Read Elyssa Pachico's answer in Colombia Reports.

I agree with her comments about geography and La Violencia playing a central role in the problem. I'm less sure about her "behavioral norms" argument; but I well recall a Colombian visitor who remarked that we follow rules in the U.S. so slavishly as to lose our individualism. If Colombians were more rule and law-oriented, perhaps their society would be more peaceful.