False Equivalences

In this story in today’s La Nación President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is reported as having said the following during her visit to Paris:

We ask the government of Colombia, all the institutions, and the FARC to free Ingrid [Betancourt].

As far as I know Ingrid Betancourt has been a captive of the FARC these last six years and not the Colombian government. Asking the Colombian government to free her would be like asking Tirofijo to release FARC prisoners in Colombian government jails; it’s something beyond his power to do.

So why say this? Well, if your closest international ally and lender of last resort is Hugo Chávez, that might be a reason. The Venezuelan leader is very keen on the FARC and when the Colombian government recently infringed Ecuadorian sovereignty to kill one of their senior leaders he couldn’t have got more agitated had it been Venezuelan national territory that had been intruded upon. Calling on the FARC alone to release the unfortunate Franco-Colombian hostage might not, therefore, have been to Chávez’s liking and it might have lessened the possibility of him shelling out for Argentine bonds the next time the government wants to raise money.

President Fernández de Kirchner didn’t stop there. She went to say that,

…it is necessary to emphasise that the greatest force for the freeing up of these obstacles [to the freeing of Betancourt] must be made precisely by those who have the responsibility of leading democratic institutions.

So it’s not even a case of moral equivalence, it’s the democratically elected government of a friendly state that has a greater responsibility to ensure the safe release of the hostage than the illegal armed group with pretensions to belligerent status that is actually holding her.

If a democratically elected Argentine president has ever made more morally squalid public remarks then I’d sure like to know what they were.

And one more thing, supposing that Betancourt gets released, will there still be marches in Paris, Buenos Aires or anywhere else calling for the release of the dozens (hundreds?) more ordinary Colombians being held captive by the FARC?

His Right Hand, His Passport And His Computer

According to this story in El País, Iván Ríos, the second member of the Secretariat of the FARC to be killed in eight days, did not die in combat but was in fact murdered by his subordinates who handed over

his right hand, his passport and his computer

to the Colombian Army as proof that they had killed him. Apparently his men decided to do it because they found themselves surrounded by government forces and decided that the only way out was to murder their chief. The supposed five million dollar reward for his head must have had something to do with it too.

Now assuming the Colombian Defence Ministry hasn’t invented all this, it’s really bad news for the FARC. If the personal escort of one of their top dogs can’t be trusted not to kill him then they have very serious morale and leadership problems and the pressure being exerted by the government is beginning to tell in a big way. The surviving members of the Secretariat have a lot to think about.

And considering that the row over the attack on the FARC camp in Ecuador has been settled with little more than a slap on the wrist for him , Álvaro Uribe has had an excellent couple of weeks.

Three Presidents

Let’s start with Rafael Correa. It’s a fact that the raid which killed “Raúl Reyes” and his companions was a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty and he is entitled, even obliged, to be angry about it. There is nothing to criticise, therefore, in his breaking of diplomatic relations with Bogotá and rejection of the half-hearted apologies of the Colombian government. He would do well though not to get too carried away with righteous indignation especially if it leads him to talking gibberish like this,

They [the Colombian government] accuse us of protecting the FARC because they found one camp in our territory while in Colombia itself the same group controls huge areas.

He ought also to bear in mind that a wise President would see to it that armed groups seeking refuge from the legitimate government of a neighbouring state are not allowed to slip across  to Ecuador whenever they feel like it. The presence of FARC units in Ecuador erodes its sovereignty as surely as Colombian government incursions do.

Uribe gambled when he gave the order to attack the FARC contingent led by “Reyes” on the Ecuadorian side of the border. The first part of the bet has already paid off: “Reyes” is dead and apart from the blow thus produced to the FARC’s prestige it’s likely that the raid will have significant operational benefits for the Colombian security forces. Their principle enemy will no longer be able to slip across whatever border is closest when the going gets tough, confident that they won’t be pursued, pose for pictures

 

and later rejoin the fight at a time and place of their choosing. From now on it’s longer marches, tighter security and less rest for the FARC.

