FARC Guerilla Group and Terrorist Organization

What is FARC? FARC is the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

When was FARC created? Communist militants from the countryside and self-defense groups founded FARC to fight against the democratic government. The USSR was at its best moments. Communism was spreading around the world.

What does FARC want? FARC wants a pluralist- socialist government, a government who represents every social sector. They oppose any type of American presence in Colombia, especially Plan Colombia which is a $1.3 billion dollar program to help the Colombian government eliminate all coca and poppy plantations. Colombia is the third country in the world that gets the most foreign aid from U.S. after Israel and Egypt.

How big is FARC? FARC is the largest guerilla- terrorist organization in Colombia. They have around 17,000 members divided into two groups, the popular militias and the bolivarianos. They control about half of the area of the country, including a granted land by former president Andres Pastrana twice the size of New Jersey.

Where to they get the $$$ from? FARC’s main source of income is ransom money from kidnappings. People estimate that FARC gets around $200 million to $400 million annually from the drug trade. An unofficial duty is placed on people from the towns controlled by FARC for “protection and social services.” Other left-wing groups in Nicaragua and El Salvador supply them with arms. Former Soviet nations helped with the arms supplying.

Who does FARC recruit? Most of the people in the FARC are coca farmers and countrymen who live in FARC controlled territory. Other types of members are people who are against the paramilitaries. They recruit members regardless of sex.

FARC’s latest terrorist attacks: Feb, 2002: rebels hijacked a domestic commercial flight to kidnap a senator on board. Feb, 2002: FARC kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt, a presidential candidate in Colombia’s election Aug, 2002: Alvaro Uribe’s presidential inauguration was sabotaged by bombs placed by FARC. Feb, 2003: A social club was destroyed after a bomb was detonated killing 28 people and 6 children. FARC was blamed for the attack.

Conclusion Colombia’s civil war will go on for a few more years. This affects many other countries from Latin America. More than 200,000 people have died since The only thing people can do is live their normal lives.

Bibliography: Title: Center For International Policy Website name: Maps of Guerilla Activity URL: Title: History of Guerillas Website name: History of FARC URL: Title: Terrorism: Questions & Answers Website name: FARC, ELN, AUC. URL: Author: El Pais Article Title: Manuel Marulanda “Tirofijo” Website Name: Manuel Marulanda “Tirofijo” URL: Website Name: Entrevista a Manuel Marulanda Velez URL: ATTACKS AND PICTURES SOURCES ON CNN: