“In Colombia, violence of all sorts is the single largest threat to democracy. In fact, there have been four times as many deaths in Colombia than in the Balkan wars…
“Colombia has the largest internal refugee problem in the world, after Angola and the Sudan. Seven Colombians are kidnapped and 12 are murdered every day. The Colombian state is forced to combat the best-funded insurgent groups in the world, violent paramilitary organizations and powerful drug lords that benefit from a thriving illegal narcotics industry.
“the state has earned a reputation for being highly corrupt and inefficient in providing basic public goods for its citizens.”
From Maxwell A. Cameron, “threats to Democracy in the Americas,” a paper published the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, May 2000.
