June 22,2007: The government release of nearly 200 FARC prisoners appears to be a failure. Many of the released men, who had promised (as a condition of their release) to speak out for peace and the release of people kidnapped by FARC, have instead called for continued fighting. FARC now says it will release three American captives in return for the release of several hundred FARC members held in Colombian and American jails. That won't happen. Meanwhile, in the real world, FARC continues to get hammered by army and police operations. Cuba has advised FARC to start negotiating before they get wiped out. FARC itself is split, with some leaders wanting a peace deal like AUC got, but others determined to hang on to the more lucrative gangster lifestyle. At the rate things are going, in a few years, FARC will be in desperate shape.

June 21, 2007:President Uribe blocked a proposed law that would have weakened corruption investigations. Since just about everyone in government is tainted to one degree or another, many legislators are seeking away to stall investigations of themselves, or to make the inquiries go away. But the government popularity is partly due to anti-corruption efforts. Everyone knows most politicians are tainted, and at least want it out in the open. This is a pretty radical concept by South American standards.