OVERALL THREAT ASSESSMENT/ANALYTICAL OPINION:

Colombia’s Insurgency Threat

FOREIGN STATE THREAT

Name

INTL434

September 16, 2020

Introduction

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is a Marxist insurgency group that reigns terror in Colombia. It is an anti-government group that funds itself through illegal activities such as drug trade, kidnapping, uncertified gold mining, and extortion. FARC was initially formed to takeover the government to protect farmers from oppression after the civil war. However, it did not disband and continued as an outlawed group that exercises societal control and attacks government military and police by bombing their camps and patrol vehicles. This paper will look deeper into FARC as a threat to Colombia as well as examine what the government has done to control it.

Colombia’s Insurgency Threat, FARC

FARC is a Marxist-Leninist insurgency group known as The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. It was formed in 1964 by Manuel Marulanda and Jacob Arenas, with the objective of representing the interests of Colombia’s rural population after the civil war that took place between 1948 and 1958. It was to operate by overthrowing the government in collaboration with the farmers and land workers, in the fight against the inequality that existed at that time. To fund its endeavors, the group engaged in drug trade, illegal gold mining, extortion, kidnapping and other crimes. The group avowed to be a revolutionary group in 1964. Since then, this guerilla group changed its objective to terrorizing the residents of this country, giving them peaceless days and nights. Members execute citizens, and fight to control the natural resources of the country, in addition to its massive drug trade activities. The major culprits of FARC are women and the youth in ethnic communities, who are either sexually abused or forced into child labor. The group has been a headache to the government of Colombia. This is because they attack the police and their stations, as well as military posts, including carrying out ambushes on police patrols. They are also a menace to the nation’s economy as they have destroyed oil pipelines, bridges, railway lines, electricity pylons, including bombing social clubs. Members of the group create FARC explosives, which they use for their illegal bombing activities. While aiming at their targets, they have sometimes missed and hit schools and public areas, killing and injuring scores of children and innocent civilians. Besides that, they also lay landmines that maimed thousands, leaving them totally dependent on their families and friends.

FARC has about 7,000 active fighters, with another 8,500 citizens offering its support to them. Their organizational strategy begins with small units at the bottom, which then join to make bigger fighting parts that are grouped into regional blocs. The country’s military is a major enemy of the group, as it attempts to disarm and demobilize it. In 2016, the group made a peace deal with the government of Colombia, where it was officially disarmed and demobilized. Following this event, it changed into a political party, with the new name Revolutionary Alternative Common Force. Even so, it still keeps its acronym FARC, and though it has legitimately turned into a political party, some of its ex-guerrilla adherents refuse to disband, and are still into drug trafficking and militant actions that include attacking government police and military, which is destabilizing to the country’s security and economy.

FARC is a state threat because it controls the livelihood of the people of Colombia for the purpose of engaging in drug trade. The group imposes its own rules and threatens the lives of those civilians who dare oppose them. Those who do not comply are subjected to punishments that range from fines to forced labor and murder. Women and children are sexually abused and children taken for recruitment, actions that leave the people of Colombia in fear. FARC has no respect for the government or human rights. When it comes to opposing the government, the group plans and attacks the nation’s police and military, leaving the communities who witness this feeling defenseless.

When it comes to human rights, this guerilla group is that it does not care about the survival of society. According to ICRC, one way FARC fights the government is by attacking health workers. In 2019 for example, ICRC teams recorded 218 incidences of aggression by FARC, and increase from 2018’s 101 cases. By conducting violence against these professionals, it hinders their efforts to reach the sick people in the regions controlled by the insurgent groups. This means that most of them are left weak, while others die. In so doing, it takes away their power to protect themselves by denying them their human rights. It also renders the country’s political ability useless by making them appear helpless in defending its own citizens, let alone bring down a rebellious group.

FARC works by exercising social control. They set rules that do not make sense, but must be followed anyway. For example, Human Rights Watch mentions how they demand that riders and their passengers should not wear helmets so that they can be able to see their faces at a glance. They also impose curfews on the residents. This means that they are not allowed to roam outside between a set period of time. In the event that they are caught, they are killed or subjected to severe punishments. The group also determines fishing activities in their areas. They control how much fishermen can indulge and when to stop. This means that their economic status is controlled by the group, leaving them with little money for their daily upkeep. Bars have a set time for closing. After that, no socializing is expected as people must follow curfew rules. In addition to that, they also control debt and how people should pay. There are times when they impose debts on people, and then demand that they pay because they own that much to them. Terms and conditions are determined by the group and all debt payers are expected to comply or face the consequences.

FARC commits unlawful murders in Colombia. After the 2016 peace deal with the government, killings have increased and the group does not choose between civilians or their human rights activists. Homicides in the country’s affected areas have grown over the years. The country does not have actual statistics of how many people have died this way, but they do note that many are victims. Many of these people are killed because they went against the group’s rules. Women, on the other hand, are exploited sexually, and when their purpose ceases, they also get killed.

How Colombia has responded to the threat: The government of Colombia has tried challenging FARC. In 2016, it tried to make peace with the insurgents, in the hope that this move would result in peaceful results. However, this did not last as some of the group members were not satisfied and wanted to remain insurgents. The country has also deployed the military to seize power from the group. They are placed in the areas where the groups like to attack. The struggle continues as the insurgents have frequently bombed their camps, including attacking patrolling officers. Though security is vamped in the cities, it is lacking in the countryside, where it is needed the most. This is because their services are mostly centered on protecting infrastructure and oil pipelines among others, which leaves the people unprotected. The other challenge is that those officers assigned to protect the people are the guerrilla, and as such, security is not guaranteed. The government also works with human rights activists and community leaders. These individuals try to educate the locals on their rights and the need to defend them, though their efforts bear no fruits.

Bibliography

BBC News. “Who are the Farc?” November 24, 2016. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36605769

CISAC. “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia”. July 2019. https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/revolutionary-armed-forces-colombia-farc

HRW. “V. Guerrilla Violations Of International Humanitarian Law.” n.d. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/reports98/colombia/Colom989-05.htm

ICRC. “Health care under threat in Colombia.” March 3, 2020. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/health-care-under-threat-colombia

Human Rights Watch. “The Guerrillas Are The Police”. January 22, 2020. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/01/22/guerrillas-are-police/social-control-and-abuses-armed-groups-colombias-arauca

UN. “Increased Attacks against Community Leaders, Human Rights Defenders Pose Gravest Threat to Colombia Peace Process, Special Representative Warns Security Council.” July 14, 2020. https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14252.doc.htm

� CISAC. “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia”. July 2019. https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/revolutionary-armed-forces-colombia-farc

� UN. “Increased Attacks against Community Leaders, Human Rights Defenders Pose Gravest Threat to Colombia

Peace Process, Special Representative Warns Security Council.” July 14, 2020. https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14252.doc.htm

� BBC News “Who are the Farc?” November 24, 2016. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36605769

� BBC News “Who are the Farc?”

� HRW. “V. Guerrilla Violations Of International Humanitarian Law.” n.d.

� HRW. “V. Guerrilla Violations Of International Humanitarian Law

� ICRC. “Health care under threat in Colombia.” March 3, 2020. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/health-care-under-threat-colombia

� ICRC. “Health care under threat in Colombia.”

� Human Rights Watch. “The Guerrillas Are The Police”. January 22, 2020. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/01/22/guerrillas-are-police/social-control-and-abuses-armed-groups-colombias-arauca

� PARE. “The Guerrillas Are The Police”. January 22, 2020. #

� Ibid#