Colombia: AUC's Last-Ditch Effort

The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary organization is trying to accelerate disarmament talks and bring the U.S. government into the process in an apparent last-ditch effort to rescue the talks. In exchange for helping Colombian and U.S. authorities eradicate all drug activities in AUC-controlled areas, the paramilitaries want to be recruited into the army and retrained to continue providing security services in their regions. To sweeten the offer, the AUC's leaders also offered the Colombian government millions of acres of rural land and capital to finance its economic development and pledged to cooperate with the United States in eradicating drugs. However, there is one small condition: The AUC's leaders insist on legal pardons in Colombia and guarantees that they will not be extradited to the United States.