The return of Colombias paramilitary nightmare
Organised criminal gangs offshoots of the brutal groups that were formed to fight Farc are taking over areas abandoned by their former enemy
By Reinaldo Spitaletta
Published: 17:52 March 26, 2017
Is paramilitarism finished in Colombia? Or did it simply change shape and morph into the so-called bandas criminals (criminal gangs) Bacrim for short which are known to involve old-guard paramilitary fighters and are responsible for a new wave of crime and terror?
These are just some of the questions being posed in light of recent reports about the forced displacement of civilians in the department of Choco, in western Colombia, where clashes have been reported between guerrillas from the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and members of the Gaitanista Self-Defence Groups, a criminal offshoot of the now defunct United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia paramilitary organisation.
The paramilitary phenomenon, that horrific project of the 1980s created in a backward country dominated by landowners, remains a threat, especially now that Colombias largest guerrilla army the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc has agreed to dismantle. This is especially true is rural areas.
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Paramilitarism as it exists in Colombia was cruel and blood-thirsty from the outset. The pretext for its creation was to fight the guerrillas. But beyond that, it was a political project designed to seize control of the countrys best lands. It used terror as a key mechanism of expropriation and, as it metastasized, resulted in wholesale massacres. Little by little, paramilitary groups formed alliances with state forces and politicians of the traditional parties, the Liberals and Conservatives.
Nobody dares report
In his 1983 column, titled Which country are we dying in?, Garcia Marquez argued that the only point of clarity with regard to the violence was that the material authors are gangs of mercenary gunmen who kill in broad daylight, sometimes with their faces uncovered and at other times painted, and whom everybody knows but nobody dares report. The public prosecutor in the district of Aguachica, he added, bluntly declares that the gangs are paid by big landowners to steal the lands of poor peasants.
More:
Worldcrunch 2017/New York Times News Service
http://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/the-return-of-colombia-s-paramilitary-nightmare-1.2000707