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International:
Colombia
faces
terror
threat
and
a
guerrilla
war
it
can't
win
9/12/97
A group comprised of drug traffickers, known as "The Extraditables"
planted a car loaded with 550 pounds of explosives outside the offices
of a Bogota newspaper. The bomb was discovered by police before it could
explode. The group promised a wave of terror in reaction to draft legislation
which would overturn Colombia's 6 year-old ban on the extradition of its
citizens.
In a letter addressed to Colombian lawmakers and sent by mail to a Caracol,
Colombia radio station, the group said, "This first car bomb failed
us, but others may not." Adding, "It is thanks to you that a
new terrorist era has begun. We prefer a tomb in Colombia to a jail in
the United States."
ALSO: Special advisors to Colombia's President Ernesto Samper admitted
in a report this week that that government's guerrilla war with political
insurgents has passed the point where the government could hope to win
it militarily. The conflict and the security situation, they say, "are
greater than the capacity of the state to control them."
Political economist Francisco Thoumi, author of the book "Political
Economy and Illegal Drugs in Colombia," tells The Week Online that
although the situation is quite complex, and it is impossible to determine
the proportions of the various sources of their funding, it is clear that
the rebels have become much stronger, financially, over the past decade
and it is well established that at least part of their money comes to them
through the narcotics trade.
-- END --
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Issue #11, 9/12/97
Organization News | Medical Marijuana: Plaintiffs in Conant v. McCaffrey Win Another Stage | Needle Exchange: House passes amendment that would strip Shalala of the power to lift the ban on using Federal AIDS funding for needle exchange | War on the Border: Against the Pentagon's wishes, the House votes to add provision for 10,000 troops on US-Mexican border to defense bill | War in the Capital: In our nation's capital, nearly 50% of black males between 18-35 are under criminal justice supervision | Focus on Michigan | Free Kemba Smith: Youth lead the way in the campaign against mandatory minimum sentencing | International: Colombia faces terror threat and a guerrilla war it can't win | Quote of the Week: Monkey business from the new issue of the Drug Policy Letter | Link of the Week: National Alliance of Methadone Advocates
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