Border Tensions

That, however, is unlikely. FARC is flush with drug money and still controls coca production in the south of Colombia—a nation that produces 90 percent of the world's cocaine supply. According to the United Nations, FARC produces about 500 tons of cocaine a year.

A further complication is the uncertain fate now facing FARC's hostages. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says that FARC is holding more than 700 hostages, including three U.S. military contractors and former French-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, whom the group is trying to swap for imprisoned rebels. Reyes was the public face of FARC in the hostage negotiations; his death, according to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, "is not good news."

All of this might feel remote to U.S. voters focused on Tuesday's presidential primary showdown. But this is not an issue that can be ignored by the American candidates. Not only does the turmoil in Latin America have the potential to have a negative effect on the continent's security, the failed war on drugs can certainly hurt the futures of young Americans and Europeans who are already using or are being tempted to use illegal drugs. If the next president of the United States has no viable plan to revise its drug and Latin American policies, drug-financed groups like FARC could potentially expand their operations and strengthen the vicious cycle of violence, corruption and destructive addiction.

Maria Cristina Caballero is a Harvard fellow and a freelance journalist from Colombia, currently based in Cambridge, Mass.

© 2008