Joshua Trevino, formerly of Red State, was working in Colombia earlier this year. You can view his photos from that trip. We talked about Colombia.
Josh, who has traveled to over thirty countries, started by saying that Colombia is the most heavily militarized and weaponized country he’s ever visited – more than Israel. For instance, he hired guy to show him the city and they both went to ATM in a nice, clean convenience store. Standing next to the ATM was a man with an open-carry shotgun, wearing a bandolier belt. The man behind the counter was also wearing an open-carry gun.
There’s open army presence in La Candelaria, the old city.
It’s obvious that in Colombia law & order are kept by police & actual military presence. They use old US equipement, which you can see because the webbing still has “US” stamped on it.
Josh was there during the week that Chavez was about to declare war on Colombia. The Colombians made a point of not mobilizing, and not calling any reserves.
Pre.s Uribe’s popularity is sky high; even the leftists like Uribe, and also are strong supporters of Pres, Bush. Colombia is the most pro-American place in Latin America Josh has visited. There is a sense of of optimisim about Colombia, which four or five years ago was not the case. Now you can walk around at night in nice neighborhoods.
If you look at some of the photos, you’ll see posters about the FARC kidnappings. There’s an active popular conscience about the kidnapped and the killed by FARC. Civil groups are making an effort to stop the violence.
Colombians are absolutely convinced that Chavez is manipulating the entire region. The Colombians are convinced that there is a nexus of organized crime and guerilla movement, and that Chavez had moved into a leadership role by dint of funding it and bankrolling it. Colombians believe that Chavez has purchased the Ecuadorians & the Argentinians.
Colombia & Brazil were only 2 countries standing against Chavez.
Colombia is the only contry of meaningful importance standing against Chavez and they frightedned that they can’t do it without US help.
The US Congress’ not passing the Colombia FTA was seen as disastrous, and that we let them down. As Josh pointed out, Plan Colombia was a Clinton plan – which Bush has continued. Now the consensus on that has died and Congress will not support it.
To summarize, Josh said, “Colomgia is like Iraq: both are on the cusp of being OK but all the gains are reversible.”
That’s interesting, in regards to surplus equipment, because in the late 60’s I worked briefly on a large ranch in the Philippines as a tutor and bodyguard, not having read the contract as carefully as I should have, if needed. I was given the very latest, an M16, a flak jacket, a 1911 .45 and a revolver so big that we referred to them as bricks. Because they were so big, clumsy and almost impossible to get out of the holster that if you had to fire the doggone thing you might as well have thrown it first. While most of the ranch hands and the local militia and police were using WWII surplus M1s and quite a few had the 1903 Springfields. In the hands of some of the smaller Filipinos, 5 feet and under, the Springfields looked more like spears then rifles. As well as the standard combat issue flip flops, straw hat and medallions of either the Virgin Mary or St. Lorenzo Ruiz. I preferred the flak jacket when needed.
But the one consistency was that regardless of the age of the weapon if handled by motivated and trained men it killed the Moros, who the Catholic ranch hands hated, just as dead as a nuclear blast. But even with that the ranch hands were always trying to upgrade, by bribery, stealing or borrowing, because they were convinced that the newer weapons would kill just as many and more. And they really loved those jackets but again because of their size the jackets were heavy so they took out the plates but never admitted that this dieting made the jackets more a status symbol than protection. But I suspect my leg was being pulled when our employer referred to the jackets as in violation of Humanae Vitae of 1968. But as a Gustavus Adolphus type of Lutheran at that time the Pope still had horns and presided over the Whore of Babylon. What did I know?
Ok, way off topic!