Colombia Under Siege

Mon, Jul 7 02:14 AM

• What is the origin of the 'Colombian Civil War'?

The armed conflict between guerilla organisation Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and successive Colombian governments is known as 'Colombian Civil War'. Origin of the conflict is usually dated to 1964-1966, but goes far back to 1948 when Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a popular politician was assassinated. That led to Bogotazo, a riot in which about 4,000 people were killed. A decade of sustained rural warfare followed between members of Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party, a period known as La Violencia ("The Violence") in which 200,000 people died. Soon after, most guerrilla units of Liberal Party supporters disbanded. But some former Liberals and Communist groups continued operating. One such group was known as the "Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia" (FARC), formed by Dumar Alijure in early 1950s.

• What is FARC?

FARC is a self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerilla organisation. It is described as a terrorist group by the Colombian Government, the US, Canada and the European Union. Marxist-leaning countries like Cuba and Venezuela refer to its members as insurgents. FARC is present in 15-20 per cent of Colombia's territory, mostly in the south-eastern region at the base of the Andes mountains. Initially, it kept a low profile by staying in its traditional heartland areas, but the Seventh Guerrilla Conference in 1982 represented a significant change in outlook. It provided them with an opportunity to fine-tune their policies and plans, to build their desired socialist state in future.

• What are FARC's activities? Who funds it?

FARC has financed itself through kidnapping ransoms, extortion and drug trafficking which includes, but is not limited to, coca plant harvesting, processing of coca leaves to manufacture cocaine and drug trade protection. FARC also employed vehicle bombings, gas cylinder bombs, assassinations, landmines, hijacking, guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian state and economic targets.

Today, FARC has partly outgrown its socialist demands. It advocates agrarian reform, social welfare programmes and a mixed economy with state control over sectors such as oil.

• What is the present status of the movement?

THE movement has survived decades in jungles of this country and provided military cover to world's most productive coca growers. But in 2008, its leader Manuel Marulanda died of heart attack and Raul Reyes, second-in-command was killed by the Colombian Army. About 3,000 combatants deserted last year. FARC is still widely known and is perhaps the most reviled rebel movement in South America. According to the Colombian Government, FARC has an estimated 6,000-8,000 members, making it the largest (and oldest) insurgent group in the Americas.

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