Colombia's Uribe's Successfully Takes on FARC

Fire of Liberty
Andy Webb-Vidal has a good article over at the Financial Times which notes that Colombia President Alvaro Uribe has generated such great results from his crack-down on the FARC that he's expected to achieve a second term in Bogota in the upcoming elections. This just goes to show you that Uribe has finally proven that by taking narco-terrorists like the FARC head on rather than coddling them by holding talks and cutting deals, you have a far better success rate at ending the chaos that such a group has imposed on Colombia for some thirty years. Now a lot of my libertarian friends will argue until they turn blue that taking on the drug trade and the narco-terrorists this way is not the best solution but I beg to differ after reading the following:

Camilo Ospina, the defence minister, said that, if the counter-insurgency effort was maintained, Colombian troops could crush Latin AmericaÂ’s longest-running rebel army.

"The priority will be to conclude the process of submission of the guerrillas,"” Mr Ospina said in an interview with the FT. "“Farc have lost their militia in urban areas, they are now concentrated out there in the jungle. But government forces are nowadays also familiar with those areas. We will be entering the final phase of Farc'’s submission."”

Security has improved dramatically under Mr Uribe, whose "“Democratic Security"” policy has seen a 25 per cent increase in the number of military and police personnel to 370,000. According to official data, the number of "“terrorist"” acts dropped from 1,645 in 2002 to 611 last year, a decline of 63 per cent. In 2005, police recorded 758 kidnappings, 47 per cent fewer than in 2004.

Better security is the main reason why a majority of Colombians are expected to re-elect Mr Uribe on May 28 for another four-year term. A survey released last month by Invamar Gallup found that 56 per cent of voters plan to vote for the president, down from about 70 per cent a year ago but still enough to secure victory. He must win more than 50 per cent to avoid a second round.

I'm glad that Uribe is standing steady in the polls because it improves the security of one of our southern neighbors, stems the tide of narcotics into this country, and keeps Colombia on our side rather than falling into the populist/Marxist sphere of Chavez and Castro that a lot of countries in South America seem to be moving towards. So keep up the good work El Presidente Uribe.

***Uribe's head-on approach towards the FARC and the subsequent reduction of bombings and kidnappings has also set off a tourism bomb in Colombia. It seems that the folks who make their money off tourism are the ones who will be voting for Uribe come May 28.