The result of the second part of Uribe’s bet still isn’t in. It is that the regional and international reaction to the raid will blow over relatively quickly and won’t redound to the benefit of Chávez and thus to the FARC. While it’s too early to tell for sure, I think this part of his bet will pay off too; it’s doubtful that Argentina or Brazil are going to allow themselves to be drawn beyond verbal condemnations, he enjoys the support of the United States and couldn’t care less what the French think. As well as all this he has the support of the bulk of Colombians; even if they don’t like him much they can’t wait to see the defeat of the FARC.

It’s hard to know what more to say about Chávez. His country’s borders weren’t breached and he was really under no obligation to do anything other than join the round of ritual diplomatic condemnations and then shut up. Had he done so he would have allowed the attention of the world to focus on the gravity of what Colombia actually did; launch an air assault on the territory of a neighbour with whom it is not at war and then send infantry in afterwards territory to retrieve the bodies of the dead and their possessions. Instead, he has opted to rave about not letting Colombia become a new Israel and engage in military gesture mongering. Chávez’ ego, inability to control his tongue and love of the spotlight are all working to Uribe’s benefit in this crisis.

Nerves

In the aftermath of the death of “Raúl Reyes” at the hands of the Colombian armed forces, just inside Ecuadorian territory, Hugo Chávez has had an attack of nerves. He has closed his country’s embassy in Bogotá, threatened war if anything similar were to happen in Venezuelan territory and has told his Defence Minister to move ten battalions to the border with Colombia.

And feeling himself under a little bit of pressure it didn’t take long for his Jew obsession to manifest itself. He’s quoted here as saying,

We’re not going to permit, for any reason in the world, that Colombia be converted into the Israel of this region. Uribe, we’re not going to let you plant another Israel in South America.

So what’s up, Hugo? Why so jumpy? What’s happening on your side of the border that has to be so jealously protected?

Boron

Atilio Boron dice

Más allá de la opinión que se pueda tener acerca de las FARC, es preciso reconocer que una guerrilla que ha sobrevivido a medio siglo de conflicto armado y que controla porciones significativas (si bien cambiantes) del territorio nacional sólo puede hacerlo si cuenta con un importante respaldo en algún sector de la sociedad. De no ser así habría sido aniquilada hace rato.

La supervivencia de las FARC durante tanto tiempo también puede tener algo que ver con el hecho de que en Colombia hay una cosecha muy valiosa de coca y con que recauden fondos a través de impuestos a sus cultivadores. Además, si el respaldo de algún sector de la sociedad, en si mismo, confiere algún tipo de legitimad política al las FAR, no veo por qué no se la confiere a los paramilitares y la ultraderecha también. El apoyo de algún sector del pueblo es una necesaria condición de la legitimidad política pero no alcanza por sí solo.

Más adelante en la nota dice,

Para solucionar esta crisis es imprescindible que el gobierno colombiano arroje por la borda esta caracterización, que de por sí cierra las puertas a cualquier negociación, y reconozca –como en su momento lo hicieron con provecho los irlandeses– que en su territorio se libra una cruenta guerra civil. Ese es el sentido profundo de la propuesta del presidente Chávez, que recoge el sentir de los numerosos rehenes aún en poder de las FARC.

Aprovecho para recordarle a Boron que si está hablando de la guerra civil en Irlanda de 1922-23, ese conflicto no terminó con ningún tipo de negociación. Se terminó cuando las Fuerzas Armadas de Irlanda liquidaron militarmente a los rebeldes y así obligo a sus simpatizantes a proseguir sus fines por la vía política. Si está hablando del conflicto que estalló a fines de los sesenta y empezó a terminar con el Acuerdo de Viernes Santo de 1998, le conviene recordar que de lo que se trata es de la rendición - con dignidad, pero rendición al fin - del IRA, cuyos mandos más altos ahora están dedicados a la administración del estado que intentaron destruir a sangre y fuego durante 30 años.

Los rebeldes no ganaron nada, más allá de los generosos salarios del estado británico de los que gozan algunos y de la vista gorda del mismo estado que permite a algunos otros dedicarse con éxito a sus “negocios”. Los británicos no cedieron nada. El control británico en Irlanda del Norte está más firme que nunca.

Y una cosita más, que sabe Boron del sentir de los rehenes de las FARC?