The Colombian Civil War, one of the oldest conflicts in Latin America, erupted in 1964, between conservative and socialist forces, by the dispute for power in the country, causing a problematic war without a definitive solution, reflecting even today in the political scenario of the Colombia.
In the 1960s, former Colombian liberal fighters founded the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, popularly known as FARC-EP, under the leadership of Manuel Marulanda, to fight for the creation of a state Marxist.
The FARC-EP emerged in 1964, when a group of rebellious landowners influenced by Fidel Castro's success began to gain proportions. The United States, going through the time of the Cold War, pressured the Colombian Army to eliminate the group, but the rebels reacted and the small farmer Manuel Marulanda Vélez, nicknamed Tirofijo, created the movement revolutionary. Another left-wing group, the Guevarist National Liberation Army (ELN) joined the FARC-EP for the same Marxist ideal.
Four years later, in 1968, a law was passed to create a right-wing army to fight factionists. Over time, this army, which theoretically would be controlled by the state, got out of national control and became a terrorist and far-right organization, founding the United Autodefensas de Colombia (AUC) in 1997.
This created real chaos in Colombia: two extremely violent terrorist groups each fighting for their ideal, whether Marxist or Conservative. Another major worrying factor is that from the 1980s onwards, the Colombian civil war became extremely linked to international drug trafficking, as the FARC-EP and the ELN financed the costs of war through drug trafficking and the kidnapping of civilians, also causing violence in the country to kill about 30,000 people since the years 60.
Several attempts at peace agreements and negotiations by the government failed. The FARC-EP complained about the government's lack of action to contain the right-wing paramilitaries (AUC). In 2000, the US released about $1.3 billion in financial aid for Colombia's anti-drug programs, but to this day the Colombian situation remains elusive.
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20th century - wars - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DANTAS, James. "Civil War in Colombia"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/guerra-civil-na-colombia.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
