FARC

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FARC

• Guerilla Group and Terrorist Organization

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What is FARC?

• FARC is the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary
  Armed Forces of Colombia.

• FARC was created in 1966, during a time of
  political weakness in entire Latin America.

• They operate in Colombia, controlling many towns
  and huge portions of land.

• Their leader is named Manuel Marulanda Velez.

• They started being a left-wing guerilla group but
  have evolved to a terrorist group.

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When was FARC created?

• During the 1960s, Colombias two major political
  parties decided to share power.

• The Cuban Revolution ended in the late 1950s
  and Cuba adopted communism as their form of
  government.

• Communist militants from the countryside and
  self-defense groups founded FARC to fight against
  the democratic government.

• The USSR was at its best moments. Communism
  was spreading around the world.

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What does FARC want?

• FARC wants a pluralist-socialist government, a
  government who represents every social sector.

• They oppose any type of American presence in
  Colombia, especially Plan Colombia which is a
  1.3 billion dollar program to help the Colombian
  government eliminate all coca and poppy
  plantations. Colombia is the third country in the
  world that gets the most foreign aid from U.S.
  after Israel and Egypt.

• They are against the privatization of natural
  resources.

• They do not want any multinational corporations
  in Colombia

• They represent the poor people from the
  countryside in the battle against the wealthy
  class.

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Manuel Marulanda Vélez

• Leader of FARC since its creation in 1966.

• Started as a high leader of the PCC (Communist
  Party of Colombia) and then formed FARC along
  with other fellow leaders.

• Is nicknamed Tirofijo because of his marksmanship.

• His real name is Pedro Antonio Marín. Got the
  name of M. Marulanda from an assassinated
  politician.

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How big is FARC?

• They have around 17,000 members divided into
  two groups, the popular militias and the
  bolivarianos.

• FARC is the largest guerilla-terrorist
  organization in Colombia.

• They control about half of the area of the
  country, including a granted land by former
  president Andres Pastrana twice the size of New
  Jersey.

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Where to they get the from?

• FARCs main source of income is ransom money from
  kidnappings.

• People estimate that FARC gets around 200
  million to 400 million annually from the drug
  trade.

• An unofficial duty is placed on people from the
  towns controlled by FARC for protection and
  social services.

• Other left-wing groups in Nicaragua and El
  Salvador supply them with arms.

• Former Soviet nations helped with the arms
  supplying.

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Who does FARC kidnap?

• FARC targets wealthy landowners, important
  politicians, tourists, and international figures.

We do not kidnap people we call people with a
capital greater than a million dollars and we ask
for a contribution. Manuel Marulanda Velez
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Who does FARC recruit?

• Most of the people in the FARC are coca farmers
  and countrymen who live in FARC controlled
  territory.

• Other types of members are people who are against
  the paramilitaries.

• They recruit members regardless of sex.

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What are the paramilitaries?

• The paramilitaries are military organizations not
  sponsored by the government.

• The AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia)
  is the principal paramilitary group.

• They are right-wing groups supported by wealthy
  people and parts of the Colombian military.

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FARCs latest terrorist attacks

• Feb, 2002 rebels hijacked a domestic commercial
  flight to kidnap a senator on board.

• Feb, 2002 FARC kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt, a
  presidential candidate in Colombias election

• Aug, 2002 Alvaro Uribes presidential
  inauguration was sabotaged by bombs placed by
  FARC.

• Feb, 2003 A social club was destroyed after a
  bomb was detonated killing 28 people and 6
  children. FARC was blamed for the attack.

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Conclusion

• Colombias civil war will go on for a few more
  years.
• This affects many other countries from Latin
  America.
• More than 200,000 people have died since 1960.
• The only thing people can do is live their normal
  lives.

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Bibliography

• Title Center For International Policy
• Website name Maps of Guerilla Activity
• URL http//gosouthamerica.about.com/gi/dynamic/of
  fsite.htm?sitehttp3A2F2Fwww.ciponline.org2Fco
  lombia2Fmaps.htm
• Title History of Guerillas
• Website name History of FARC
• URL http//www.geocities.com/guerrillasencolombia
  /farchis.html
• Title Terrorism Questions Answers
• Website name FARC, ELN, AUC.
• URL http//www.cfrterrorism.org/groups/farc.html
• Author El Pais
• Article Title Manuel Marulanda Tirofijo
• Website Name Manuel Marulanda Tirofijo
• URL http//www.elpais.es/suplementos/domingo/2001
  0211/perfil.html
• Website Name Entrevista a Manuel Marulanda Velez
• URLhttp//www.contrast.org/mirrors/farc/Entrevist
  as/Entrevista_manuel_marulanda.htm
• ATTACKS AND PICTURES SOURCES ON CNN
• http//www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/02/08/colom
  bia.explosion/index.html
• http//www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/12/14/colom
  bia.blasts/index.html
• http//www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/01/30/colom
  bia.bomb/index.html