Editorials.

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    • Subject Terms:
      DESPOTISM; AUTHORITARIANISM; PRESIDENTS; HOSTAGES; GOVERNMENT policy; LEADERSHIP
    • Abstract:
      The article presents information on various political developments in Colombia. Absolutism in the defense of authority is no virtues Colombian President Belisario Betancur Cuartas's decision to storm the Palace of Justice in Bogota, where guerrillas held scores of hostages, succeeded in wiping out most of his nation's top judiciary, along with much of the M-19 movement's leadership. The trouble with an absolute policy of non-negotiation, such as the U.S. President Ronald Reagan is pursuing toward the kidnappers holding Americans and others in Lebanon, is that it isolates the authorities from political realities, where the settlement and resolution of a situation can be found. The policy itself arises from a theory that is abstracted from politics, which is like detaching war from diplomacy.