FARC

Colombia has had a tumultuous history with civil conflict in the past century.

For more than half a century, Colombians have been caught in the midst of violence between “La Violencia”, guerilla groups, and drug lords. After one conflict ended, another began, and when there seemed to be a lull in the violence and a chance for peace, a presidential candidate would be assassinated, or a guerilla bomb would leave the country’s infrastructure devastated. In 2016, the Colombian Peace Deal between then-president Juan Manuel Santos and the (write out the acronym) FARC guerilla group seemed to be the first real sign that Colombia was emerging from its decades of violence.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) as they were originally called, have functioned as a Marxist-Leninist guerilla group founded in 1964, composed mainly of farmers and laborers whose goal was to fight the inequality and repression in Colombia. Mainly operating in rural areas, the FARC had an estimated 20,000 active fighters at the height of their power in the early 2000s. The FARC were a part of a dark period of Colombia’s history, when guerilla groups, paramilitaries, and drug lords provoked violence across the nation.

The Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army), or ELN as it is more commonly known, is one of Colombia’s two main leftist guerilla groups, and the last of the country’s three main guerilla groups in full operation. Founded in the 1960’s following a period of Colombian History known as “La Violencia” or “the violence”, the ELN was created based on Marxist ideals and liberation theology, a religious movement inspired by shifts in the Catholic church that teaches liberation from social, political, and economic.

The Colombia-FARC Peace Deal’s implementation of a peaceful, though slow transition for the FARC from a militarized regime to a Political Party has been making great strides to end the violence that plagued Colombia for over half a century.