Armadas De Colombia

Also, the growing presence of the Soviets and Cuba in Nicaragua escalated the cold war and in order to ‘draw the line” the Reagan administration “doubled economic aid for El Salvador to a hundred and forty four million dollars” (pg 40). According to Danner, “the priorities of American Policy in El Salvador had become unmistakable” (pg 41).Second, The American government was “opposed to dispatching American combat forces to Central America” (pg 22) and in order to prevent another Nicaragua, Congress agreed to “reform” the Salvadoran Army by financing, training and arming its troops to fight the FMLN. As Danner notes, “the Americans had stepped forward to fund the war, but were unwilling to fight it”. Third, the Monterrosa led Atlacatl led batallion through American funding descended in El Mozote with “the latest M-16’s, M-60 machines guns, 90 millimeter recoilless rifles, and 60- and 81 millimeter mortars”(pg 39) and with a list of names massacred an entire village because “communism was cancer”(pg 49). The U.S. government was clearly responsible for the Massacre at El Mozote because without the funding, supporting, and training of El Salvador troops the war would have been tilted in the guerillas favor as they had managed to hold the disorganized army in certain areas. In contrast to neighboring departments El Mozote and its inhabitants of born-again Christians did not fit in as guerilla sympathizers. In fact, the training at American hands

“Today's wholesale cocaine industry operated by Mexico's cartel is a $30 billion per year business -- a figure that easily outstrips revenues reported by giants like Ford, General Motors,

In the book The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War, author Greg Grandin traces Guatemala’s evolutionary period from the late 19th century to the early 1980s. What he dubs as ‘the last colonial massacre,’ the Panzós Massacre of 1978 was the mass murder by the Guatamalan army of 35 Q’echi-Mayan men, women and children who had gathered in the town square demanding democractic representation, land reform and higher wages. Outrage over this massacre led many Guatemalan peasants to join the communist Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP) which prompted violence and repression by the US backed right-wing government. Grandin’s thesis is that Cold War terror unleashed or excused by the United States, weakened the advancement of democracy

The FARC is Colombia’s largest terror group. The FARC was established in 1964. The FARC began with farmers and agricultural workers who abandoned their positions to fight inequalities in Colombia. The FARC revolves around a Marxist-Leninist ideology. The FARCs early establishment suffered losses within its organization due to consistent military raids conducted by the Columbian Forces in order to disrupt or destroy the group. As the fight continued, those losses changed the leadership constantly through the years. The FARC has adapted and overcame many obstacles as the Colombian Government continues its fight against the terror group. As the fight continued through the years, the FARCs ability to change their tactics and weapons advanced. With more powerful weapons through the years and their ability to become more organized, the FARCs ability to fight back became more powerful.

From the perspective of Colombia, the Colombian government was desperate for foreign aid and international support. Accordingly, the leadership of Colombia was more than eager to permit the United States to become closely involved in the development of a Colombian public policy initiative, even if they risked losing other potential supporters and garnering international criticism (Carpenter, 2003). Also, the peoples of Colombia themselves were favoring a movement for change after more than

As Charles Bergquist observes, "Crises in Colombia tend to generate cycles of violence instead of mutations in the political regime." The reason is simple: regime changes in Colombia tend to produce very little change in anything other than nominal rule. Since Colombia's independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has seen a series of civil wars and secessions (Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama the last coming rather conveniently at a time when the U.S. was prepared to pay millions for a canal through its nation preparation that later resulted in a multi-million dollar redress to Columbia). Colombia's political history, therefore, has been colored by outside influences pulling on the two dominant liberal and conservative parties, with violent exchanges, and long periods of instability being the consequences. While regime changes have occurred, they have not produced significant improvements. Rather, Colombia in the 20th century has become a nesting ground for paramilitary forces and drug traffickers, with U.S. Central Intelligence operatives contributing heavily to the violent conflict that has risen between regimes. This paper will examine the regime types that preceded the Rojas Pinilla regime in mid-20th century Colombia, analyze their similarities and differences, and discuss the extent to which Rojas Pinilla reached his goals and objectives.

An organized crime group or terrorist group known as FARC is scattered across in remote rural areas or dense jungles throughout Colombia. The FARC is still active, but significantly weakened. The FARC is fifty-three years old and is considered the oldest and largest guerrilla group in Columbia. The dense history behind the origins of FARC dates back sixty-nine years ago. Drug trafficking and kidnapping were not the heart of this group, but instead it was the message of political revolution.

