May 20, 2003
Gabriel Garcia Marquez says legalisation of drugs the only way to end war in Columbia.
The
Scotsman reports on a speech the famed author gave in Medellin marking the 200th anniversary of its university.
"It is not possible to imagine an end to the violence in Colombia without the elimination of drugs trafficking." said Colombia©–s most famous writer. ... "And it is not possible to imagine an end to drugs trafficking without the legalisation of narcotics."
Garcia Marquez, the author of 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, is a close friend of Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader, and is well known for his left-wing views.
What do left wing ideas have to do with this? Why do they have to mention that? Legalisation of drugs is just common sense. Is there anyone left who still thinks that making them illegal will stop people from using them? As the article points out it's usually criminals or terrorists who end up profiting from it, and the poor who suffer.
The Nobel laureate's message mentioned the millions of Colombians displaced by the fighting.
It said they can never escape the circle of violence that engulfs the country: "They continue being the victims of a sustained violence, thanks to the two most lucrative, heartless businesses in the world - drugs trafficking and arms dealing."
While the Colombian government has boasted of success in reducing drug cultivation, there has been a rise in neighbouring Peru and Bolivia.
A percentage of every pound spent on Colombian cocaine or heroin ends up in the hands of the country's Marxist rebels or right-wing paramilitaries, further fuelling the 39-year civil conflict.
Nobody wants to talk about it, but the US has got itself in a nasty little way down there. Maybe not so little, though, and getting bigger.
