I once heard that Colombia was among the first Latin American countries to adopt party politics. I was also surprised by the nation's high voter turnout in elections. Even so, Colombia may well be a typical example of a country that is a democracy in name only.

There was a time when two major parties competed closely there. But the contest was replete with bitter mutual hatred and violence. The enmity is said to have caused the deaths of about 200,000 party members from the latter half of the 1940s through the end of the 1950s.

Voters apparently often cast their ballots at gunpoint.

There were some relatively peaceful years, too, but the nation was thrown into a state of virtual civil war after dissident organizations began to grow in strength.

In ``Shirarezaru Koronbia'' (Unknown Colombia), published by Simul Press, author Yoshio Fujimoto, a former Japanese ambassador to the country, quotes an American scholar of Colombia as noting that, like rivers and lakes, Colombian guerrillas form a part of the scenery in the nation's mountain villages.

Plan International, an aid organization for developing nations that sponsors the Foster Parents Plan, continues its work in Colombia through five local offices. ``The atmosphere there is different from that in any other developing country,'' notes Aya Yamagata, a grant-funding officer of Plan International's Japan office who visited Colombia last spring.

According to Yamagata, government troops were stationed every 10 meters along roads and port areas to protect these infrastructures from being blown up by guerrillas. Since a colossal portion of the national budget is being eaten up by this fight against guerrillas, hardly any money remains to spend on the poor.

The Japanese vice president of the local affiliate of a Japanese company was kidnapped and killed in Colombia.

News of the discovery of his body reminded me anew of the gravity of Colombia's problems. The victim had been held prisoner for more than two and a half years. It breaks my heart to imagine what those months must have been like for him.

Once violence has taken root in society, it is not easy to snap out of it. This is a chilling realization.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 27(IHT/Asahi: November 28,2003) (11/28)