Colombian rebel group says it will free all captives
(AP) Colombia's main rebel group has said it will free the last of the government captives it has held for years and abandon the practice of kidnapping.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) said on its website on Sunday that it would release 10 "prisoners of war", who were the last in its control, although it did not say it was abandoning hostilities. The government says the rebel group holds at least 12 captives and all must be freed before talks to end the long civil conflict can start.
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/26/colombian-rebels-to-free-captives
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It was not possible with the Bush Junta and its mafia don, Alvaro Uribe, running Colombia. Among other terrible things, those fascists and illicit drugs and war profiteers actively sabotaged efforts at peace and tried to expand Colombia's civil war into neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador, in typical Bush Junta fashion, trying to create or exacerbate conflicts, murder and mayhem (ex. Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Iraq).
It's difficult not to be cynical about U.S. policy now (under Obama) and Uribe's rightwing rival, Manuel Santos, who are trying to sell a U.S./Colombia "free trade for the rich agreement" to South America, which has largely rejected U.S. corporate/war profiteer domination. Now that FIVE MILLION peasant farmers have been brutally displaced in Colombia by state terror, now that the trade union movement has been decapitated time and again with outright murder, now that human rights groups, community organizers, teachers, and other advocates of the poor, as well as journalists and other vital actors in civil society, have been terrorized by the Colombian military and its rightwing paramilitary death squads, now that judges, prosecutors and others have been illegally spied upon and threatened, with (according to testimony) the aid of the U.S. (Bush Junta), now that the big drug lords (as opposed to the little peasant farmers of coca leaves) have triumphed, NOW they want even freer reign by corporations like Monsanto, Chiquita, Drummond Coal, Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, et al. The "bad cops" have been in to beat the populace to a pulp; now the "good cops" come along to benefit from that brutality and lawlessness.
BUT, but, but...I have to say that Santos' moves toward peace in this long civil war are a good thing, whatever his motives may be. The same for the Obama administration. I believe that it IS Obama administration policy to END this civil war, or, rather, to allow it to be ended. (Among other things, the very first visible action by CIA Director Leon Panetta--who is now at the Pentagon--was to go to Bogota to yank Uribe off the stage.)
Again, WHATEVER their motives are (i.e., "free trade for the rich"
, peace is good. I have never supported FARC violence. I can understand it as a reaction to fascist rule. I don't support it. (And, in any case, the Colombian military and its death squads have been far, FAR more violent than the FARC.) Further, the context for peaceful civil rule has dramatically changed for the better in most of South America, with the successes of the leftist democracy movement (in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru and other countries). Colombia is now surrounded by countries with leaders who want peace and social justice. These leaders have demonstrated their ability to cooperate and to unify on important issues. They will help Colombia achieve peace (and have been trying to do that for half a decade) and will further influence Colombia toward better government (and have already done so--for instance, Santos has promised universal health care for Colombians and it is very unlikely that he would have done that without the example of universal health care right next door in Venezuela and a general leftist move toward universal health care throughout the region).
Latin America now has several presidents of countries who personally joined armed leftist guerrilla groups during the worst fascist dictatorships, including Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil, who was imprisoned and horribly tortured by the U.S. supported dictatorship for her membership in such a group. These leaders understand what has been going on in Colombia far better than any previous leaders and are committed to achieving universal peace in the region. They have been outraged by the Bush Junta's war mongering and war profiteering and have, without question, influenced this more reasonable administration in Washington (Obama) to allow peace to OCCUR. The Obama administration also seems to be allowing Santos some independence (for instance, he recently said that he could support legalization of drugs--a rather amazing statement for a president of Colombia). (Big Pharma may be behind that, but still, the corrupt, failed, murderous, upside-down, inside-out, "Alice in Wonderland" U.S. "war on drugs" is one of the biggest evils on the face of the earth, and even if Big Pharma profits, big time, from the legalization of drugs, legalization is good, just like peace is good. End the war. End all the wars!)
In March 2008, the U.S./Colombia bombed the FARC hostage release and peace negotiation camp on the border of Colombia and Ecuador, using 500 lb. U.S. "smart bombs" to blow away 25 sleeping people, including the FARC commander who was trying to engineer a peace. THAT was typical of the Bush Junta and was among many actions that they took to prevent peace and to foment war in Latin America.
While Obama is not exactly peaceful (nor is Panetta)--(anyone who authorizes the dreadful drone bombings in Afghanistan, Libya and other countries around the world cannot be called peaceful)--I think that the Obama administration has been far better than the Bush Junta at facing the REALITY in Latin America, that the U.S. can no longer control this region by force and by brutal interference.
The force countering U.S. domination--that is, the people of Latin America who have organized and supported the widespread leftist democracy movement--is too strong. The Pentagon may have its "Southern Command" war plans on its Big Oil Dartboard--plans that certainly pose a danger to us all, if a Bush Junta II gets "Diebolded" into the White House--and Obama & Co. may be abetting those plans by NOT demobilizing in Latin America (closing military bases, withdrawing threats like the U.S. 4th Fleet, etc.) and, instead, ADDING more military bases (for instance, in Honduras), but, at least, for now, we have Obama realism: that the U.S. is bankrupt and can't afford any more "Iraqs" and that Latin America has become increasingly unified against such interference and has been increasingly successful in its economic independence movement as well (increasing general prosperity in countries with leftist governments).
I hope to God that all this means an end to Colombia's civil war, without the brutal retaliations that occurred before. (The last time the FARC demobilized, some 5,000 of their members, who had disarmed, were slaughtered by fascist death squads.) I don't like how this came about--$7 BILLION in U.S. military aid for a scorched earth policy against the peasants. And I don't like suspected U.S. motives now (selling "free trade for the rich" . But things could hardly get worse in Colombia than they have been over the last decade--with the murder, mayhem and utter lawlessness by the government itself, with U.S. support. If Santos can broker a genuine peace treaty with the FARC, and somehow limit or disable Uribe's criminal network, these accomplishments can pave the way for civil society to rebuild itself. It will be long hard journey but peace is the first essential step.