To speak of a democratic regime, even a bourgeois one, in a dependent country such as Colombia, is starting from a wrong premise. In this political period of widespread crisis, what matters is to define the exact political meaning of this term which, in the last few decades, has come to mean a dictatorship against the people. The democratic facade has allowed different political regimes to operate within the international arena, while at the same time, leftist dabblers and social democrats have used it to appear progressive.
For these reasons we require a precise understanding of how the bourgeoisie in power apply their concept of democracy, in order to construct alternatives from a proletarian perspective. What is the state's legal basis? What is its daily practice? This issue, among others, was one which interested our party in its recently held 14th Congress.
Due to the level of socio-economic underdevelopment, our dependency model and the historical formation of the nation, our revolutionary process has democratic elements linked to the national liberation struggle against imperialism and also elements linked to the necessity to carry out transformations, which historically the bourgeoisie is no longer able to perform.

Recent history
Colombia in the 50's went from an open military dictatorship -that divided the bourgeoisie, which at that time was in vogue in Latin America and would later recycle itself under other guises in different countries, to a united bourgeois consensual "democracy". The bourgeoisie's concerns increased with the advance of the popular insurgency, which at that time reached enormous proportions and threatened to seize power. The battle within this class went from one among bourgeois factions, mainly over how capital should penetrate the countryside, and of course, the political arenas, to the National Front, a bourgeois pact which inaugurated the "oldest and most consolidated Latin American democracy", as they often repeat.
From this period the democratic structure which still holds to date, although with some adjustments, was established. The bourgeoisie tried to recover the classical definition of democracy. A separation of powers exists, but it is one where the Executive, through the Presidential Office, has such wide powers that it amounts to an "imperial presidency", or more precisely, a civil dictatorship. The Legislature, invested in a bicameral Parliament, is controlled by the Executive, and is of dubious independency and moral credentials. The Judiciary is said to be the guardian of justice, supposedly administered with sovereignty and autonomy.
The Executive and Legislature are elected by direct vote. Therefore elections are the founding stone which makes it possible to speak of "legitimacy". As such, the high rate of abstention, which fluctuates between 50 to 70 per cent, and which represents an open rejection of the system, discontent with government and even general apathy, is not taken into account. Neither is the state's obsolete and clientelist structure -with a corrupt administration as a source of assured votes- taken into account.
A significant leap was seen with the advent of the 1991 constitution, approved by a Constituent Assembly with the co-option of some factions of the guerrilla movement and the welcomed contributions of wide social democratic sectors. At the time, the Constituent Assembly was seen as the recovery of full democracy. It was given the title of Peace Treaty and through it armed struggle was said to have lost its raison d'être. The new Constitution strengthened organs of state control and introduced, among other things, the American accusatory principle of justice, with a Public Prosecutor's Office, "jueces sin rostro" (judges with hidden identity), plea bargaining and increased repression in all fields.
The Constitution did not change the essence of the actual state. It was a bourgeois attempt to legitimise itself juridically, both nationally and internationally, and an effort to comply with neoliberal and imperialist requirements. Its counter insurgency essence and imperial presidentialism were upheld, as were the armed forces' power and privileges under the doctrine of National Security. State repression and terrorism were fortified with paramilitarism, the dirty war, "justica regional" (the secret justice system), all highly detrimental to the protection of human rights. Later on there have been successive counter reforms to the Constitution which have limited or distorted the timid democratic gains.

