The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

FARC Background FARC Background  Colombia's oldest and largest guerrilla group  Established in 1966 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party (CCP)  Broke from CCP and created the Clandestine Colombian Communist Party (CCCP)  Estimated 18,000-20,000 fighting members on at least 80 fronts throughout Colombia

FARC Background Cont.  FARC is classified as a terrorist group by U.S. and European Union  Proclaimed itself a politico-military Marxist Leninist organization  Ideology in Marxist Bourgeois system  Claims to represent poor rural class against Colombia’s wealthy classes  Opposes U.S. influence/interference  FARC ultimate objective is an armed revolution in Colofmbia

FARC Background  Majority of fighters come from poor rural background - 80% are peasants  Mostly uneducated  Most members join FARC for revolutionary adventurism and pay  FARC pays members $350 a month -Colombian Army pays $250  Majority of recruits are teens -male and female

Activities  Bombings, murder, mortar attacks, narcotic trafficking,  Guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets  Hijacking, kidnapping & extortion  Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC - Westerners in particular

Operations & Finance  FARC collects 400 million a year from the drug trade  FARC forcibly recruits teenagers  In the last decade more than 200 bombs have been blown up in Colombiann cities  Averages of 5 people a day are kidnapped by guerrillas to finance their insurgence.  Their use of laptops at road blocks allows them to check the bank account of divers – giving them information allowing them to kidnap the richest

Casualties  Four presidential candidates  More than 200 judges  1200 polices officers  More than 100 journalists More than 200,000 Colombian citizens have been murdered by FARC More than 200,000 Colombian citizens have been murdered by FARC

Major Events  April 17, 2001 a powerful car bomb detonated in a Colombian provincial capital killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 60  June 28, 2002 a catholic priest who was critical of leftist rebels was shot dead in front of a church where he had just performed a mass

Kidnappings  Recently killed the governor of Mr. Uribe’s home department of Antioquia a former defense minister who was kidnapped in April of 2002 while leading a march  In 2001 there was a prisoner swap in which 363 captives – police and soldiers – were exchanged for 15 jailed guerrilla members  Unfortunately this prisoner swap has encouraged more kidnappings of prominent politicians to use as bargaining chips

Political Attacks  Mortar shells fired into crowd that was attending Colombia’s new president (Alvaro Uribe) inauguration in ended up killing 18 and injured 69  Kidnapped Colombian Presidential Candidate Ingrid Betancourt in 2002; she was rescued by Colombian forces in 2008 along with 14 other captives, 3 of which were Americans

Assaults on the Church  In 1999, there were 25 evangelical pastors murdered  Guerrillas have forced some 300 evangelical churches to close