I would like to mention an article by Hernando Gomez Beundia, director of the institute of Estudios Liberales ed economista, published in "Lecturas Dominicales", supplement of the 12 november issue of "El Tiempo" with the title "Which is the war? Three months of offensive against the drug trade".

The author attempts to analize the elements involved in the declaration of war against drugs, starting from the consideration that, in fact, it's not kust one war we're dealing with, but a series of wars, with different sceneries, different characters and different coalitions. There are the two wars in the US: the war against drugs and the war against crime linked to drugs. To prevail over the latter, you must first win the first war, or else depenalize and legalize drugs; but the Unites States, in spite of the opinions given by historians, economists, sociologists and politicians, and in spite of the failure of the past experiments in prohibitionism, persists in its prohibitionist policy and in pursuing a war solely against crime.

The other war is the war in Colombia. And even here there are in fact various wars: there is the drug traffickers' war against legal justice; the one between wealthy drug traffickers and the political left wing; there is that between a part of the traffickers and a part of the traditional élite; the local wars of Medellin or Muzo; the internal violences of one gang against another.

The author states that the declaration President Barco released in occasion of the massacre of the 18th of August leaves us with 5 unsolved questions:

- Is it a war or is it a police operation?

- Which is the strategic goal?

- Is it a national or a world conflict?

- Who is the internal enemy?

- What happened to the colombian ruling class?

The text, in the original spanish version and in the italian translation, is located in Agorà at n.912 of the Radvical Party Archive.