'El Loco' Barrera: What does the capture of Colombia's last big drug lord mean?
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's blog,听bloggingsbyboz.com.听The views expressed are the author's own.
A joint听听involving Venezuelan, Colombian, US, and UK authorities captured Daniel 'el Loco' Barrera, one of the top Colombian drug traffickers.
1. The cooperation between Venezuela and Colombia is a triumph for President Santos's policy towards his neighbor. In the same week that Santos met with Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate, he also scored a major arrest with the cooperation of Chavez government authorities. That's diplomacy at its best.
2. Loco Barrera was not living a millionaire's life in Venezuela that would make for a good narco-ballad. This was not the life of Pablo Escobar in his giant mansion. Barrera was on the run, afraid of capture at any moment. He had plastic surgery and听听his fingers in acid to avoid identification. When captured, he looked really sad and defeated. That may seem like a silly point of analysis, but contrasted against all the happy Mexican capos who stupidly grin at the press conferences announcing their capture, it matters.
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3. Good Venezuela; Bad Venezuela. Barrera's arrest highlights that the Chavez government does arrest criminals as part of international efforts. It also highlights the growing听听of Venezuela as a hub for drug trafficking and organized crime in the region. Both analyses are true.
4. New criminal groups and leaders are always emerging. Barrera may be the last Colombian drug lord from the previous generation, but nobody expects that his arrest will prevent a new generation of organized crime from emerging.
鈥� James Bosworth is a freelance writer and consultant who runs听.
