The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

1. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

2. FARC Background • Colombia's oldest and largest guerrilla group • Established in 1966 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party (CCP) • Broke from CCP and created the Clandestine Colombian Communist Party (CCCP) • Estimated 18,000-20,000 fighting members on at least 80 fronts throughout Colombia

3. FARC Background Cont. • FARC is classified as a terrorist group by U.S. and European Union • Proclaimed itself a politico-military Marxist Leninist organization • Ideology in Marxist Bourgeois system • Claims to represent poor rural class against Colombia’s wealthy classes • Opposes U.S. influence/interference • FARC ultimate objective is an armed revolution in Colofmbia

4. FARC Background • Majority of fighters come from poor rural background - 80% are peasants • Mostly uneducated • Most members join FARC for revolutionary adventurism and pay • FARC pays members $350 a month -Colombian Army pays $250 • Majority of recruits are teens -male and female

5. Activities • Bombings, murder, mortar attacks, narcotic trafficking, • Guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets • Hijacking, kidnapping & extortion • Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC - Westerners in particular

6. Operations& Finance • FARC collects 400 million a year from the drug trade • FARC forcibly recruits teenagers • In the last decade more than 200 bombs have been blown up in Colombiann cities • Averages of 5 people a day are kidnapped by guerrillas to finance their insurgence. • Their use of laptops at road blocks allows them to check the bank account of divers – giving them information allowing them to kidnap the richest

7. Casualties • Four presidential candidates • More than 200 judges • 1200 polices officers • More than 100 journalists More than 200,000 Colombian citizens have been murdered by FARC

8. Major Events • April 17, 2001 a powerful car bomb detonated in a Colombian provincial capital killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 60 • June 28, 2002 a catholic priest who was critical of leftist rebels was shot dead in front of a church where he had just performed a mass

9. Kidnappings • Recently killed the governor of Mr. Uribe’s home department of Antioquia a former defense minister who was kidnapped in April of 2002 while leading a march • In 2001 there was a prisoner swap in which 363 captives – police and soldiers – were exchanged for 15 jailed guerrilla members • Unfortunately this prisoner swap has encouraged more kidnappings of prominent politicians to use as bargaining chips

10. Political Attacks • Mortar shells fired into crowd that was attending Colombia’s new president (Alvaro Uribe) inauguration in 2002- ended up killing 18 and injured 69 • Kidnapped Colombian Presidential Candidate Ingrid Betancourt in 2002; she was rescued by Colombian forces in 2008 along with 14 other captives, 3 of which were Americans

11. Assaults on the Church • In 1999, there were 25 evangelical pastors murdered • Guerrillas have forced some 300 evangelical churches to close