Colombia's Humanitarian Crisis
by Aisha Gawad
Colombia is a nation that is almost always featured prominently on the websites of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, but for what? If you don't follow human rights news than you probably have no idea, because mainstream newspapers and channels certainly don't explain it. In major American newspapers, Colombia's decades-long civil strife is usually relegated to the "world in brief" section, a mere paragraph informing us of yet another kidnapping or murder by the paramilitary militias or maybe the left--ing guerillas or perhaps the government's military itself. But these are all just terms and phrases, like "drug cartels" and "extrajudicial executions," that are apparently not worth the trouble of explaining to American audiences. But if billions of US taxpayer dollars are being used to aid the Colombian military in the fight against cocaine trafficking, then shouldn't the American press pay more attention?
Colombia's current troubles stem from the formation of leftist guerilla groups in the 1960's. The largest of the rebel groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC, began in 1964 with the aim of using armed struggle to overthrow the government and replace it with a Marxist regime. The second-largest leftist group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) was founded a year later by Colombian intellectuals in an effort to reproduce the Cuban Revolution. In response to these movements, right-wing vigilante groups began to spring up, backed by wealthy landowners who felt threatened by the leftist agenda. These right-wing groups have spawned into paramilitaries like the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
But all the groups, on all ends of the political spectrum, have changed radically over the years, losing sight of their original political aims and falling into a destructive path of corruption and violence. The FARC, for instance, is now heavily involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion to fund its guerilla campaign. And the leadership of the right-wing AUC has been linked to some of the largest drug cartels in Colombia. The AUC has also carried out assassinations against anyone who attempts to speak out against it. The government security forces have also gotten their hands dirty; human rights advocates accuse them of carrying out extrajudicial killings against trade unionists and humanitarian activists.
The main victim of this extraordinarily dirty war is, of course, the civilian population. The BBC estimates that about 3,000 civilians die every year in result of the conflict. Thousands more have been kidnapped, and approximately three million have been displaced by the fighting, many of them forced to live in shanty towns. Civilians who speak out against the violence are specifically targeted. Journalists at one of the main Colombian newspapers, El Tiempo, for example, report anonymously, never using their names in fear of retribution from one of the many armed groups.
Colombia's current president, Alvaro Uribe, first elected to office in 2002, won office largely due to his hard-line stance on security. He has made several attempts to negotiate with the guerilla groups and with FARC in particular, but to little effect. Negotiations, including those involving Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, fell apart again in November 2007 around the issue of hostages, which the FARC refused to release until the very end of 2007. Attempts to demobilize the right-wing paramilitary groups have been slightly more successful. The AUC has declared a ceasefire and thousands of its fighters have turned in their weapons, but some pockets of the organization are still violently active. The AUC's ties to government officials, a scandal that erupted in January 2007, have further complicated matters. The government has also offered the paramilitaries, in the controversial Justice and Peace Law, reduced prison sentences of no more than eight years if they agree to share details of their involvement. Human rights advocates criticize this move as being soft on humanitarian criminals, but the government maintains that it's a price worth paying as long as security slowly continues to improve. Despite the small dip in violence in recent years, groups like Amnesty International still point to continued displacement, killings and kidnappings especially in rural areas.
Since 2000, the United States has sent over $4 billion under Plan Colombia. Originally the plan was introduced in order to assist in the drug war; about 90 percent of all cocaine sold in the U.S. comes from Colombia. But under President Bush, the funds have also been used in counter terrorism efforts, largely aimed against the leftist guerillas. Human rights groups criticize this as an ineffective use of U.S. aid as the paramilitaries have also engaged in terrorist tactics and are also heavily involved in drug trafficking. They argue that the U.S. should insist upon clearer human rights stipulations before releasing the aid. And it seems that Plan Colombia is yet to produce much of an effect. Although the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration touted a decreased availability of cocaine on American streets in 2007, they are now predicting that availability to bounce back again in 2008 as South American cocaine production increased despite eradication efforts.
Evidence of four decades of brutally violent civil strife in Colombia is visible on city streets across America, and yet most Americans are still totally unaware of the history behind the violence. When people in the U.S. think about Colombia, they crack jokes about cocaine smugglers, not realizing just how devastating the war behind the drugs is for the Colombian people.