A democracy in a tight spot
Just a few years have been sufficient for this "democratic" scaffolding to collapse. The new Constitution is being shamelessly questioned and violated. The current regime of President Ernesto Samper has resisted the shocks felt by all other institutions and powers. As if this was not enough, we continue under the regime of "Conmocion Interior" or State of Siege. We are witnessing a political process which shows that corruption, dirty money, philistine morals and all bourgeois rottenness parade freely around the government's highest circles.
Presidential campaigns have been financed by drug money, Parliament has worked for the narcos and the secret justice system is only used as a political weapon to attack opposition groups. Indeed American imperialists have entrenched themselves in the Public Prosecutor's Office to de-stabilise the government and to demand in one ferocious voice a change, even by force, to impose an outcome in harmony with their war on drugs and presidential elections.
The full force of the crisis, is not just the lot of the Colombian bourgeoisie. Naturally, imperialism also feels it in its global political, social, military and ideological spheres. We point out that this growing force of corruption and upheavals have also occurred in countries such as Italy, Spain, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, just to mention a few.
This fragile political situation has opened the way to talk about ungovernability. It has produced the collapse of governments, opened cracks in the institutions and accentuated the internal contradictions in the heart of the bourgeoisie. The crisis also expresses itself through disruption in bourgeois political parties and, in some countries like ours, there is clear evidence of human rights violations, which have led to important condemnations, nationally and internationally, against the state, thereby exposing its democratic facade.
The crisis is also expressed in the ideological sphere. The policies are tired and there is scepticism, a decadent philosophy which allows its rancid idealism to linger. It resorts to attractive deceptions, short of content, which together with decadence allows open fascist ideology to gain ground. That is why imperialism puts such great means into publicity, into breaking up workers and popular movements, and the distraction of everything collective and progressive.
The development in today's world of different forms of struggle, in the middle of a deepening crisis and inter-imperialist confrontations, is leading to questioning of bourgeois power at its weakest points. Similarly, while the future, independence and sovereignty of the nation state is being questioned, the forces and reasons for creating a wide anti-imperialist movement are gathering pace.

Violence as a central pillar
In our country it is not possible to speak about the state and political regime without considering the phenomenon of violence. Starting from its class character, from its pro-imperialist stance, and the crisis already mentioned, the state has been unable to respond to the majority demands for reform. This state operates a policy of exclusion and maintains a bi-partisanism, with marginal incursion by third parties. It is a restrictive democracy determined by the National Security doctrine.
All this has led to a democratic shutdown, the physical elimination of the opposition, the deployment of varied forms of reactionary violence and a narrow environment for the political struggle. To exercise its domination, the bourgeoisie supports itself by using the reactionary armed forces. This force is exerted through a state terrorism and the dirty war, increased militarism, liquidation of the political opposition, a counter insurgency war against the guerrilla movement, and by encouraging paramilitary groups. The latter have recently come into light with the creation of anti-communist peasant self-defence co-operatives.
Under the guidance of Pentagon strategists there has been an ideological drive behind state's policy of demobilising revolutionary and democratic action, in order to cement an anti-communist culture and win over mass support to recoup its legitimacy. This is the reason for the bourgeois state increased pact. Although it is not just talks, but involves some real changes, limited and ordered to achieve its ends. In the same way social democracy operates.
Violence has constantly been in our history. Its causes are found in the economic situation, in the level of class confrontation, in the way the power struggle is waged, in the need of the masses to defend themselves and their aspirations, and in the lack of proper channels for political struggle, and also in our own people's history.
The military budget in Colombia, as in most parts in the world, is top secret and even exempts from parliamentary scrutinity, according to the fascist doctrine of National Security. This requires huge secret funds to pay for the dirty war, espionage against the people, large contracts and bribes.

