As the peace talks crumble, FARC commanders make little attempt to disguise their viewpoint that a military triumph is the only solution. Julian Conrado, a member of a FARC team responsible for talking with civilian groups, alluded to the gradual breakdown in civil society that Colombia has endured ever since the fratricidal 1948-58 period known simply as La Violencia, when more than 200,000 people were killed in massacres by the country's two rival parties, the Conservatives and Liberals. There's so much violence, the regime is so corrupt, that many people see no other alternative. We're not warmongers, but this war is going to get a lot worse before there's any resolution. Until this country feels a lot more pain, it won't change.
Critics say it is arbitrary and harsh, but no one denies that it is efficent.
The move gives the rebels near-complete power to set prices for coca paste, levy taxes and keep out the rightist paramilitaries, who compete with the FARC for control of the cocaine business. The rebels have created a system of courts that metes out punishment for crimes - most of which are the usual rural crimes of cattle theft, property disputes and drunken feuds. Late-night curfews are enforced, residents must participate in weekly street cleanups and prostitutes get weekly health checkups. Punishment is usually fast and severe. Any suspicion of graft by municipal officials prompts a public trial - and, usually, punishment.