Washington Times Gets it Wrong on the FARC

By Larry Johnson

by
Larry C. Johnson

Washington Times correspondent, Jerry Seper, produced an alarmist and misleading piece in today's paper titled, "Colombia's FARC Spreads in Central America". The FARC is not spreading, but a U.S. born threat is.

The FARC remains on the defensive. They are too busy in Colombia battling against the persistent offensive unleashed by Alvaro Uribe's Government starting two years ago. While they continue to fight and have inflicted some serious casualties on Colombian Government forces in the last six months, the level of violence in Colombia, particularly international terrorist attacks, is down signifcantly compared to four years ago. Seper also suggests that Colombia's status as the primary source of cocaine is something new and unusual. Not so. Colombia has enjoyed that dubious distinction for several years.

So, who's the emerging U.S. based threat? So-called youth gangs, like Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS 13). MS 13 got its start in the barrios of Los Angeles, initially as a group protecting their sisters from marauding Mexican gangs. They also engaged in theft. But MS 13 is far from a youth gang. Some of the MS 13 leaders have spent more than 20 years in American prisons and are now well into their 40s. These gangs have returned to Central America with a vengeance and are challenging the power of local law enforcement in places like El Salvador and Honduras. As a result they are pushing aggressively into narcotics, money laundering and weapons trafficking. They have also been guilty of heinous mass murders. With ties into the United States and a willingness to do almost anything for a buck, these gangs represent a significant threat to American security. To make matters worse, they are taking advantage of the US focus on Islamic terrorism to expand their activities and solidify their base. Rather than worry about the FARC we ought to pay attention to this developing threat.

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