The Colombian military continued their string of stunning defeats of the FARC terrorist with the freeing of several hostages, including three Americans and French-Colombian Ingrid Bentancourt today. This year alone top FARC leaders have been killed, over a thousand former terrorists have surrendered and secret documents have been seized. FARC is dying out.
All of this comes as a direct result of the United States’ intervention in the South American nation. Far from direct U.S. combat roles, American soldiers have trained, equipped and funded the Colombian military for years and results are finally beginning to show. The impact has been so large that former FARC terrorist Diego Canizares commented “If it keeps up like this, in two years the guerrillas will disappear completely.” The series of victories could not have happened without U.S. intervention. Terrorist attacks are down, funding for FARC is at an all time low and defeat seems imminent.
President Alvaro Uribe has made the destruction of FARC a top priority. So far he has achieved more than any of his predecessors over the past 44 years. A fine job he has done.
This is just another example of the positive role the United States can play in our hemisphere. I have said it before and I will say it again: the United States ought to spend more time and resources with our neighbors. The United States of America is great, imagine what a free and democratic American hemisphere could be. The time has come for an economic as well as military Monroe doctrine to take hold.