This is John Batchel, a conversation with colleague Evan Ellis, Professor Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army War College, Latin American research.

We're looking at Gustavo Petro, the elected president of Colombia, a strong economy, a strong relationship with Washington and yet.

Gustavo Petro evidencing instability personally, now asserting that drug cartel or some gang associated with drugs,

means to assassinate him using two missiles against his plane. Two missiles. He emphasized that.

Evan introduces what looks to be the metaphor's meltdown of the

president who was elected to bring peace and stability to the country, racked by the turmoil of the

narco-terrorism these last decades. Here's Aben Ellis to introduce Gustavo Petro's

troubles, much worse of this to hear tonight. John, that's absolutely correct in my opinion.

This is the crossroads of Petro's personal instability and really what appears to be an ongoing

personal meltdown that's expressing itself

in various different ways, but also the meltdown of Columbia's security situation. To start with

the latter, this has been a problem that really began with the flawed peace accord that was signed

with the FARC for their due mobilization under two presidents ago, Juan Manuel Santos.

But Petro, in going after a simultaneous attempt to have what he called total peace with all of the different organizations, made the situation much worse.