Essay

department of justice where “Prosecutors say the Cincinnati-based company agreed to pay about $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004 to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC for its Spanish initials." The significance is that Chiquita also payed FARC a similar amount of money to protect territory that was under their purview. Chiquita contracted guerillas and paramilitaries, so it is safe to assume that all Multinational corporations which only concern themselves with turning a profit, would do the same. It is logical that Chiquita would rent the best soil for their Banana crop in Colombia so it is not very far fetched to conclude that the mining, logging, and oil industries would also be uninterested with the political machinations of the AUC and FARC and more preoccupied with the land where there are precious ores, sturdy trees or accessible crude oil. Thus, there is evidently a desire by MNCs to finance whichever side of the conflict controls the land they need and consequently, this sets up another theatre for enmity and another reason to seize each other's territory, especially when profits are derived from the land. In short, both the AUC and FARC want the investment from the MNCs and are willing to wage unrestricted warfare against each other in order to attain that

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.

Historically, Colombia has opposed the ELN and their attempts at gaining power within the country. However, there has been corruption by government and military officials. The corruption comes in the way of support for the ELN (Stanford, 2012). Regardless of the corruption, the Colombian government is currently making strides to begin peace talks with the ELN in 2014; however, no specific dates have been established. (Insight crime, n.d.).

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.

The main ambition of the FARC has been to create upheaval through bombings and political demonstrations (UNRIC, 2016). These rebellions continued well after the Escobar reign and into the 2000s. Demonstrations were put on by Colombian nationals in order to hold the FARC back, but to little avail. However, in 2012 the FARC announced that they would no longer be committing kidnappings and released many victims. It was at this time, though, that they began attacking infrastructure, mainly the energy sector (UNRIC, 2016). The FARC had already been stunting the conservation of biodiversity, playing into the heavy deforestation in Colombia because of the illegal drug trade, and holding Colombia back from fulling taking advantage of their resources by making many areas of the country no-go areas due to the threat of violence. After over 200 attacks, however, the FARC began to deteriorate and talks of a ceasefire and peace were on the

From the Cold War to more recent struggles with domestic guerilla groups and drug cartels, Colombia has not had a time of peace since they became independent nearly 200 years ago. None of these conflicts have resolved peacefully. They were usually caused by difference in culture or beliefs. Corruption within their own government has left Colombia without legitimate authority; the citizens have nobody to trust, be helped by, or be defended by. Colombia has the potential to institute a stable and effective government, but it has some major complications holding it back. Colombia has been in constant war and armed conflict, domestic and foreign, since the early 19th century; to make matters worse, corruption within their own government has left Colombia unstable.

“FARC began as a rural movement, but has gradually driven into bases deep inside Colombia’s near-impenetrable jungles, some of which are almost the size of Switzerland” (O’Keeffe 2). The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia is Colombia’s oldest and largest Marxist insurgency. Their ideology is Bolivarianism, meaning that they believe in social protection for the lower classes.

It only leads to the belief that they do not wish to patch things up and stop the violence. They want a socialist government and the Columbian people want the democratic system that is in place now. I believe that until the FARC gets what they want, they will not stop their terrorist ways. So how does the Columbian government accomplish this?

The Guerilla Armies of F.A.R.C and E.L.N are detriments to this country. Involved in violence and alarming amounts of kidnappings and attacks, these groups are incredibly dangerous, any more growth or spread of their influence is threatening. The challenges with these organizations this including major drug cartels like Pablo Escobar’s Medellin is that abundant military enforcement is not likely to succeed. These organizations large profit margin and overall wealth. New groups can form and cause problems, not to mention these groups far more integrated into Colombian

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.

armed group (Mejía, 2016). In the late 1990s, some analysts feared Colombia would become a failed state. The Colombian government defied that prediction, however, at least partly by closely cooperating with the United States through a security strategy known as Plan Colombia (Casey, 2016). Focused initially on counternarcotics, and later counterterrorism, Plan Colombia laid the foundation for a strategic partnership that has broadened to include sustainable development,

Colombia’s government is a Republic, and as such, is comprised of an Executive branch, a Legislative branch, and a Judicial branch, with the Executive branch wielding the majority of the control in the government structure4. For decades Colombia struggled with anti-government guerrilla rebel groups that were funded by the illegal drugs trade and carried out attacks on civilians and government officials’ alike4. However, in 2012 the Colombian Government began formal peace talks with the guerrilla groups and was able to make substantial strides in demobilizing and reintegrating the members into the community4. In spite of the years of conflict and strife in Colombia, the country enjoys a “relatively strong democratic institution characterized by peaceful, transparent elections and the protection of civil

In the 1970’s the FARC continued to grow now controlling nine fronts; five in Colombia, two in the central region and one in the North. It wasn’t until the 80’s when the guerrillas gained political and social support from the populace. In the 80’s the FARC had grown to 18 fronts and had added the title “Army of the People” to their name (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - Army of the People). During this decade of growth the FARC had to make a decision to promote their military aspect or their political influence, things leaned more towards the military. (Hanson & Renwick,

Colombia has been struggling with internal conflict for most of its 204 year history. Since the late 1800s the main reason for conflict would be divisions between bipartisan political forces. Bloody civil wars dot the history of Colombia but perhaps the most significant period in Colombian violence would be the clash between the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party in the 1940s. This would culminate into one of the bloodiest civil wars in the country’s history, which would simply be called “La Violencia” (The Violence).

Later in August 2012, President Juan Manuel Santos said talks have begun over a new peace process. Finally, the 26 of September 2016, President Santos and FARC leader Timochenko signed the agreement at a ceremony in Cartagena” ("Colombia's FARC rebels - 50 years of conflict - BBC News",