In Colombia, a nasty “insurgency” has been going on for 40 years, and has had thousands of casualties.

Usually “elites” in the US press and universities see “peasant insurgencies” as the good guys, but few even in the left wing US press think good of FARC, a murderous group that not only kills judges and local politicians, but under the guise of being left wing freedom fighters actually is deeply involved in sending drugs to the US.

So now the BBC reports:

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians have staged nationwide protests calling for an end to kidnapping and the civil conflict which has lasted 44 years.

The centre of the capital, Bogota, was closed down as people moved towards the historic Plaza Bolivar, most wearing white or waving white handkerchiefs.

The protests across the country were seen as a rare show of national unity.

The calls for peace were prompted by the killing in June of 11 politicians held by the left-wing Farc movement.

This is the background:

Several years ago, there were cease fires and amnesties, which defused some groups, but other groups merely merged with the drug lords and simmered along. One of their nasty side lines is the kidnapping of people for money and politicians for revenge and to pressure the government.
President Uribe, who has been quite firm against them, is now under fire from the US Congress for Colombian Army connections with “right wing hit squads”. He also was under pressure by French authorities to get a French/Colombian politician released, and bowing to pressure released several hundred FARC members from jail, but he refused to allow the “insurgents” a safe haven, since this had been given in the past, and the rebels did not hold to their side of the agreement, instead they used the safe haven as a base for furthur attacks against the government.
So several weeks ago, FARC, the largest group, killed eleven politicians they had kidnapped two years ago. FARC claimed they were killed in the crossfire when the Colombian Army attacked the base; however, the government denied the attack, although a private group might have tried to rescue the hostages. In other words, the hostages were killed in cold blood, either to pressure the Colombian government or to prevent their being rescued.

The killing however has backfired on the left wing FARC, with the population now tired of a war and the kidnapping of the growing middle class. Another negative is that although thirty years ago, drug use was rare and considered merely a good way for poor people to earn money, now drug use among students and street children is widespread, causing even more chaos in cities and towns as theft decimates businesses and as businessmen hire hit men to eliminate the worst of the street gangs.

It should be noted that the leftist template of “rich vs poor” is no longer accurate. We now see a more aggressive and growing middle class in many countries, including the Philippines and Colombia, who need a country of laws so their businesses can grow and prosperity can thrive.

They are the ones demonstrating in Colombia against an organization that kills peasants, forces them to be slaves in drug factories, and kidnaps innocent people for ransom: right now FARC and related groups hold an estimated 3000 hostages.

Colombian singer Juanes, whose song La Camisa Negra (The Black Shirt) became a global hit, led a march in his native Medellin. He donned a white T-shirt with the words ‘I have a white shirt for peace in Colombia.’

‘The international community has to understand very well what is really happening here, because there really is not a very clear sense, and they see the armed groups with a romantic idea and with a philosophical weight, which perhaps they once had, but not at this moment,’ Juanes said.


Nancy Reyes is a retired physician living in the rural Philippines. Her son lives in rural Colombia. Her website is Finest Kind Clinic and Fishmarket.

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