideally suited for international shipping and a valuable ally of the U.S. should the Panama Canal ever be declared off-limits. It is also, unfortunately, the world's largest producer of coca, as well as a producer of Opium poppies and Cannabis. President Uribe is a conservative and the first incumbent to win re-election in more than a century. He is the U.S's primary ally on the war on drugs in South America, and his crackdown on FARC is overwhelmingly backed by the Columbian people.
For reducing crime and expanding the economy, he won 62% of the vote in May 2006, defeating his nearest challenger by over 40 points.[8] The conflict between the people of Columbia and the drug cartels has been characterized by some on the left as a "civil war," the FARC guerrillas as "freedom fighters." This is no more the case than it was with Al Capone and George Moran in 1920's Chicago. There, the two men battled each other for control of a city. FARC is employing the same tactics for the same reasons for control of a nation, and Hugo Chavez is urging them forward, providing safe haven and the attention of a mostly sympathetic media. It is a breach of Columbia's sovereignty that must not go unanswered.
If the U.S. expects to keep Columbia as a strong ally it must act now. Chavez has made it plain that he is in effect commanding two armies, his own and FARC, the largest and best armed Marxist insurgent group. Passage of the free trade agreement would send a strong signal that the U.S. can be relied upon to support its allies.
It would tell the people of Columbia the U.S. is concerned about their plight and wants to help. Failure to support this trade pact gives direct aid and comfort to FARC. It reinforces the notion in the minds of Chavez, Evo Morales of Bolivia, and Rafael Correa of Ecuador that the U.S. is a paper tiger incapable of or unwilling to honor its promises. And it leaves Columbia, a conservative republic at a critical point in its development, twisting in the wind. No matter how much it would like to align itself with the U.S. Columbia cannot sit by and hope aid will come, not when Chavez and other enemies of freedom are wolves at its door. At some point Columbia will have to act and fight a three-front war against Venezuela, FARC, and the drug trade.
There is no one else to help them, and if Columbia loses this fight then the whole of South America is in peril of falling to Chavez and communism.
