This article is no exception. One for instance:
The five-decade-old conflict has claimed more than 600,000 lives.--from the OP
Then, at the end of the article:
There is huge pressure in Colombia for justice for those who have perpetrated acts of violence from both sides of the conflict.
The government has promised to bring to justice those responsible.
The rebels say most of the victims were poor peasants and other civilians targeted by the army and right-wing paramilitaries for their alleged support to the rebels. --from the OP (my emphasis)
It's not just "the rebels" who have said this--that most of the victims have been poor peasants and other civilians targeted by the Colombian military and its closely tied rightwing death squads. Amnesty International, for instance, has DOCUMENTED the huge murder rate of trade unionists (over 90% of these murders) by the Colombian military (about half) and its rightwing death squads (the other half). Overall, 70% to 90% of the carnage has been attributed, by human rights groups, to the Colombian military and its death squads.
The OTHER thing that the BBC leaves out--in their typical black-holing of vital information about Latin America--is the SEVEN BILLION IN U.S. TAXPAYER DOLLARS given to the Colombian military to carry out this decapitation of the labor movement in Colombia (prep for U.S. "free trade for the rich) and other related tasks, such as the brutal displacement of FIVE MILLION peasant farmers from their lands--THE worst human displacement crisis on earth.
And that's just the money we know about. There is evidence that U.S. military contractors were engaging in these "turkey shoots," that the U.S. embassy (Bush Junta) was colluding on vast illegal domestic spying (for instance, for the purpose of drawing hit lists of labor leaders) and I certainly suspect that the U.S. military itself was murdering Colombians. In addition, Chiquita executives admitted hiring rightwing death squads to solve their "labor problems" in Colombia (and were given a handslap fine by the Bush Junta, negotiated by none other than our current AG Eric Holder when he was in private practice) and Drummond Coal has been accused of the same.
Then there's the corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs," adding to the carnage.
Not one word in this article on this U.S. second front war against the world. This is NOT just a matter between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla fighters, as the BBC narrowly construes it. This was a U.S.-FUNDED war on the poor in Colombia, with the U.S. military present in the country, providing "training," a gravy train for militarists and God knows what else. It is also a matter of concern to the rest of Latin America--including the border countries, Venezuela and Ecuador, which have had to deal with tens of thousands of Colombian refugees, as well as U.S. military bases and "forward operating locations" threatening regional peace, but also even more distant countries such as Uruguay (whose president is involved in the talks), and others. It is important to all Latin American countries--to their trade, to their political cohesion and strength as a region and to regional peace.
The omission of the U.S. role in this war is typical BBC. It is a gaping hole in the story. A black hole is a cosmic phenomenon that emits no light, though it sucks in all matter and light surrounding it.
Also omitted is the U.S. role in the peace talks. Santos is president of a U.S. client state. So the U.S. surely does have a role, though we don't know what it is. PROBABLY it is connected to U.S. "free trade for the rich"--that is, a sort of mopping up operation, after all those convenient deaths (labor leaders, peasant farmers) in order to clean up Colombia's image as a showcase for Wall Street economics. It is not really possible that Santos would proceed with such a momentous effort--ending a 70-year civil war--
without the okay of the corporations, banksters and militarists who run the U.S. There may also be a Big Ag/Big Pharma/Big Chem motive as to taking over the trillion+dollar illicit drug trade, through legalization. Santos has publicly called for complete legalization. This massive underground economy is surely a major issue at the talks--and I imagine that it is of quite serious interest to the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the Bush Cartel, U.S. banksters and others involved in the drug trade.
As with the corporate 'news,' we need to read between the lines of BBC stories and look for what they're NOT telling us.
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