you interested in the big picture or all the unpleasant details?
well, basically, the situation in colombia sucks.
 the government's been fighting different marxists factions for over thirty-five years. for most of that time, it was winning.
 suddenly the guerrillas began chopping 'em up. high-tech weapons and equipment, well- trained troops, aggressive hit- and-run tactics, all financed by extortion, kidnapping and collecting taxes from dope growers. it's big money, and they put it to use.
 the government got scared. in 1998, to jump start peace talks, it gave a coalition of guerrilla groups temporary control over much of southern colombia.  the first communist stronghold on an american continent.
 but there've been few talks and no peace. and the colombian military can't get near the guerrilla zone, especially around the town of caguan, where the e.l.c. kicks ass and takes no prisoners.
 and that's where we come in. supposedly, to help eliminate narcos operating in the guerrilla zone. but some well-informed people think that's just an excuse to hit the guerrillas themselves, since they're wrapped around the drug trade.  we're there, we're involved.  if we stay, the only real question is which vietnam war we're gonna have. the one some feel we could've won or the one we lost.
 bottom line? the place is as dangerous as a snakepit. you've got the different guerrilla groups, c.i.a., f.b.i., d.e.a., colombian military, u.s. military, right- wing death squads -- and the only thing they've all managed to do is destroy a beautiful country and inflict suffering on the real people.  hey, i'm colombian, and i'll never go back.