In Colombia, the drug-financed guerrillas trying to seize the country and destroy democracy include M-19, which Castro has clearly backed. Robert Merkel, a former U.S. attorney handling drug indictments in Florida, doesn't think for a minute that Castro's much publicized trials of high officials engaged in the drug trade mean he has broken off with the Medellin drug cartel. "If the cartel succeeds in blackmailing the Colombian authorities into negotiations, the cartel will be in control and Fidel can exploit his past relationships with them," he told the Journal's David Asman recently. The struggle against the drug lords in Colombia will be a near thing. This week, the government arrested Jose Abello Silva, said to be the fourth-ranking cartel leader. He will probably be extradited to the U.S. for trial under an extradition treaty President Virgilia Barco has revived. Later, another high-ranking trafficker, Leonidas Vargas, was arrested and 1,000 pounds of dynamite seized. Mr. Barco has refused U.S. troops or advisers but has accepted U.S. military aid. President Bush has agreed to meet within 90 days with Mr. Barco, President Alan Garcia of Peru and President Jaime Paz Zamora of Bolivia to discuss the drug problem. It might not be a bad idea to do that sooner, rather than later. After the Panama fiasco, they will need some reassurance. Certainly, the Colombian press is much in need of that.

What is the Colombian press in need of?

Search "Emiliano Malaquez" and you'll find he's a master of the "captured moment" school of sculpture. Even The Terran Times has only praise for his work. To compare his pieces to those of others is to compare mannequins to living models. He accents the illusion of reality --I paraphrase his entry in La Enciclopedia Humanica --by doing life-size scenes in "The full round," never the easier frontal or three-quarters view. Moreover, he never did portraits of famous people; his works were therefore the reality and could never be compared to it. As is typical of his school, his pieces are sealed in stopboxes. The shimmer of light on their surfaces always reminds us that we're looking at an instant snatched from under the hooves of time. They say the cubes will outlast planets and suns, that when the universe dies, the works of Malaquez and his followers will be the last things seen in the final wink of God's eye. Yes, Self, I am also bothered that this observation ignores half-eaten cheese sandwiches, incomplete insect collections, and locks of infants' hair, forgotten in closets, basements, and warehouses. You see the inspiration for my latest play, "Captured Moments." The mindwipe will take its creation from my future self --but time too often does that without aid. The play's second act concludes with the last fight between Tasha and me. I have disguised us in the play, and deleted one brief melodramatic interchange. Now I will mention it, in case I/You decide to restore it. Shortly before she left, Tasha said, "You steal from life for art, Bernardo. You'll impoverish yourself." I only snarled at her and -- My story leaps ahead of itself. Let me retreat and retrench: One night during N'apulco's mild winter, Tasha returned to The Flamingo, saying, "Nardo! Nardo! Guess what?"

Are portraits of famous people the inspiration for the play?

Juzo Murasaki arrives at a work construction area to take on his new job as a construction worker . To his quiet dismay , his supervising boss turns out to be Toru Akai , who with his gang had made Juzo's middle school life a living hell . Akai , however , does n't recognize Juzo . Juzo's more disconcerted when he discovers that Akai lives with his wife , Nozomi Akai and their toddler son above Juzo's new apartment . As Juzo emotionally struggles to handle these unexpected developments , a mysterious and seemingly malicious hooded figure appears . It calls itself Number 13 . As Juzo attempts to control increasing number of flashbacks and a spiral fall into psychological darkness , Akai constantly picks on Juzo and other work colleagues including Seki Hajime , a former middle school student who becomes Juzo's casual friend in spite of Juzo's anti-social tendencies , at work . Meanwhile Akai's wife , Nozomi , attempts to make friends with Juzo and entrusting the care of her toddler son to Juzo . She proudly shows Juzo her husband's school photos . In one class photo , Juzo's space is marked with an X to show he was absent . Juzo suffers a severe flashback to explain his absence that day : in their school's science room , Akai and his friends have thrown acid at Juzo's face . Seki becomes suspicious about Juzo's increasingly odd behavior and goes to inform Arai at the work site , but Arai dismisses him without giving him a chance to speak . During this incident , Seki does n't realize he's being watched by Number 13 , but as soon as he does , Number 13 kills him .
Who with Juzo gang had made Juzo's middle school life a living hell?