Where's the birth certificate

Free and Strong America

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Viva Colombia!


When something great happens concerning the strongest US ally in Latin America, we should all take notice and rejoice. I didn't know much about Juan Manuel Santos, Alvaro Uribe's replacement for president other than he was defense minister under Uribe. Alvaro Vargas Llosa writes that Santos was emphasizing "economic issues" upon taking office and there was concern in some circles that he was going to go soft on FARC rebels like Uribe's predessor Andres Pastrana had initially done, with disasterous results, early in his administration. But lo and behold, Santos had a little something-something up his sleeve for the Marxist-inspired rebels that they won't soon forget, (provided they are still alive of course)...

"The devastating Sept. 22 attack on FARC headquarters in Colombia's central Meta province all but signifies the end of the five-decade-old conflict. It will take a little while for the official end to be declared, but this war is pretty much over. The death of Jorge Briceno, aka Mono Jojoy, the feared military strategist and top commander of the organization, means two things. One, the historical leadership is now finished; the legendary founder, Manuel Marulanda, was killed by the army in 2008 and the man who replaced him, Alfonso Cano, is an ideologue, not a military strategist. Two, since Mono Jojoy's demise is the culmination of a two-year streak in which every key camp inside Colombia has been located, FARC is now unable to operate effectively within national borders. No terrorist guerrilla has ever won a war in exile.



Despite the hundreds of soldiers who took part, "Operation Sodom" was not a victory of military might but of intelligence. The authorities infiltrated the headquarters and, after patient work, were able to place a GPS device inside Mono Jojoy's (U.S.-made) boots that signaled his exact location."


Kudos to Santos for taking action where needed and continuing the fight that Uribe had done so well. I was concerned after Uribe was forced out due to term limits that the next president wouldn't be able to live up to the high standard set by Uribe's administration. If he is able to mop up any remaining resistance and also manage to kill or capture Cano, he too might expect to enjoy 2 terms as the leader of Colombia should he want to do so.

6 comments:

The Maryland Crustacean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Maryland Crustacean said...

Ojalá tuviéramos en los Estados Unidos un Presidente tan amador de la libertad económica y y de la verdadera democracia representativa como lo tienen en Colombia!

J Curtis said...

Exactamente Cangrejo de Maruland. Lo que tenemos en esta pais en estas dia es mucho mas como Che Guevera y menos como Tomas Jefferson.

Que cosita.

Froggie said...

You are both delusional. That is all.

Coco Rico said...

Cuando fui a Bogotá en 1997 vi que el país tiene un espiritu muy civilizado, en el mejor sentido. El lenguaje colombiano es muy cortés y formal. Sus comportamientos son muy respetuosos. Por eso creo que el país tiene una fondación fuerte en la tradición y puede sobrevivir y hasta florecer si tienen la manera de suprimir los FARCs.

J Curtis said...

Yo fui para Colombia 6 veces en mi vida. Y cada vez cuando yo pasar por COL, esta muy obio (para me) que el pais esta mejorando. Cada vez hay un poco mas vigilancia y seguridad. Un poco mas de inversiones. Un poco mas de electricidad en areas en donde no estaba hace solamente algunos anos.

VE en comparison, esta un poco peor cada vez yo pasar por alla. En serio.