Bogota - Colombia's main Marxist rebel force, which reputedly reaps huge profits from cocaine, says crop substitution and the legalisation of illicit narcotics are the only effective ways to bring the drug trade under control.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) called for the decriminalisation of narcotics in a communique issued late Thursday night. Its release came soon after the US House of Representatives approved $1.7 billion in mostly military aid to help train and equip Colombia's security forces to fight the country's rampant production of cocaine and heroin.
Echoing arguments voiced by many prominent Colombians in the past, including the Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the FARC said the legalisation of drug use would "eliminate the root cause of the high profits produced by the illegality of this business".