COLOMBIA FIGHTS A DESPERATE WAR

Colombia continues to lurch from crisis to crisis, taking one step
backward, followed by two steps backward. The gateway to South America has
spent more than two decades locked in a three-way struggle that pits drug
lords and political extremists of the left and right against the decent
people. So far, the good people of Colombia have had few successes. And
each time it appeared Colombia had moved forward, violence stamped on the
progress.

Figures say a lot about Colombia. It has more murders than any nation on
Earth, and the longest-running guerrilla war in the Americas. But the sad
fact is that Colombia has failed the most important test, and that is the
fight against corruption. The country has fallen under the distressing
influence of the drug trafficking cartels that now are endemic in Colombia.

Colombia, to be blunt, has been known as a narcocracy for a decade. Ten
years ago, it seemed that no criminal gang could ever match the infamous
Medellin cartel of Pablo Escobar. It was the most brutal, and also most
sophisticated gang of criminal smugglers ever assembled. Escobar controlled
much of the nation and terrorised most of the rest. His political
contributions tainted every politician including a former Colombian president.

Escobar was killed in a Bogota shootout seven years ago last month. Since
then, a dozen traffickers have risen to take the place of the late,
unlamented drug kingpin. Many are more ruthless than Escobar, and some are
more crafty. Colombian officials, many of whom are dirty, have failed to
come to grips with the new traffickers, by their own incompetence or by design.

More than any other important nation, Colombia has become a victim of
corruption, and an unfortunate example of what happens when a nation
completely loses its soul. It is vital to note that there is no shortage of
decent people in Colombia. But many of those in charge of the government,
security and political reform have been corrupted, cowed or so fatigued
they can no longer fight for national dignity.

Since the death of Colombia, the country has gone deeper into the morass of
drug dealing. No longer is it only an important source of cocaine and home
to the top traffickers of that drug. Colombian drug kingpins have
successfully corrupted tens of thousands of farmers into growing opium, and
establishing heroin laboratories. In less than 10 years, they have become
the world's third largest suppliers of heroin, after Burma and Afghanistan.

The government continues to dither. As in Thailand 25 years ago, many
farmers have become willing slaves to the heroin dealers because of
government incompetence. Colombian farmers still lack electricity, decent
roads to move their crops to market, and access to change that could make
their lives better. Just last week, the government began to consider the
details of how to encourage crop-substitution programmes to win back
farmers-a far harder job than it would have been 10 years ago simply to
keep them on the government's side.

Also stepping into the breach left by the narcocracy are leftist
guerrillas. The so-called Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are
completely addicted to the drug trade, providing security to the
traffickers in return for their money. After 36 years of fighting, the FARC
has an estimated 20,000 troops. More than 80% of Colombians in a recent
poll said they were opposed to FARC.

President Andres Pastrana may be honest. But he faces horrendous problems,
including whether to embrace a contentious US offer of civilian and
military aid. There are profound lessons for Thailand on the other side of
the world. If corruption is really accepted as a way of life, then the
corrupt will rule, and the drug traffickers will control the life of the
country.