Who Can Crack Colombia?

For some time CBS has invested heavily in reporting the story of what's happening in Colombia, South America.

And CBS will continue to invest time, resources and air time to the important story that is unfolding in Southern Panama and Northern South America, with Colombia at the center of it.

The story is the rise of a narco-revolutionary movement. It is financed by huge cocaine and heroin profits, much of the money made on the streets, in the back alleys, and in the boardrooms of places such as U.S. banks. The movement is led by those who were once old-style Marxist revolutionaries, allied with Cuba and the old Soviet Union. But now they operate on their own and with their own heavy cash flows. Their leaders are headquartered mainly in the jungles and mountains of Colombia, where they now control at least one-third of the country outside of the big cities. And through their drug tentacles and guerilla army operatives they are also active in population centers.

Their reach extends into neighboring countries: Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela - a chief source of foreign oil to the U.S. It also extends into Panama, where the U.S. is about to completely give over the Panama Canal.

This is nothing less than a concerted effort to control an entire region-- northern South America and Panama. That's why we're on the story. Good to see that some other electronic journalism outfits are beginning to nibble at it. This story NEEDS a full airing.