5. The Extortion Of Government Officials
An interview that took place in 2014 with then Bogota mayor, Gustavo Petro, revealed that Colombian Cartels have long had access to the highest levels of government. Colombian legislature has shown reluctance over the years to throw the hammer at the cartels that control its number one export, cocaine. Petro is quoted in a 2014 interview with euronews.com saying:
“I believe that to get peace we have to change the political model, integrating all of the country’s population, by the democratization of Colombia… But this means also having the courage to search for a way out of the problem of drug trafficking. Both things go together, because it all started with social exclusion and violence, and led to drug trafficking, which uses violence for its own ends… If we don’t solve the first problem, which provoked violence, we won’t solve the rest. Drug lords have used violence to control the state, and the territory in Colombia. It makes the drugs trade almost indestructible. Drug lords in Colombia have state powers.”
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