Word: gaviria
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Colombia. An eerie truce has enveloped the Great Colombian Drug War. To fend off the government's relentless assault on his empire, Medellin cartel boss Pablo Escobar Gaviria seems to have forsaken bombs and gun battles in the streets, which have killed more than 1,000 people in the past 15 months, and opted instead for high-profile kidnappings and negotiations. Since August, Escobar's mob has been holding seven journalists -- including Hoy X Hoy magazine editor Diana Turbay, the daughter of a former President -- and threatening to kill them unless a peace deal can be worked...
Last week the cartel said hundreds of its members might actually surrender and accept a government offer not to extradite them to the U.S. if authorities came up with additional guarantees. The administration of President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo expressed interest in the latest message. Government pressure on the cartel's cocaine-refining labs has reduced output 15% to 25% from a year ago, forcing the drug empire to move some refineries to Peru, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela. Still, more than 700 tons of refined cocaine flow out of Colombia annually...
...Colombia giving up the drug war? Or just playing mind games with the traffickers? That question has been raised by President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo's plan to forgo extradition and cut prison sentences as much as 50% for drug dealers who voluntarily cooperate with authorities and help prosecute other traffickers. Colombian Attorney General Alfonso Gomez Mendez supported $ Gaviria last week when he charged that the drug war "has been a failure because it has represented more costs to the nation than benefits for the community...
...While Gaviria's move is at least partly attributable to his frustration over what he sees as a lack of support from Washington, some U.S. officials contend that the President's action is also a psychological master-stroke. They say the decree has the dual effect of moderating an unpopular policy and sowing doubt among the narcotraffickers, who will be forced to wonder who among them has been cooperating with the government...
...distinguish between drug trafficking, which mainly threatens the consumer countries, and narcoterrorism inside Colombia, which they are determined to stop. The constant terror bombings and assassinations have led to widespread calls for negotiation with the cartels. But that option has been rejected by both Barco and President-elect Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, who has promised to pursue the war when he takes office in August...