Posted on 06/05/2007 7:03:03 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
Armed groups in Colombia are driving peasants off their land to make way for plantations of palm oil, a biofuel that is being promoted as an environmentally friendly source of energy.
Surging demand for "green" fuel has prompted rightwing paramilitaries to seize swaths of territory, according to activists and farmers. Thousands of families are believed to have fled a campaign of killing and intimidation, swelling Colombia's population of 3 million displaced people and adding to one of the world's worst refugee crises after Darfur and Congo.
(Excerpt) Read more at environment.guardian.co.uk ...
Another reason to secure our southern border.
Let’s see...
Capitalism: Capital belongs to the individual who chooses how to use it.
Fascism: Capital belongs to the individual who is told how to use it by the state.
Socialism: Capital belongs to the state which decides how it will be used.
Nazism: National socialism... essentially a blend of fascism and socialism.
Communism: Capital and people are wards of the state which decides how both will be used.
... and the forces in the article are “right wing”?!
The left has a serious brain malfunction when it comes to Columbia, why are there no articles on the evils of the FARC narco commie terrs? No articles on the failure of pre Uribe appeasement in giving them a huge swath of jungle to play Stalin in?
And now the “right wing paras” are kicking farmer off of their land so they can play at being farmers?
Err, guerilla groups merely tax the farmers, they never grow the stuff, let the farmer do that then tax them for “protection”.
bump
“Err, guerilla groups merely tax the farmers, they never grow the stuff, let the farmer do that then tax them for “protection”.”
Labels may differ but there are certain basic systems...
Forgive my total lack of "compassion", but "progressive reporters" have an infuriating habit of assuming that their readers are ignorant idiots (justified in most cases) who don't have the wherewithall to challenge stupid statements.
Are these peasants legal owners or squatters?
Before the touchie-feelie crowd pipes in, let me remind them that if they are going to cite the "possesion is nine-tenths of the law" BS a bigger and meaner new owner is totally justified in becoming the new "owner".
That's what defines the "rule of law", a minor detail overlooked by the political manipulators.
Oh yes, by the way, in virtually all of Latin America, the "rule of law" depends on who you know, how rich you are and how many thugs you are able to hire. I can think of no exceptions.
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