Emily Monroy, writing for The Abolitionist Examiner, on Who’s Right (or Left)? Leftists and rightists point out each other’s shortcomings while ignoring their own
Two years ago I took a trip to Cartagena, Colombia and the surrounding area. Before I left, friends worried I might become a victim of the wave of murders and kidnappings that seemed to be sweeping Colombia. I told them to rest assured: the part of the country I would be visiting was controlled not by the FARC*, the Marxist guerrilla organization responsible for most tourist abductions, but by the AUC**, a right-wing paramilitary group formed to defend wealthy landowners against the FARC and other left-wing insurgents. Though both the FARC and AUC have been declared terrorist organizations by the United States, the latter generally do not engage in kidnappings of foreigners. That, along with the fact the FARC are not active in areas under the AUC’s influence, practically guaranteed me a safe trip.
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