What's sad is that when human rights are seriously abused in countries like Uganda and China, our leaders deem it insignificant, yet if violations occur in a region which threatens the status quo of powerful economic groups then that region becomes high priority. I have learned to not trust leaders, but to do my best to put my whole heart into spiritual things. If the FARC gets the upper hand you will see these very same peasants salute them. The point is that power is power. It is truly unfortunate that the world always obeys those who wield this power.
Power can be potential or overt, subtle or blatant.
Even blackmail is a form of power often used successfully. The struggle in Colombia is between the oligarchy, representing the world corporations and the wealthy businessmen, backed by the U.S., and the reformist minded revolutionaries. This is a naked game and like politics and love and war, all is fair. For McCaffrey to make a statement that he has never seen an organization with less political sense than the FARC is to be taken with a grain of salt. He either fails to see or doesn't want to see that the FARC is the revolutionary outsider at this time.