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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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092589
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09258900.032
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1990-09-17
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WORLD, Page 38COLOMBIATruce or Consequences?Unease grows over the wages of the drug war
Bloodied but far from beaten, the Colombian cocaine cartel
proved last week that it still has the will -- and the means -- to
terrorize anyone who dares oppose it. On Monday Pablo Pelaez
Gonzalez, a former mayor of Medellin and a vocal critic of the
cartel, was being chauffeured from his home in the affluent El
Poblado section of the city when at least eight gunmen riddled his
car with bullets. Both Pelaez and his driver were killed. The same
day, unidentified assailants fire bombed the summer homes of two
prominent Medellin business executives. The attacks came as Eduardo
Martinez Romero, the drug lieutenant extradited to the U.S.,
pleaded not guilty in an Atlanta court and was ordered held without
bail.
But government troops kept up the pressure, raiding two more
ranches belonging to cocaine kingpin Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha,
where they confiscated two tons of weapons allegedly used by death
squads. Yet despite President Virgilio Barco Vargas' determination
to continue his crusade against the Extraditables, the monthlong
counterattack by the cartel has begun to take its toll. Weary of
the violence, Colombians from all sectors of society are calling
for a truce and a direct dialogue between the government and the
drug barons. Former President Alfonso Lopez Michelson says Colombia
will have to "eventually sit down and talk things out with all the
forces of destabilization in the country."
While President Bush turned his attention to domestic
consumption of drugs, lecturing American students by nationwide
television to just say no, the emergency aid he sent to Colombia
came under fire. General Miguel Gomez Padilla, chief of the
National Police, said that the equipment from Washington was
useless in the drug war, complaining that it was "more suited to
conventional warfare than to antinarcotics and antiterrorism
operations." Gomez later claimed that he had been misquoted and in
fact appreciated the aid. Another growing concern for Colombia is
the presence of U.S. military advisers, considered an international
embarrassment and a potential threat to the nation's sovereignty.
Washington announced plans to expand the military role of U.S.
advisers training local antinarcotics teams, though soldiers would
be banned from combat. The last thing Colombians want, says
presidential contender Ernest Samper, is to "turn Colombia into a
Viet Nam against drugs."
Colombians are also balking at the economic cost of the drug
war. High government officials privately predict the price tag for
the war could total as much as $2 billion by the end of 1990.
Officials also warn that if the Colombian Supreme Court, as
expected, strikes down President Barco's power to extradite
criminals to the U.S., he may be forced to stage a coup to continue
his fight.
For Washington's help to be truly effective, say the
Colombians, it must send butter as well as guns. "We not only need
help with the war," says Samper, "we also need funds for peace.
Without resources to pay the social debt, the violence will
multiply." Most Colombians are convinced the worst is yet to come.
Predicts General Miguel Maza Marquez, head of the secret police:
"The narcos are not suddenly lying low; they are regrouping for a
big hit."