Yankee interference
The most recent development is the loss of Yankee certification in the war on drugs -an imperialist mechanism to decide which countries deserve sactions or benefits. With this decision, Clinton -with no moral authority to do so- sharpens contradictions and presses for an outcome that can lead to either a fascist coup or open military intervention by American troops.
Never before has American interference in Colombia been so clear. From the actions of Yankee intelligence and the treaties made by our bourgeoisie with their major partners, to the arrogance of US imperialists in raising the issue of our sovereignty -which for them no longer exists and should be replaced by concepts such as "the common good" and "universal values"- as was recently reiterated by the current US ambassador in Colombia, Myles Frechette, in front of high raking officers.
Imperialism is using against Colombia the war on drugs, which says it threatens its security, as a pretext to interfere in Colombia's internal affairs and to present itself as a defender of human rights and the "champion" of democracy. In reality it is concocting arguments to further its control over nations and zones of influence, in order to create better conditions for counterinsurgency actions and ultimately world hegemony.
Today the threat of direct military aggression by American imperialism in Colombia is greater than ever. This is a continuation of previous steps such as radar interference, the presence of military and intelligence personnel and their direct participation in operations.
This is being made possible by an intense ideological campaign, supported by the mass media and many other mechanisms, which also serves to spread "the American way of life", to undermine the cultural-national values of our people, and to eliminate progressive and revolutionary thought.
There is instability in the national political arena, and inability to govern and a lame duck bourgeoisie. Social contradictions are sharpening, even within the sections of the bourgeoisie, there exist a generalised discontent. Thus, not only the revolutionary movement ramins undefeated, in fact it is alive and on the up.
The country's present economic situation is marked by crisis and huge imbalances, through indications of recession and stagnation, growing inflation, unemployment, an informal sector and the deepening mass impoverishment. At the same time capital flight continues. Furthermore, external trade problems, devaluation and worsening trade terms have led to raising interest rates, falling international reserves and credit restrictions for industry.

The unhidden role of narco-traffic
Narco-traffic's socio-economic, political and military impacts on the country and in the international arena have been very profound. Colombia continues to be a "narcotised" and corrupt economy, besides being a militarised one. This affects international business and creates an alibi for an American invasion. The narco-traffic mafia's revenues' figures are very imprecise but they are estimated at between 5 thousand and 10 thousand million dollars per annum.
With such amounts it is not strange that a close group of congressmen, high military officers and top state and private enterprises' officials are linked with drug cartels, with fraudulent contracts and that the wag of its tail spatters president Samper and his electoral campaign. Neither is it strange that American tycoons want to control this market, for which they have as spearhead their military organism, such as the DEA. That is why the fight against corruption, has become a democratic banner, impossible to be raised from the decayed state spheres and traditional parties.
In Colombia the drug cartels' formation was carried out as bloody process, through which there were built virtual financial conglomerates, which operate in all the country's economic areas. They still combat each other, in order to keep or develop their markets. Gangs' money has helped to appease the crisis and to inject oxygen into the economic sectors, making them more disproportionate, inducing a high speculative element and increasing enormously the cost of living. Drug cartels have designed some intrincate nets to legalise their capitals, by which they influence political and military decisions and the mass media, deforming population's values and behaviour, with emphasis on the youth. They have created some truly private armies for their service, which operate either as gunmen gangs or as paramilitary groups, in co-ordination and division of functions with the army and police.
US imperialism has used insistently the war on drugs as an argument to justify its aggression against peoples and to trample on national sovereignty. Such a use, is part of Yankee counter-insurgency strategy. On the other side, the bourgeoisie has used the mafia's good offices in the dirty war to unleash it against revolutionary and democratic movement, to hit trade unions and their leaders. Meanwhile, American government allows its own gangs and allows its country's banks to be the main means to legalise the huge mafia's capital.
Sicotropic's production, processing and marketing, jointly with other related illegal activities, generates a super profit which is linked to the peculiar conditions of its distribution and sale, with United States as the main market, while demand keeps growing ceaselessly. The Colombian gangs' cartels have gained an outstanding position, which covers growing cocaine and poppies, at the same time processing and marketing them.
Imperialism's war on drugs emphasises the repressive aspect against supply, fumigations with toxic chemical elements such as gliphosphate, indiscriminate destruction of crops, persecution of peasant growers and stigmatisation of those countries, which in one way or another, are engaged in narcotics' activities. At the same time it does not acknowledge its country's constantly increasing demand, and the society's own foundations which create and stir up the drug addiction's world.

