PoliBlog

Intriguing: Part of Colombia's AUC Disarms

First Colombia Militia Begins to Disarm

After singing the national anthem, 800 fighters of Colombia's feared right-wing militia piled their weapons and ammunition on the floor -- a disarmament ceremony Tuesday touted by the government as a first step toward ending four decades of war.

Yet before the nationally televised event even started, critics were denouncing it as choreographed show that lets killers, kidnappers and drug peddlers off the hook. The paramilitary umbrella group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, is blamed for some of the worst atrocities in Colombia's conflict.

If this is more than show, it is a big deal--the AUC has become almost as problematic as the FARC, and I would argue that they are more of a problem than the ELN (the other sizeable leftist guerrilla group still operating in Colombia). Of course, as the excerpt indicates, the amensty law is controversial, for undertstandable reasons.