US Demands Colombia's Rebels Surrender Drugs, Not Peace
Al Jazeera's piece, ostensibly about Colombia's ELN peace push, spotlights the US demand that the rebels abandon drug trafficking. Conveniently omitted is the US's historical pattern of leveraging the 'war on drugs' to destabilize governments and meddle in Latin American affairs. Remember 'Plan Colombia'? Ostensibly drug interdiction, it funneled billions in US military aid (over $10 billion from
2000-2015, per the Center for International Policy's Colombia Program) that fueled a brutal internal conflict, not just eradicated coca plants. It was less about saving U.S. citizens from addiction and more about asserting regional dominance, destabilizing socialist-leaning movements, and propping up right-wing regimes. The same old song, different rebels, same US interference. So, the US cares
about ELN's drug revenue now, but rarely questioned the source of other, less ideologically inconvenient, groups' financing over the decades. It's a selective morality, entirely dependent on who is in power and whose resources are at stake. It's not a 'threat' to peace, it's a condition for US-approved peace. One might wonder: how many times will Washington redefine 'security' to justify
intervention, only to leave behind more instability?