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Colombian Ex-President Álvaro Uribe this Friday launched a stinging attack on the FARC, Santos government peace talks which he warned could lead to the eventual ´Castro- Chávezization´of Colombia.

In a reference to the far left governments of Raúl Castro and Hugo Chávez, Uribe piled pressure on the Santos administration not to give into the political demands of a terrorist organization who began the dialogues arguing for an end to the ´neo-liberal´capitalism of Colombia´s economic model.

Iván Marquez, the FARC´s second in command, and head of the negotiating team, argued that peace was not ´the silencing of guns´but the total re-ordering of Colombia´s society to reflect the Communist ideals the rebel group claim to fight for.

In an interview with Blu Radio, Uribe began by likening the FARC to Al-Queda, supposing that the US would not countenance entering into talks while attacks continued without pause.

The ex-president went on to criticize the goverment for allowing the FARC the limelight of the international stage, claiming that the press conference in Oslo served only to provide the rebels with the oxygen of publicity, a platform aiding them to appeal to their Marxist sympathizers.

Uribe told listeners that if the FARC sit down at the negotiating table with the same attitude shown by Márquez during the opening of this phase two of the talks, the only way President Santos would be able to secure a peace agreement would be to hand over a Colombia in the Chávez / Castro mould.

Warning too of the possible consequences of granting impunity for guerrillas and the sanctioning of their entrance into the political arena, Uribe told Colombians to open their eyes to the prospect of a Chávez financed FARC election campaign in the coming years.

The real danger Uribe forecast was the future emergence of a socialist Colombia, aligned with the hard left ´Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America´ (ALBA) group of nations.

Uribe´s prospectus is that a narco-funded FARC with the help of the organization of Chávez´s Bolivarian party machinery would be a virtually unstoppable political force. Colombia is more or less sleep-walking to its own death, Uribe seems to be saying.

Citing the Marcha Patriotica as the – already mobilized – vehicle for former guerrillas to pursue their political ends, Uribe concluded that if Santos were to provide the combatants impunity in return for the cessation of violence, the FARC could enter the corridors of power as soon as 2014.

For Colombia Politics Uribe´s claims serve as a cold reminder of the power and influence Chávez, and indeed the Castros, have in the affairs of the FARC.

For us, however, such futurology would not, on the current state of play, stand up to scrutiny. The nightmare scenario of a Communist Colombia seems far-fetched, a caricature.

Nevertheless, Uribe´s comments do provide us with an alternative view, and ask us to question what price we are willing to pay for peace, and what guarantees we need from the government that the FARC will not impose on us its twisted vision of the world.

Colombia Politics places faith in the government negotiating team and believes it will prevent Uribe´s prophesies from coming true. Let us hope this faith is well founded.

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Kevin Howlett

Kevin is a political consultant and lobbyist who cut his teeth working in the UK Parliament. He is a regular panelist on Colombian television, a political communication strategist and a university lecturer. Kevin is the founder and editor of Colombia Politics.