Colext/Macondo Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior --------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 20:18:07 -0500 From: "preston peet" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Never Ending Colombian Peace Process >"The objective of peace is worth so much and the cost of war so terrible, that I urge the parties to do everything possible to find a solution to the present crisis." James LeMoyne, UN Special Envoy to Colombia, January 10, 2002 by Preston Peet snip>Plenty of Blame to Go Around "There's plenty of blame to go around on both sides," Sanho Tree of the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies (http://www.ips-dc.org/) told HT. "The Colombian government never really controlled the countryside to begin with, so to say they ceded something is a euphemism, because you can't cede something you don't control. They did control some of the bigger towns, but that doesn't mean much. There's very little state presence to begin with out there." After five days of heated negotiations, FARC and Pastrana agreed once again to immediately work towards signing a cease-fire agreement by April 7. FARC also agreed to halt their rampant kidnappings, used to help finance their efforts, and the government agreed to crack down on murderous right-wing paramilitary forces like the AUC. The current round of peace talks, first planned for October 2001 but postponed when FARC accused the government of increasing military patrols along the border of their safe haven, averted immediate action by the Colombian military, and bought FARC a little more time, allaying fears by some that an explosive increase in bloodshed was just around the corner. "Even as this 11th-hour peace thing was going on, there were individual attacks by FARC commanders," says Tree. "Even after the agreement to extend the talks, they continued the attacks. These people have just an unimaginable ability to shoot themselves in the foot. At some level, I don't blame Pastrana. On the other hand, the FARC are absolutely right in that Mr. Pastrana can't really negotiate in good faith when he has asked the United States for $1.3 billion, which includes about a billion dollars worth of military aid. Let's talk while I get a big stick and beat you over the head with it."< end snip -------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE COLEXT as the BODY of the message. Un archivo de colext puede encontrarse en: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ cortesia de Anibal Monsalve Salazar
