Politics, drugs and the gun

摘要

In March, Ivan Roberto Duque, a chieftain of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary vigilantes, accused Oscar Trujillo, the mayor of the small town of Aguadas, of killing a congressman. Mr Trujillo promptly fled to an army base—with some reason. Facing death threats, the congressman had sought the protection of the fearsome Mr Duque, whose nom de guerre is Ernesto Baez. "I myself would carry out justice, but we are in a peace process," Mr Baez thundered, seeming livid that his authority had been challenged. That does not often happen in Caldas, a coffee-growing department where Mr Baez heads the local paramilitary army.