The War Profiteers, here and there, will do anything to keep war going--in this case, the war on the FARC (and on millions of peasant farmers) and the "war on drugs." Their front man is Uribe who is pretty clearly as dirty as hell on drug trafficking (in addition to his ties to the rightwing death squads and other crimes). To him, the "war on drugs," I think, was a means of consolidating the trillion+ dollar illicit revenue stream and eliminating the small players (5 million peasant farmers brutally displaced from their lands; also probably the FARC and independent, non-cooperative, non-paying drug operations) (--and I do think that the Bush Junta was in on it). Uribe was handing out coca leaf growing land like candy to his cronies. This 'mafia don' benefits from fascism, murder, fear and social chaos, and also specifically benefits from controlling who the "war on drugs" 'warriors' sent drones and troops to kill and terrorize. I believe that this is what he was doing as 'president' of Colombia (having been vetted by the Bushwhacks as a killer and given all-out political/security/military support).
vs.
Big Pharma and associated Big Ag--strange (but maybe not so strange) bedfellows with Santos (whom Leon Panetta vetted and approved as president, when Panetta yanked Uribe from the stage), who are anxious for the post-peace profiteering that they have in mind. Santos supports both peace and the legalization of drugs.
The latter contending party is ironical in the extreme. The U.S. spends $7 BILLION (at least) on the "war on drugs" in Colombia alone, and the upshot will be...legalization? I'm all for legalization but I don't think that, in this case, it has anything to do with good government and best policy. Big Pharma and Big Ag would be benefiting from all the death and displacement that has preceded legalization--which appears to have been prep for U.S. "free trade for the rich"--and their purpose is surely monopolistic. They will be the "big muscle" sellers of herbal and recreational drugs. (I strongly suspect that what the DOJ and the FBI are doing in California and other western states, to shut down Medical Marijuana clinics is another part of this Big Pharma strategy--eliminating the "small players" prior to legalization.)
Murder and every kind of brutality--and of course outright lying, as in this newspaper column--are typical of Uribe and his fascist criminal network. They got things set up--during Uribe's term (coincident with the Bush Junta)--for massive profiteering off the illicit drug trade and associated crimes, and that is one reason why they are so virulently anti-peace. The Bushwhacks gave them the means to do this--the $7 BILLION+ from U.S. taxpayers and the political cover--and that very large chunk of money, of course, got pocketed by Pentagon private contractors and others in the weapons and war industries, here and there, with hardly a dent in the cocaine flowing out of Colombia. Though Panetta (first at the CIA now at the Pentagon) may favor peace and legalization (Big Pharma's plan), there are elements within the war establishment who want and need war for profit. Uribe was warmongering against Venezuela and clearly wants to lead a war against the entire Left in Latin America--a war that would benefit a number of entities (including, for instance, U.S. oil corporations, who not only profit from ripping off other peoples' oil but also sell oil to the U.S. and other militaries at highly inflated prices--they love war, too).
So, "pick your poison," as they say. Continued war or peace/legalization with Big Pharma/Big Ag in charge. I don't doubt that there are good people within the Santos' administration and within the U.S. government who see this as a way out of this endless, brutal, costly war--and may oppose Uribe and support Santos for good reasons, not to hand the business over to Big Pharma/Big Ag, but because peace and legalization are the right thing to do. But I don't think those people are the ones calling the shots. People who support "the right thing to do" are extremely rare in corporate-run governments and don't have much power. Those serving big, transglobal corporations and war profiteers are the powers.
I mention them--people in government who want to "do the right thing"--because I want to honor them and support them in what I believe to be a world of bad choices (corporate-run government). But their views do NOT prevail unless those view, in one way or another, serve the purposes of transglobal corporations and/or war profiteers.
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