Reply #3: Excellent article by Wilson Borja, a target Uribe hoped to bring down with the magical laptop.

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, January 08, 2004

An old legend says that when God made Colombia, St Peter questioned “Why have you given so much natural wealth to one country?” God replies, “You haven’t seen the leaders I will give them yet”.

It is this same wealth which is at the heart of the West’s close interest in Colombia, and it is this same poor leadership which explains why Colombia has so frequently handed it over to them. For despite Colombia’s possession of 16 of the world’s 22 most desirable resources, including oil, gold, platinum, emeralds, and some of the richest soils in the world, 68 per cent of Colombians live in poverty. While 2.5million families have no homes and 3.5million children have no school place, a mere one per cent of the population own well over half of Colombia’s land.

This wealth could benefit not just Colombia’s people, but the ‘many’ across the world. The fact that it has only benefited a few at the top, explains the 19 conflicts which have blighted Colombia since independence. The current conflict has lasted 55 years, and claimed the lives of millions. This war is a dirty war, conducted not between armies, but by a proxy paramilitary force working with the official armed forces and inflicting murder, torture and displacement on innocent civilians, while claiming to fight a leftwing guerrilla insurgency – most notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and also the smaller ELN group.

Since 1953 there have been nine peace processes, each convincing certain guerrilla factions to disband. In every instance, the guerrilla leaders who agreed to re-enter civil society have been assassinated. In 1985, for example, the FARC agreed to a ceasefire, to form a political party – the Patriotic Union – and to contest elections. In the following months, two presidential candidates, scores of elected Congressmen, regional deputies and local councillors and over 3,000 party activists were assassinated.

More:
http://www.zcommunications.org/colombias-winds-of-change-by-wilson-borja