The FARC long ago succumbed to the corrupting power of drug money. The recruiting of minors, devastating gas cylinder attacks which also harm civilians, planned assassinations and abductions - all these things have considerably diminished its store of sympathy among the populace. In addition, a broad segment of the population sees the guerrillas as an obstacle to economic growth. Their jargon from the cold war era, dotted with phrases reeking of mothballed Marxist terminology, elicit little enthusiasm today. Now the FARC finally seems to have realized the need for a concrete sign of its desire for peace.
Time is of the essence.
Pastrana's successor will be chosen in mid-2002. Moreover, as FARC loses ground in the realm of public opinion, support grows for the paramilitaries, a phenomenon which will also inevitably be reflected in the ballot boxes. Despite some cleanup campaigns in the ranks of the police and the military, the government's willingness to move against this cancerous growth remains rather unconvincing. But to regard one's enemy's enemy as a friend who will take care of the dirty work in the conflict could turn out to be a boomerang. The stronger the AUC becomes, the more necessary it will seem to give it a place at the negotiating table.