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My wife was born in Colombia and we talk about this quite often. She told me the Colombian military forces aren't strong enough to wipe out the guerrillas and the difficulty of the terrain adds to the disaster.
I believe if the Colombian government would make a tit-for-tat arrangements with the military of a much stronger nation, be it the USA, the Chinese, or the Russians, then the problem would be over in a year or less.
My take is the the Colombians are not willing or don't have a stomach for drastic measures, therefore the surgery to remove the cancer just gets postponed indefinitely.
But again they started in the 60s. Crack did not get big until 80s.
Yes it's true FARC was born out the same revolutionary movements that took place across many countries in Latin America. In fact a young Fidel Castro was in the crowd during "El Bogotazo", an event which became the seed that created the FARC and no doubt influenced Fidel Castro to create his revolution.
However, even until this day countries like Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, etc. refuse to brand the FARC or ELN as terrorist groups. In the previous decade the governments of these countries directly or indirectly supported the FARC's cause.
Another point is that Colombia's terrain is vast and extremely difficult to monitor. The various wilderness "plugs", i.e. the Darien Gap, Guajira Desert, Sierra Nevadas, Amazon, Tropical Savannah, Chocoan rainforest, Caribbean swamps and uninhabited valleys of the 3 Andean mountain ranges; means that there are a lot of power vacuums which got filled by communist-style revolutionary leaders propped up by drug money, as these natural obstacles were perfect isolated places for cultivation and smuggling routes.
Last edited by Pueblofuerte; 10-22-2017 at 12:49 AM..
My wife was born in Colombia and we talk about this quite often. She told me the Colombian military forces aren't strong enough to wipe out the guerrillas and the difficulty of the terrain adds to the disaster.
I believe if the Colombian government would make a tit-for-tat arrangements with the military of a much stronger nation, be it the USA, the Chinese, or the Russians, then the problem would be over in a year or less.
My take is the the Colombians are not willing or don't have a stomach for drastic measures, therefore the surgery to remove the cancer just gets postponed indefinitely.
perhaps your wife was born there but doesn't know much about the country.
Colombia has already been receiving US military support for decades and they couldn't erradicate guerrillas.
You can't just erradicate these guerrillas. USA lost in Vietnam because of that. These guerrilla groups obviously don't follow the law, they recruit kids, use civilians as human shields, kidnap, extort, put landmines on civil-populated aras, and they mimic among civilian population in the areas of their influence, which makes almost impossible to defeat them completely, especially in large countries with difficult terrain. when you don't know who is guerrilla member and who isn't, how to fight them effectively? and the ones who are armed are constantly moving through difficult, very sparsely populated terrain, with no roads or anything. Maybe if you forgot about human rights there would be a chance, but of course that isn't a possibility.
And there is drug trafficking. the USA and other countries are the main cause of this problem because of their drug demand and drug policies which make them profitable for illegal groups. As long as drugs remain illegal, there will be fertile soil for illegal armies to flourish.
But you can decimate them and force them out of the most strategic areas, forcing them to hide in very remote areas, which is what the Government has done. and now Farc are demobilised and ELN is on ceasefire, so marxist maoist guerrillas might be finally gone from Colombia in the short term.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133
Unless they make their own munitions, and weapons, food, medicine, and other tools an army needs, I assume they are getting outside help.
yes but it's very easy for them to get such things. to get food or medicines they just send people to the cities, it might be civilians, or just guerrilla members disguised as such. getting weapons is no big deal either, after all these illegal bussiness (weapons, drugs, prostitution, etc) are among the most profitable bussiness in the whole World. you don't need the Kremlin to smuggle weapons in some country, especially not in one that shares a 2500 km border with a semilawless country like Venezuela as Colombia does, and many more kms of jungle and sea border with other countries. drugs and weapons flow freely in containers all over the World.
You can't just erradicate these guerrillas. USA lost in Vietnam because of that.
This!
People don't realise that guerrilla tactics/warfare are completely different from traditional war. It's like Islamist terrorist attacks, they don't follow the status quo that comprises warfare and therefore difficult to annihilate entirely.
Not only did the US lose to Vietnam due to this but the Russians also lost in Afghanistan for this same reason.
