In Colombia there are many protagonists of the politic debate that those who are not with them are their enemies. A perfect example of this can be seen in the declarations that were given this week by Jose Obdulio Gaviria about the general Naranjo, in which he suggests that this has connections with the mafia.

Three decades ago a large part of public services were provided by the State. This was the case for health, mail and telecommunications. When the service was bad (something that frequently occurred) people protested before government and, sometimes, when there were many protests, it became a politicized issue and was subject of public debate. These protests and debates led to the privatization of these services. Today, after many years of experience with the new private model, things do not seem to have changed substantially. The financial voracity of private interests and a weak state capacity to control them has created a situation similar to the previous one.

Some yeeks ago I wrote an Op-Ed about how difficult it was to achieve lasting consensus in the country. Then Eduardo Posada Carbó answered by saying that is was false divisive nagging. I answered ,in another Op-Ed, by accusing him of making a simplistic reading of my point of view and he, in turn, answered accusing me more or less of the same.