My grandmother, Anastasia Herrera, fearing my father’s death was imminent, put him on a plane bound to the United States. Apparently, my dad, barely fifteen years old at the time, had joined the Constitutionalists revolution in Santo Domingo. This rebel group was comprised of military agitators and civilian combatants fighting against Trujillistas or politicos adopting the imperialistic ideals of the fallen Dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. My father was not an idle supporter, but rather an active participant who manufactured Molotov cocktails, flinging bombs at law enforcement officers in the streets while the civil war gained momentum.

1.1. The United States (US) must continue to expand collaboration efforts across the Americas to support democratic consolidation, deter drug trafficking, counter insurgency and counter organized crime (NSS, 2015). As the current political crisis between the Inspector General and the Bogota Mayor unwinds, it is highly likely that all of these efforts will come into play to keep Colombia on a path toward peace and stability. As such, we must support the resolution of longstanding regional conflicts, particularly Columbia’s peace discussions with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC (NSS, 2015). The FARC has been many things over the years and has evolved into a drug trafficking insurgency. Although the FARC is far from Colombia’s domestic only problem, their assimilation into society or elimination all together will allow the country to continue to strengthen as a democracy. The US is obligated to conduct Stability and Counterinsurgency Operations and conduct limited stability operations when required, working with interagency, coalition, and host-nation forces in a whole of government approach to assist Colombia in the current situation (NSS, 2015). Such efforts emphasize unique elements of American DoS and DoD forces: civil- military affairs teams, building partner capacity, information support teams, and cultural outreach programs.

In the early 1930’s, FARC’s founder Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda was born into a Liberal family in rural Colombia. When La Violencia started, Marulanda took up arms against the Conservative Party and became a Liberal guerrilla. He suggests that to do so was in his blood. During the decade long Colombian civil war, Marulanda was tasked to form a guerrilla band of family and friends to fight the Conservatives. Marulanda’s peasant band of armed fighters received financial support and military training from the Colombian Communist Party and developed an interest in Marxist-Leninist ideology. Marulanda was the founder of the FARC and the organizations highest ranking leader until his death in 2008. Marulanda guided the FARC for over four decades

The terrorist group, Sendero Luminoso, also known as the Shining Path, originates out of the country of Peru. Abimael Guzman, a former university professor, formed the group in the late 1960s. Guzman follows the philosophy of blood is necessary to irrigate the revolution (Collyns). During this time the Sendero Luminoso became one of the most merciless terrorist groups in the Western Hemisphere (Pike). The Sendero Luminoso is considered to be a highly organized political party. The party’s powerful voice of protest allows its support to continue to grow. The exact number of members in the group is unknown, but is estimated to be up to 300 (Pike). The Sendero Luminoso was not the largest group in numbers until it reached its peak in power, which numbered in the thousand. The Shining Path uses the lack of governmental influence to its advantage to gain support of those who do not support the Peruvian government. With no allies, the party gained its members and support by influencing rural areas of Peru that had been neglected by the Peruvian government (Gregory).

The positive outcomes of an agreement would far outweigh the consequences and perceived leniency that the FARC will receive. The Colombian government must convince their people that the positive outcomes of this agreement would elevate the country for years to come. What happens next in Colombia will have international implications. The global community has an enduring interest in showing that constructed peace is possible, no matter how long it takes or how imperfect it may be. If Colombia provides that lesson, it could open the door for new, similar agreements in conflict zones around the world. Conversely, if the lesson is that negotiated peace is not worth the time and effort required to settle it, conflicting parties will face incentives for further violence. The international community can send the clear message that conflict strains, while peace

Colombia is a Latin American country located in South America that has been ravaged by violence, starvation, and large-scale inequality between higher and lower classes. The chaos in Colombia has been between rebel forces and the government and has lasted for over fifty years. These rebel forces have fought to achieve their Liberalist lead goals of overthrowing the current democratic government of Colombia and replacing it with a communist government. La Violencia was the main contributor to the conflict between the resistance fighters of Colombia and the Colombian government that has brought on violence and terror from the violent actions between the Liberal and Conservative parties in the 1950’s. , which has directly brought on the violence and terror from the guerrilla groups.

Throughout Colombia’s history there has been two very violent groups of people who do not like each other. This caused the War of Thousand Days and The Violence,

Violence seems to be a nationwide phenomenon. Almost all aspects of the Colombian population experience some degree of violence. Almost everybody is a potential victim; violence does not prefer a particular socioeconomic class, profession, race, or