Reason Writers Around Town
In the Weekly Standard, Michael C. Moynihan examines the connections between Hugo Chavez and FARC, and tours the wreckage they've left behind.
Comments to "Reason Writers Around Town":
Michael Pack | March 10, 2008, 12:39pm | #
I'm as anti-communist as they come ,yet that's not the whole story.Much of FARC's income is in the drug trade.The U.S. bears the guilt of funding this Marxist gang just as the 19 amd. helped create Al Capone.By jailing our people for a crime against no one we give our[and allies] and constant and large revenue stream.We have taken this 'drug war' much farther than alcohol.Most of that is due to the fact drug producing countries are poor and beholden to our government.We never took a hard line against Canada,Great Britain,ect during the alcohol war.Look at the trade between Detroit and Winsor.Episiarch | March 10, 2008, 3:22pm | #
Michael P. is absolutely right. FARC would be dead and gone by now if we didn't prosecute the war on drugs all the way into Columbia, thereby giving them a massive source of money.Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I wonder if Uribe will actually follow through on his threat to expose evidence found in Reyes' computer of Chavez' collaboration with FARC, or will he wimp out?
It's difficult to fathom how this article seemed complete without some mention of the fact that FARC survives on the drug trade. Even without using anti-prohibition rhetoric, the one fact that kept FARC from going the way of the Red Brigade 20 years ago would seem important to mention.
charlie | March 10, 2008, 4:08pm | #
Rimfax -- you forget that this article was published in the Weekly Standard. It's much more important to cast all of the world's problems as the fault of anti-American leftists rather than actually studying them carefully and objectively -- probably because too often they'd find it was U.S. policies responsible for many of those ills.I agree with Michael P and Episiarch, although kidnapping for ransom is also a source of income for the Farc.
rana | March 10, 2008, 4:41pm | #
"I agree with Michael P and Episiarch, although kidnapping for ransom is also a source of income for the Farc."Sure is. Chavez is said to have paid $300 million for hostage release...
But he may have paid as much for coca ;)
Hmmm, that's about $100 million a hostage, isn't it? Of course the Farc took four MORE hostages the very next day....
R C Dean | March 10, 2008, 4:50pm | #
Now, THAT'S what I call a business plan, atrvete.And, special eco-conscious bonus - hostages are a renewable resource!
Gahan | March 10, 2008, 4:55pm | #
The Mexican press has been investigating ties between the FARC and public Mexican universities. Apparently some of the people killed at the camp were UNAM students who had taken up arms with the guerrillas.Michael Pack | March 10, 2008, 4:57pm | #
The problem with kidnapping is you need to be closely involved.With drugs you can keep several degrees of separation.Plus you can curry favor with the locals be throwing them a few bucks.Not mentioning the drug trade and FARC is ridiculous but makes sense based on the publication -- in addition to the drug trade Colombian government after Colombian government has done nothing for rural poor Colombians for basically ever -- there would likely still be a FARC type force even without the drug trade but likely on par with the generally non-violent though misguided movement in Bolivia...
Also, Ivan Rios, the Farc's fourth in command was killed in the past few days, apparently by his own bodyguards, eager to collect a bounty from the Colombian government. They sent his bloody, severed hand as proof of death to the proper authorities and all. And I think they got extra credit for his confiscated laptop - should also be some interesting things on there.
wang | March 11, 2008, 9:36am | #
War, war, war, I havn't heard it for a long time.