In 2000, the National Police of Colombia reported that 25,660 people met violent deaths in that country. According to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, 170 civilians were killed in the first 18 days of 2001 in massacres and selective homicides related to that country’s terrible civil war.
By drawing on diverse sources of information, this work brings together the thoughts of historians, journalists, human rights activists, social scientists, military veterans, law enforcement officials, Congressional investigators, financial analysts, lawyers, Roman Catholic priests, peace organization spokespersons and others about the volatile present-day situation in Colombia. It explains the complexities of the drug-financed civil war and details Washington’s concern that the Colombian conflict will destabilize the Andean region. Photographs and maps enhance the text.

Bert Ruiz is a former Wall Street executive and is current chairman of the Colombian American Association. In 1997, President Ernesto Samper presented Ruiz with the Republic of Colombia’s prestigious award, “La Orden Nacional al Mérito.” He lives in Bedford, New York.

Bert Ruiz
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 279
Bibliographic Info: photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2001
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1084-2
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5072-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi

Introduction      1

1. The Red Carpet      3

2. They Fought Like Lions!      18

3. The Genesis of Violence      38

4. The Mistake from Hell      61

5. The Next Vietnam      77

6. Guerrillas at the Door      99

7. The War on Drugs      134

8. Death Squads      162

9. Northern Brothers      188

10. The Peacemaker      226

Afterword      257

Bibliography      263

Index      267

“comprehensive analysis…essential reading”—Colombia Report; “well-researched and richly detailed”—The Dallas Morning News; “a succinct, well-written overview and analysis of Colombia’s chronic crisis…a disturbing portrait of what Colombia has become and what it could be”—The Charlotte Observer; “Fills an enormous vacuum. No other text in English provides such a full introduction to the complex, brutal conflict engulfing our neighbor to the south…compelling.”—Adam Isacson, Senior Associate, Center For International Policy; “A masterful job”—Steve Johnson, Policy Analyst for Latin America.