Colombia- Uribe Wins.

I'm glad to see that President Uribe has been re-elected in a landslide. Most of his support seems to be a result of public gratitude towards his unbending stance against the FARC, the terrorist group whose murder toll exceeds that of Al Queda, which has cut Colombia's murder rate in half. As Strategy Page notes:

For the first time in memory, FARC is encouraging people to vote, against the reelection of president Uribe. FARC is urging or, when they can, coercing, voters to choose any leftist candidate opposing Uribe in the election on May 28th. Uribe's policies have brought FARC to the edge of disaster, and their only hope is for a leftist candidate to win an upset in the election.

The violence of Colombia is legendary and it troubles me is that we, the UK and the West in general, are contributing to it through our incoherent stance on drugs. We demand that the mostly poor drug producing countries eliminate the supply of cocaine whilst failing to cut the consumption of coke by wealthy Westerers. The inevitable high prices make it an enticing business for illegal organisations like Colombia's left wing terror groups who are extraordinarily wealthy and powerful because of this.

If we do not have the political will to tackle drug use, then the only serious option is to legalise the growth and supply of narcotics so that the money at least goes to people who aren't gangsters.