Shades between governments
Neoliberal basics have been upheld by Ernesto Samper's government. The changes do not amount to a turning point related to the previous government's policies. Changes are forced by neoliberalism's evident limits, the crisis' resilience, the necessity of continuing social discontent, imperialist adjustments and multinational's disputes in the so-called globalisation process.
The present administration's shades and contradictions with some bourgeois sectors, its distance from the previous government and with United States are based upon Samper and his adviser's neo-structuralist concept and on Clinton's way of handling the anti-drugs policy. But among them exists an essential monetarist and anti peoples' unity. Samper's neo-structuralist strategy is based upon three elements: Social Pact, Social Solidarity Net and the promise of dialogue with the insurgents. With them he tries to adapt imperialist's counter-insurgency orientation, made through World Bank, with the modifications of the CEPAL -UN Economic Commission for Latin America. This orientation considers an attack on poverty as a vital political matter for state security and the regime's survival. With that, he pretends to palliate the harshness of neoliberal measures.
Neoliberalism has not been able to get the economy out of the doldrums. On the contrary, problems are deepening and continue to be a source of popular unrest. Our people's impoverishment has grown, and has widened the gap between the rich and the poor. Today dependency on imperialism is stronger, as also is foreign monopolies' penetration into the national economy, and the financial groups' power has increased. The economy's structural deformations and backwardness, have increased with neoliberalism. State repressive power and security expenses expand, while the process of privatisation and deregulation continues and welfare investment decreases, as it is handed over to the private sector.
It is not an easy task for the ruling classes to perpetuate themselves in power, while spreading plunder, poverty and discontent; while imbalances and crises -inherent in the system- are deepening; while militarist and warmongering arrogance undermines further the roots of this "democratic" state and regime. From that stems the fact that they feel compelled to introduce some modifications, which in the economic field, mean neoliberal continuity in a shameful way, under a neo-structuralist guise; and in the social and political aspects, imply an emphasis on the social pact, while hardening repression at the same time.
In Colombia, according to official figures of DANE, National Department of Statistics, the percentage of the population considered as living in poverty, has reached 60 per cent, while the 10 per cent richest hoard 45 per cent of national income. Working conditions are continuously worsening and there is a chronic incapacity to create enough jobs, so the figures of the unemployed grow constantly. Open unemployment -officially accounted for- is 10 per cent, but figures of informal employment show that almost 60 per cent of the workers are in this sector. The regime has not been able to lower inflation below 22 per cent. And the present political situation has started to have serious repercussions in the different levels of the economy, which greatly worries the bourgeoisie.
Distancing from neo-liberalism and the fight against poverty, as banners of struggle, which now some sectors pretend to raise, including the president accompanied by social democracy, do not go beyond propaganda, and are determined by security and power needs. These are also attempts to silence popular unrest and struggle.

For a truly popular democracy
Even if the present Colombian regime is presented formally as a liberal democratic one, really it is an authoritarian, oligarchical, imperial presidentialist regime, with growing militarist expressions and with a general tendency towards fascism which neglects genuinely popular participation.
As long as Colombian democracy lacks material support, while it continues to deny the right to live and work, while it keeps state's reactionary forces, the participative democracy which is described in the new Constitution, will not go any further than being an empty concept. Without real democracy in economic life, bourgeois democracy will continue being an abstract democracy, will change form but not content, will be a deception by the public administration in order to break the masses' resistance and struggle.
For all these reasons the exercise of revolutionary violence, which goes further than the conquest of democratic reforms, is fully justified and gives support to the Marxist-Leninist pledge to construct and develop projects of a unified army, which in our case goes through the strengthening of the Popular Liberation Army in all fields. For that purpose, there are multiple forms of masses' armed organisations, such as the militias, besides guerrilla armies.
Our party's 14th Congress also made a pledge to work towards guaranteeing the development of democratic and anti-imperialist struggle in the tactical sphere and with deep strategic transformations' projections, especially when the bourgeoisie renounces more and more the task of defending national sovereignty and assumes a collaborationist role with imperialism, regardless of what shades and differences some sectors have, stemming from the Clinton de-certification issue, and the sharp attacks from the American right.
It is up to the proletariat to lead the struggle for democratic objectives and national revolutionary ones, on its way towards socialist revolution. From that stems the importance of a democratic movement, a tactical one, which encompasses the population's widest sectors. This movement is opposed to imperialism, to the corrupt bourgeoisie, to the government in function and to the rightist forces' fascist pretensions. This is a democratic movement with the aility to offer an alternative in face of the crisis, and the aility to raise the proposal for popular and sovereign government.