As the rest of you are sunning yourselves on some beach in Mexico for spring break, I will be heading down to Colombia to write for a travel guidebook for six weeks.  “You’re not serious,” you might be saying to me.  “What with all the political crises going on?”  And I reply simply, “For those reasons exactly — and because I love that country.”

If you don’t understand what’s going on down there, I’ll give you a very brief synopsis followed by an even briefer conclusion.

SYNOPSIS:
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is the strongest Colombian rebel group and for decades has been considered a terrorist group.  Despite releasing six hostages through successful negotiations with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier this year, the FARC is responsible for kidnapping and continuing to hold hostage roughly 50 people near or outside Colombia’s border.   Last week, Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe identified and raided a FARC camp across the Ecuadorean border in a small village called Santa Rosa.  Raul Reyes, FARC’s second in command and a crucial member of the FARC group, was killed in the cross-border attack.  

The repercussions and implications of this raid have been felt across South America, but namely between Colombia and its neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela.  Colombia is breathing a sigh of relief and hopes this marks the end of the FARC’s strength and terrorist antics.  Ecuador rightly reacted by ordering thousands of troops to protect its border.  In a stroke of military muscle-flexing, Venezuela ordered thousands more to its border as well  — but why?  What does a cross-border raid in Ecuador have to do with Venezuela?  It is becoming more clear that both Ecuador and Venezuela cannot control the FARC and that they allow the FARC to be housed in their countries, if not collude with the FARC entirely.  

It is true.  Attacking a rebel group across the border is a violation of the law, but why would Ecuador and Venezuela object so adamantly to the death of a terrorist group leader and the positive change derived from this successful raid?  Colombia is doing what is in their best interests to protect its people from a rebel group with a history of violence.

CONCLUSION:
Based on my visit to Colombia three short months ago, Colombians are some of the most gracious and warm people I have met on all my travels around the world.  They love their country and they fully support and praise their President Uribe for his social tactics and staunch politics.  Colombia IS a safe place to travel now thanks to this man.  Still, traveling to Colombia (especially as a single American woman) takes proper planning and requires far more safety precautions than your typical spring break hot spot.  

I’ll be traveling and writing in this beloved country for six weeks this spring and plan on visiting REQ in Bogotá and Richard in Mompós.  Of course, I will let you know how everything goes when all is said and done... and my apologies for my extraordinarily long absence from Matador blogging!