With a territorial extension of 1,141,748 square kilometers, Colombia is inhabited by approximately 45.7 million people. This great South American country is marked by several internal conflicts of a political nature, a fact that caused – and still causes – the death of thousands of inhabitants.
Aiming to establish peace in the national territory, the two main political forces in Colombia (liberal and conservative) formed the National Front in the 1960s. This organization was strongly opposed by some strands of liberal forces, resulting in the formation of guerrilla groups with socialist ideology, especially for the National Liberation Army (ELN), the 19 April Revolutionary Movement (M-19) and, especially, for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
Created in 1964 by former liberal fighter Pedro Antonio Marín, also known as Tirofijo, the FARC it emerged as a Marxist-Leninist group, operating in rural areas and adopting guerrilla tactics. This organization's ideological discourse is the implantation of socialism in Colombia, promoting the equal distribution of income, agrarian reform, the end of corrupt governments and political and economic relations with the United States, among other aspects. social.
During the 1990s, the organization came to dominate about 40% of Colombian territory, having more than 18,000 guerrillas. However, the actions of the national army, financed by the USA, expelled the group to regions close to the border with neighboring countries. This attitude of the government “weakened” the movement, which currently comprises approximately eight thousand guerrillas. Another significant casualty was the death of Mono Jojoy (one of the FARC leaders), murdered in September 2010.
Kidnapping and drug smuggling, especially cocaine, are common practices in the FARC, as through these resources the organization obtains money to equip itself militarily. However, from the 1980s onwards, the group intensified the exploitation of drug trafficking and violence, a fact that distorted its focus of action, being considered a terrorist organization, whose main objective is the production and sale of drugs.
In this sense, the FARC fell into disrepute with the Colombian population, who saw in this organization an alternative to repair social inequalities in the country. Surveys indicate that most inhabitants are against the actions of the FARC.
By Wagner de Cerqueira and Francisco
Graduated in Geography