A woman walks past the forensics lab. in Third Millenium Park, where Alfonso Cano's remains are being held. Note the police barricades. |
His ideas, thankfully, never came close to reality as the military battered the FARC, culminating with last week's killing of the guerrillas' top leader.
Last week, Cano finally made it back to Bogota, the same city where he became radicalized while a student at the National University. But he didn't arrive the way he wanted to. Instead, his corpse is in the forensics laboratory in Third Milenio Park, just west of La Candelaria. Doctors who autopsied the 63-year-old Cano said he was quite healthy and could have lived another 10 to 15 years.
Anti-terrorist police on the lookout near the forensics lab. |
Among Cano's relatives is Roberto Saenz, a leftist Bogotá City Councilman, which underlines the connections between the legal and illegal here in Colombia. Saenz the councilman is a member of the same political party as newly-elected Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro, who himself was once a leader of the M-19 guerrilla group. All of which suggests that Cano, if he'd wanted to, could have made the shift from outlaw to a participant in Colombia's democracy. That would have meant a better outcome for Cano, and hopefully for Colombia as well.
In front of the lab is 'The monument to life and disarmament' - created out of melted-down weapons. |
Cano joined the FARC, first as an ideologue and eventually its top commander after the group's founder, Manuel 'Sure-shot' Marulanda died of old age in 2008.
TV reporters wait outside of the forensics lab for something to report. |
Some analysts say the FARC could fragment into many smaller bands, which would likely discard their veneer of ideology and become straight-out narcotraffickers. That might actually be the most damaging outcome for Colombia, since it would make negotiations impossible and could lead to waves of senseless violence similar to Mexico, as the regional bands battle over drug trafficking routes.
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