FARC-EP

FARC is led by Manuel Marulanda Velez (Tirofijo) and others like Jorge Briceño (Mono Jojoy). In 1982 it added the '-EP' that stands for 'Ejercito del Pueblo' (People's Army). It says that it stands up for the rural people against the wealthy urban. It also opposes the United States' help on Colombia, more specifically Plan Colombia, the private use of natural resources, and paramilitary violence. They plan an armed revolution and use kidnapping and illegal drug trade to make money. They say that they keep open to a negotiation with the government such as swapping jailed and extradited FARC members for kidnapped people. They think that the government is in a very closed environment so that is why they work their ways to achieve their goals. FARC is often labeled as a terrorist group because of its civilian attacks, among other things. FARC often recruits children as soldiers or informants. They have about 5000 members below the age of 18. They can be as young as 12 years old. If children try to escape, they are punished with torture or even death. FARC-EP is made up of several groups:

• Squad: the basic unit consisting of 12 combatants.
• Guerilla: consists of two squads.
• Company (Compañía) : consists of two guerrillas (i.e. approximately 50 men, therefore a lower level of command than a company in most armies).
• Column: consists of two or more companies.
• Front: consists of more than one column.
• Block of Fronts: consists of five or more fronts. There are seven such blocks.
• The Central High Command (Estado Mayor Central).

"The FARC believes that since the early 1980s it has met the requirements for the recognition of a "state of belligerence" contained within the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 and additional protocols. Their opponents and the Colombian government claim that the practice of civilian kidnapping for ransom and the tax levied on coca crop buyers makes it an illegitimate army and also point to a wide rejection of the guerrilla policies in national surveys."

FARC has a military academy in which it has a two month training program. The program is mostly based on infantry. The trainees are then tested to measure their skill. The ones who rise above the rest may go on to advance training.

In 2005, FARC began a new modus operandi. They began Plan Resistencia to counter-act the country's attempts to stop them. They retreated deep in to the jungle and halted their larger attacks.

When Pastrana was president, they exchanged 70 politics for about 65 jailed rebels. When Uribe became president, he listened to no negotiations that didn't involve a cease-fire. He instead choose to use rescue missions which proved to be succesful, such as the recent Fernando Araujo rescue. Most relatives of kidnapped people by FARC choose not to use rescue missions to save their relatives because of the time that the governor of Antioquia was killed for prompting a rescue mission. Uribe has chosen to trade about 55 captured rebels for all the political hostages. The proposal does not include the ransom kidnapees. The French and Swiss governments supported the plan that the country would free the rebels and FARC would then release the kidnapees, including Ingrid Betancurt who is supposedly out of the country. On March 25, 2006, FARC released two police officers. A prisoner named Juan Ernesto Guevara died because of a heart disease in the year 2005. He had been captured in 1988.

I think that the information displayed on Wikipedia was very detailed. I didn't use it all because I would have you reading for an hour. The article also goes in-depth with its 'See Also' section, which includes the Nogal accident, for example. I think that my next topic will be about other least known terrorist organizations. The only ones people know about are Al-Qaeda, and in Colombia, FARC-EP and ELN. I want to see Farhad's and Gino's work for this week to see what they are planning for the final TLP documentary.