In Colombia, violence is a way of life - the ongoing civil war in Colombia has led some to question the United States' large economic committment to the country

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 1, 1999 by Luis Angel Saavedra

U.S. military and economic aid to Colombia has increased more than tenfold during the past decade -- to $300 million this year, and the Clinton administration is proposing another huge aid package of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion over the next three years. The funds are aimed at helping Colombia fight the drug trade and insurgents. However, critics warn against flooding the region with more weapons and becoming deeply engaged in another Latin American civil dispute.

Meanwhile, the violence continues. The mayor of a small Colombian town was murdered by unidentified gunmen Sept. 19. Marco Emilio Londono of Vistahermosa became at least the eighth mayor to die in political violence this year. One bright note was the release the same day of Bishop Jose de Jesus Quintero Diaz of Tibu. The bishop was kidnapped twice in the past year. In a radio message the guerrillas that did the kidnapping apologized to the pope and explained the action as "a desperate measure to attract the nation's attention."

The following is an explanation of the groups and some of the circumstances fueling the long battle in Colombia.

On April 9, 1948, during the presidential, race that pitted Colombia's traditional political and economic powers, the liberals and conservatives, against each other, liberal candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan was murdered. He had proposed transforming Colombia's semi-feudal economy in favor of workers and campesinos, to whom he had Offered access to land and significant improvements in labor rights.

Gaitan's death gave rise to what would come to be known as "the violence," which has shed Colombian blood for 50 years and cost a million lives. One of every three Colombians has a relative who has been killed, kidnapped, wounded or displaced. "The violence" has become an entrenched conflict extending far beyond the economic and political spheres, a way of life with no end in sight. As journalist Jaime Garzon -- who was murdered Aug. 6 -- said, "The war in Colombia is no longer a conflict, it's a business."

Days before his death, Garzon, the first popularly elected mayor who dared to enter into dialogue with the guerrillas in search of a peace accord, told Ecuadorian journalist Jeanette Hinostroza how he felt about the Colombian conflict and the peace talks in which he participated.

"The conflict in Colombia isn't the guerrillas. The guerrillas are puppets. The paramilitaries are puppets. The army is a puppet. We have to look for the puppeteers," he said. "The war in Colombia is no longer a conflict; it's a business, a business of the North Americans and all those who sell weapons."

Guerrillas, paramilitaries and the army, as well as the equally violent drag-traffickers, are the main players in the business of war. The guerrillas have gained control of 40 percent of Colombia's territory, while the narcotics traffickers control 80 percent of the world's cocaine production.

A war with many faces

To understand the Colombian conflict, however, it is necessary to comprehend its various faces. The conflict is different at the national, regional and local levels, depending on the influence of the actors. The root cause, however, remains what it was in Gaitan's day -- increasing social injustice, inequitable distribution of wealth, generalized corruption and a high level of immunity, factors that have made possible the growth of armed groups as well as the business of drag trafficking.

It is a curious matter of ethics, said the Rev. Jorge Martinez Restrepo, secretary general of the National Conciliation Commission of Colombia, that is fundamental to the peace process.

"Within the insurgent groups, the problem of ethics, whether well or poorly defined, well or poorly perceived, is a central point of the conflict in Colombia," Martinez said.

In fact, the fundamental obstacle keeping the Simon Bolivar Guerrilla Coordinating Committee from pulling together all guerrilla groups and presenting a united front in peace talks with the government is rooted in an ethical problem. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) do not want to be associated with people who blow up oil pipelines and endanger the environment -- a reference to the military actions of the National Liberation Army (ELN), which refuses to negotiate with the FARC, which it considers to be overly involved with drug traffickers.

These divergent views of ethics have led the warring parties to deceive one another in order to consolidate their positions.

There are five guerrilla groups in Colombia: the FARC, ELN, Popular Liberation Army (EPL), Simon Bolivar Guerrilla Coordinating Committee and the Jaime Canon Movement.

The FARC and ELN are the oldest guerrilla groups and the ones whose political and military structure has created the greatest problems for the government. Analysts say these two groups cannot be defeated by the regular Colombian army, which has a force of 50,000 soldiers, half of whom are directly involved in anti-guerrilla action. At the same time, however, the guerrillas lack the ability to defeat the army and set up their own government.