Mary O’Grady:
Santos Empowers Colombia’s Terrorists. To get a peace deal, the president offers one concession after another. One of the most frequently repeated talking points of the enablers of terrorists is “Colombians have waged a civil war for fifty years,” and Santos is seeking its end, therefore we must all support him.
O’Grady’s article illustrates the brutal attacks the FARC continues to perpetrate on the unarmed civilian population in this century, and asserts (emphasis added),
There is no civil war in Colombia. FARC is detested by almost all Colombians and in polls gets a mere 3% support. It’s easy to see why: According to government statistics, in the 50-plus years that FARC, sponsored by Cuba, has been terrorizing the nation, there have been 220,000 people killed and more than five million displaced from their homes.
So far, the Cuba-Venezuela-U.S. sponsored talks have resulted in this:
The FARC refuses to recognize its atrocities. It’s leaders say they will never serve any jail time, will not surrender their weapons, will not hand over the illicit wealth they have acquired by drug-trafficking, kidnapping and extortion, and will not compensate its victims. Mr. Santos has agreed to all these terms, and says that FARC drug-trafficking is a political crime that can be pardoned. But the FARC wants more.
In August Mr. Santos suggested that the government should reserve a number of seats in Congress for FARC terrorists as part of the agreement. Earlier this month FARC added Mr. Santos’s generous offer to the list of its demands.
And let’s not forget the plebiscite I mentioned Saturday, which the FARC opposes; O’Grady points out,
Earlier this month his coalition, which includes his [Santos’s] Liberal Party, began moving through the Colombian Congress a constitutional amendment to allow a national plebiscite on the agreement with a mere 13% turnout of registered voters—down from the 50% plus one threshold that now exists.
I must add, IF there is a plebiscite. As of the writing of this post, I have not found any information regarding a date it may be held.
Parting question: Why is Santos trying to secure a legacy at any cost?