Cocaine Violence Driven by Marxist Guerrillas Rocks Colombia
- Poll shows public order as country’s biggest concern
- Catatumbo bloodbath highlights failure of Petro peace strategy
The mountains of Catatumbo in eastern Colombia are so dangerous that the police and army generally don’t stray far from their barracks for fear of snipers.
The sharpshooters concealed in the jungle have varying allegiances, from drug cartels to Marxist guerrillas. But they’re all ultimately in the deadly business of asserting control over the region’s fields of coca, the raw material for Colombia’s multibillion-dollar cocaine industry.