'The huge security effort and firm hand against the guerrilla insurgents is aimed at wiping out the production of Coca and the cartels.'

Martin Piper looks at Colombia, the scene of Latin America’s longest running civil war.

Spanning more than four decades, the UN described the situation in 2004, as the worst humanitarian crisis in the western hemisphere.

The two main guerrilla groups still in action today are the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the ELN (National Liberation Army).

Private armies were formed in response to the guerrillas. These Paramilitaries form an alliance known as the AUC (United Self Defence Force of Colombia) and were originally backed by wealthy landowners to combat kidnappings, extortion and incursion onto their land. The paramilitaries are often in collusion with the police force and army.

Inequalities

Stark inequalities remain in Colombia. However, many believe that throughout the 90s, much of the guerrillas’ ideological motivation was lost, in part due to waning support from Moscow and Havana, combined with the realisation of the lucrative returns to be made from Colombia’s number 1 export Cocaine. Both the paramilitaries and the FARC are involved in the illicit trade.

The incumbent president Alvaro Uribe came to power in May 2002 and won a second term in office in May 2006. Upon election he promised to crack down on the guerrillas and negotiate with the paramilitaries in a process of demobilisation.

Since in office, his government has increased spending on the military and the police force and has secured military aid to the tune of $700 million per year from the United States.

The huge security effort and firm hand against the guerrilla insurgents, called “Plan Patriota” is coupled with “Plan Colombia”, a program aimed at wiping out the production of Coca and the cartels involved in the production and smuggling of Cocaine.

Both Strategies have faced continued criticism. The excessive force against guerrilla insurgents, with civilian casualties caught in the crossfire, has lead to some 1 million internally displaced in the last 5 years, according to UN estimates.

Libardo Villamizar of the NGO Compromiso, asserts that “Plan Colombia is deceptive, as more and more people are being forced off their land, caught in the middle of the conflict”.

The process of chemical spraying to wipe out Coca is also unpopular and considered ineffective.

Military presence

The increased military presence, whilst widely regarded as having made much of the country, especially the cities, safer, is criticised because it is considered too harsh on the guerrillas and too soft on the paramilitaries, who many believe to be more involved in the illicit drugs trade and guilty of more atrocities.

Last week, “Simon Trinidad” became the first guerrilla leader to begin trial in the US under United States law. Almost two years after his extradition he is charged with membership of a terrorist organisation (FARC) responsible for the kidnapping of three US citizens in 2003 and the assassination of another.

Paramilitaries, on the other hand demand amnesty and immunity from extradition whilst recent reports document the web of corruption, narco-trafficking, army collusion and state infiltration under the direction of paramilitary chief “Jorge 40”. One Colombian daily claims proof of 558 assassinations in the Atlantic region alone between 2003 and 2005. (El Tiempo 8 th October 2006)

The same newspaper on the 19 th October cites the involvement of three high profile politicians from congress colluding with, financing and supporting the paramilitaries.

Gustavo Petro, of the Polo Democratico Party says Uribe has lied to the Colombian people and allowed paramilitaries to mock the demobilisation process, creating new combatant fronts, continuing assassinations and exporting cocaine whilst supposedly negotiating peace.

Despite many public declarations of the success of Plan Patriota and Plan Colombia, in private many politicians and military officials echo the concerns of the public and doubt their achievements. However following the recent car bomb in Bogotá last week, attributed to the FARC, although unconfirmed, the government seems even more determined to wipe out the guerrillas and has closed all doors to further negotiation.

Perhaps, due to the unpopularity of the Bush administration, Uribe feels that time is running out, as it is unlikely that a democratic US government would be so generous towards Colombia, forcing Uribe to cutback on his security effort.

Martin Piper is a former employee of Christian Aid who now lives and works in South America.

These are personal comments and not necessarily the position of Christian Aid or its partners.

• Read other columns from Martin Piper