Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaThe Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia was originally started as a Marxist revolutionary movement formed in 1964 by Manuel Marulanda. a.k.a "Tirofijo" (sure-shot). When it was formed the organization claimed support the working classes and to fight imperialism and the ruling wealthy class. There has of course, always been an enormous tension between the classes throughout Colombian history. With time however, the group has progressively moved away from its original anti-capitalist ideology, toward drug-trafficking and kidnapping. The FARC is responsible for kidnappings, extortion, assassinations and forces young peasant kids to join the ranks of their organization and even farms to grow coca. This ongoing war explain much of the displaced population of Colombia that have fled to the cities from rural areas. The consequence of this is the emergence of huge shanty towns in the suburbs of the larger cities where poverty, prostitution, illiteracy, gang warfare and general malaise persist. Estimates to the size of the FARC are roughly 9000 members and the group has gradually been losing ground during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe Velez. The group was under the leadership of Raul Reyes until 2008, when he was killed during a Colombian military operation on Ecuadorian soil. This lead to a short dispute between Colombia and Venezuela but dissipated swiftly. Another recent blow to the FARC, was "Operation Jaque" held also in 2008, where the Colombian military orchestrated the release of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, by pretending to be journalists and aid workers arriving by helicopter. The media attention the rescue received boosted moral significantly - I can remember the pride and hope associated with the news because I was in Medellin at the time of the operation. Colombia accounts for an a significant quantity of the world's cocaine supply. There is of course the demand side to be factored into this equation with thought for the consequences of its consumption. Food for thought.
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