Now add the incredibly difficult and remote terrain that makes up Colombia (perhaps the most difficult in the world), the insatiable appetite for drugs in the developed world and emerging markets (Asia), the fact that Colombia can have upto 6 harvests a year due to its favourable/varied climate compared to Peru or Bolivia's 2-3, then it just makes Colombian coca more profitable. Obviously its inequality that exacerbates the situation also.
My wife was born in Colombia and we talk about this quite often. She told me the Colombian military forces aren't strong enough to wipe out the guerrillas and the difficulty of the terrain adds to the disaster.
I believe if the Colombian government would make a tit-for-tat arrangements with the military of a much stronger nation, be it the USA, the Chinese, or the Russians, then the problem would be over in a year or less.
My take is the the Colombians are not willing or don't have a stomach for drastic measures, therefore the surgery to remove the cancer just gets postponed indefinitely.
Why would the Colombians or any other South Americans take drastic measures? Americans and other people around the world like to snort coke, so it's how they make their money. Coca leaves were used by South Americans for thousands of years, so it's not like cultivation was ever forbidden by the governments. It's now legal in much of South America (people drink tea, chew the leaves, and make other coca products).
There's no reason for South Americans to die or ruin their countries or kill their countrymen when Americans will get high no matter what, when many American states have legalized marijuana, and when Oregon has defelonized heroin, cocaine, molly, LSD, crystal meth, and one other drug. Portugal has decriminalized all drugs. The West is ending the war on drugs, and so is South America.
Unless they make their own munitions, and weapons, food, medicine, and other tools an army needs, I assume they are getting outside help.
Dude, please tell me you can't be naive.
They didn't need outside help. Inside help was available from the Colombian government. Wherever there's a lot of money to be made, someone will make it.
Just like making alcohol illegal turned out to a ridiculous failure in the US, so has making drugs illegal. If the US and other Western nations could not stop the drug trade, how could or why would Colombia? But yeah of course these groups had inside help and people within the government and military in Colombia were BOUGHT.
There was no real reason in continuing the conflict, so the government made peace with Farc and has been in talks with others. Legalization and decriminalization are spreading throughout the Western world, and South American nations no longer keep up the pretense or the charade.
Yes it's true FARC was born out the same revolutionary movements that took place across many countries in Latin America. In fact a young Fidel Castro was in the crowd during "El Bogotazo", an event which became the seed that created the FARC and no doubt influenced Fidel Castro to create his revolution.
However, even until this day countries like Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, etc. refuse to brand the FARC or ELN as terrorist groups. In the previous decade the governments of these countries directly or indirectly supported the FARC's cause.
Another point is that Colombia's terrain is vast and extremely difficult to monitor. The various wilderness "plugs", i.e. the Darien Gap, Guajira Desert, Sierra Nevadas, Amazon, Tropical Savannah, Chocoan rainforest, Caribbean swamps and uninhabited valleys of the 3 Andean mountain ranges; means that there are a lot of power vacuums which got filled by communist-style revolutionary leaders propped up by drug money, as these natural obstacles were perfect isolated places for cultivation and smuggling routes.
^ This
I know alot of people don't want to hear this but the reality is that Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and other Latin American nations with leftist regimes do quite a bit of foreign interference and meddling themselves. It's not just the big bad Yanqui imperialists from Gringolandia that stick their noses in our countries.
They will be around as long as Americans love to snort coke and meddle in other peoples affairs.
I have spent a lot of time in other country's and can assure you it's not just Americans snorting coke. Mexicans love it as do many from all other latin American country's. Even Canadians snort it up. It's not just an American thing!
Just sick of seeing the US being blamed for everything.
This!
People don't realise that guerrilla tactics/warfare are completely different from traditional war. It's like Islamist terrorist attacks, they don't follow the status quo that comprises warfare and therefore difficult to annihilate entirely.
Not only did the US lose to Vietnam due to this but the Russians also lost in Afghanistan for this same reason.
Now add the incredibly difficult and remote terrain that makes up Colombia (perhaps the most difficult in the world), the insatiable appetite for drugs in the developed world and emerging markets (Asia), the fact that Colombia can have upto 6 harvests a year due to its favourable/varied climate compared to Peru or Bolivia's 2-3, then it just makes Colombian coca more profitable. Obviously its inequality that exacerbates the situation also.
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