THe BLOODY CANAL by = Golambian correspondent
Using bacteriological warfare and mass attacks without warning, President Valencia's Government of Colambin, becked by the Pentagon, aims to “clear out" the country so that a new water-way through the Cholo region can be buiit, ‘And the inhwasn methods used to maintain the country in its backward state have been ativised by imported South Vietnam "counsellors".
Columbia, with an aréa of almost half a million square miles and 2 population of 14 million, is a classical under-developed country having great extremes cf wealth and poverty. 3% of the populetion oms 55% of agricultural land. One can imasine the rate of unemployment in oa Gommtry in which 60% are peasants, At the same time, the marrowly based imternal market is dominated by monopolies,
The situation has hardly changed since 1946. At that time, the emergence of a popular Liberal leader, (Jorwe Gaitan) induced both the local landlord/monopoly—cligarchy and Yankee imperialism, to think seriously how to “correat" affairs. They succeeded in so dividing the Liberal Party that Mariano Perez was elected iresident, and shertly afterwards, (in 1948), Gaiten was assassinated. This crime generated a desperate explosion of mmarchic viclence, which was precisely the pretext which the Government had hoped te provoke. The enswing period (known in Col mbian history as "The Violence") saw a state of siege which continued until 1960, during which armed bands of cutiaws., finnneed and conducted by the conser— vative and Tiberals' Leading committees, terrorised the whole countryside, burning raping, and in fact killing the incredible number of half a million Colembians, The Inandlords benefited directly throuch buying up, at low prices, land abandoned by fleecing peassnts, whilst the army and imperialism pained control through the tracic internal divisions of the esuntry.
Nevertheless, peasant resistance continued, whilst a general strike, (10th May, 1957), overthrew the existing dictatorship cf Rojas Pimilla. The succeeding sivernment failed to msest the preview: occupiers of power positions either in-the parties or the army, but had to concede legal status to the Communist and other left-wing movements. Even prior ta this however, the Communist Party from 1946-57, had been in the forefront of the organisation of the porsecuted pensants in the oreas liberated from the Government and aruy. These srens come to be knowns "Thamondent republics" or "the red zones". ‘Ye should point out that two separate Deasant movements exist: One uses the services of the outlawed murderers bred in the painful process of "The Violence". Hands of such people operate in coalition with politicians of renctionary pretties, helving also the army to argue the continued need for inflated military budgets to "fight" the violence, The other movement is leftist and ¢otmunist, amd aims to defend, (in the red zones), the peasants from army and bandit bratelity, end to gasrantee them the means for peaceful and productive work. The fact that these pensents, ns well as the bandits, use the snme guerilla tactics often leads to misunderstandings, which are fully exslonted by the reactionary press both in and. cut of the country.
conbinved over/