Tom Burghardt: Columbian "War on Drugs" !!!

The Columbian War on Drugs is a Family Affair. Last month's capture of Columbian drug lord Daniel "El Loco" Barrera by Venezuelan police was hailed as a victory in the "War on Drugs." Barrera, accused of smuggling some 900 tons of cocaine into Europe and the US throughout his infamous career, was described by Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos, who announced the arrest on national television as"the last of the great capos."But what of the "capo" who enjoyed high office, is wined and dined by US corporations and conservative think tanks, owns vast tracks of land, is a "visiting scholar" at a prominent American university (Georgetown) and now sits on the Board of Directors of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation? When will they be brought to ground? To clarify the questions above, one need look no further than the kid gloves approach taken by the media when it comes to former Columbian President, the US "Presidential Medal of Freedom" recipient Alvaro Uribe. Accused by human rights organizations over his role in the forced disappearance of thousands of Columbians during two terms in office, Uribe may still land in the dock as a result of ongoing investigations by Columbia's Supreme Court into official corruption, drug trafficking and mass murder. Recent arrests by Columbian authorities and revelations by the president's former allies, are beginning to draw a circle around Uribe and the US secret state in some of the hemisphere's worst human rights abuses of previous decades. As the net tightens, members of the president's own family are sharply focused in the cross hairs of investigators. Back in June, Antifascist Calling reported on the arrest of Ana Maria Uribe Cifuentes and her mother, Dolly Cifuentes Villa on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. The US Treasury Department froze their assets last year.