Best known as Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,” FARC was formed in 1964 as part of the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party. In its tenure as one of the largest rebel groups in Colombia, FARC carried out numerous bombings, assassinations, hijacking, and kidnapping of politicians and foreigners (Gilbert, 2020). The armed rebel group has been linked to running and supporting drug trafficking as one of its main sources of revenue (Otis, 2014). FARC was formed with the goal of overthrowing the Colombian government and seizing control of its territories. Furthermore, the armed military group positioned itself as a protector of the country and her people from American imperialism and ultimate monopoly by capitalistic corporations (Savonitto, 2018).
Throughout the year 1998-2002 many attempts to persuade the FARC to enter peace negotiations, failed but slowly the government was able to reduce their strength in urban areas, the number of attacks and kidnapping by the organization also decreased. However, the FARC overruled many proposals giving by the Colombian government, as well as the community that called for the return of hostages (CISAC, 2019). In 2016 the final peace treaty was signed in the presence of UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. FARC’s leader Rodrigo Londoño joined Santos in Havana to sign the permanent cease-fire agreement, the treaty implemented the turn-in of their weapons at concentration zones throughout the countryside under the supervision of UN officials (CISAC, 2019). In 2017 with taken actions and agreements, the Colombian government declared an official end to its conflict with the FARC.
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FARC initiated its transition into a pollical party and was guaranteed 10 unelected seats in the Colombian legislature, five in the House of Representatives, and five in the Senate (CISAC, 2019). FARC is an organization that has persisted and stayed close to its mission. Its history shows that the members are willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals. It is, therefore, essential that an investigation of the organization be conducted, especially the threat that the affiliated political party poses to the Colombian government.
Strategies Used by FARC to Achieve its Goals
Among the strategies utilized have ranged from launching guerrilla warfare tactics to organizing armed ambushes. Other tactics have seen specific targeted attacks on strategic government installations such as military barracks. Economic and political targets have also been their targets. Hijacking and kidnapping of foreigners for huge ransoms that are channelled towards arms acquisition has also been noted to happen. In extreme cases, executions have been done to instill fear (CISAC, 2019). Among the atrocities that FARC inflicted on their victims included hijacking, assassinations, and bombings, kidnapping and executing their captives. The rebel group knew that if they continued their wanton killing, kidnapping foreigners and bombing, then the Colombian government would facilitate equitable wealth distribution and foreign imperialists like the United States would keep off their hands-off Columbia. FARC bombed, assassinated or hijacked their economic and political targets in Columbia (Zalman, 2019). FARC were also fond of kidnapping foreign nationals and holding them for ransom, as well as killing their captives. FARC engaged in drug trafficking from which it generated millions of dollars to fund its primary operations.
FARC’s Mission and Goals
The first step in understanding FARC is revealing its supposed reason for existence. According to Jaramillo (2016), FARC has reiterated throughout the years that its primary mission is to fight for the poor Colombians living in rural areas. As the socio-economic gap (between the rich and the poor) continues to increase in the rest of the world, FARC set out to redistribute wealth in Colombia (Marxist-Leninist ideologies). Jaramillo (2016) states that this dedication to the poor Colombians is why the rebel group is widely supported by Colombians living in rural areas. Being Marxist-Leninists, FARC fights mainly to protect Colombia from American Imperialism. The rebel group turned political party also has fought against the privatization of Colombian resourced by national and multinational corporations.
In the past, FARC attracted the disenfranchised such as the unemployed to join its ranks. As a result, the rebel group did not have the political capital to enforce its goals other than use different forms of violence, like kidnapping key politicians and perpetrating strategic bombings. However, FARC also has political clout in the form of grassroot support from poor Colombians. For instance, in the referendum that led to the rejection of the final peace agreement, 49.78% of Colombians voted to show their support (Gomez-Suarez, 2017). Since its formal admittance into the government and provision of a recognized political voice, FARC has been granted the platform to directly influence the nature of Colombian politics and its future at the international stage. Though FARC has largely changed its tactics, such as ceasing opposition against the government, halting kidnapping, and bombings, it is still unclear how the politically affiliated organization will leverage its new found power. One thing is clear, however. The shift from a rebel group with terroristic tendencies to a politically affiliated groups with guaranteed 10 unelected seats in the Colombian legislature, five in the House of Representatives, and five in the Senate signals a change in ideologies and leadership. This shift also points towards an underlying quality of strategic thinking and the foregoing of immediate terrorist activities for long-term advantage. Therefore, everything that is known about the organization should be verified first and scrapped.
The Unknown Playground
FARC is in the process of changing at all levels, from its ideologies to the methods it uses to achieve its objectives. However, before it becomes a political party that can impose its vision and direct Colombia’s future, it must start to adapt to the new playground. Immediately after turning into a political party, FARC needed to change its brand. Its former goal of representing the marginalized Colombians will no longer be enough. According to Hunt (2019), a significant population of Colombians live in urban cities. The needs for these groups, such as the voters in Bogota, are necessarily not the same as those of the rural people (Gutierrez & Thomson, 2020). Not only does FARC need to appeal to these voters, they also have to retain their rural supporters who might feel like they are being left behind.
However, FARC’s greatest threat to its future as a political party comes from inside. The fledgling organization needs to develop new capacities that will ensure unity and cohesion against external threats. After all, there are bound to be dissent and debate within any political group (Pickard, 2019). Without an internal capacity to process dissent and debate while keeping the party unified, FARC will soon fail. This failure, however, is also a threat to the government and Colombians. FARC has persisted for decades as a threat to the country. It already has experience, organizational capacity, and even resources to survive as a rebel group. If it fails as a political party, it is more likely to ignore the signed peace agreement and revert to its old ways. After all it would not be the first time. Therefore, the government of Colombia and other political parties have a vested interest in ensuring FARC remains a political party and it forgets its rebel roots.
Unfortunately, keeping it as a political party means giving it the opportunity to grow and potentially dominate the country. After all, it already has guaranteed participation in the legislative process. On the other hand, if FARC keeps to its original goals of protecting Colombia from American imperialism and the monopolization of state resources by multinational corporations, it will chart a different path for the country. However, it yet remains to be seen if FARC, as a political entity, is a threat to the Colombian government
In its tenure as one of the largest rebel groups in Colombia, FARC carried out numerous bombings, assassinations, hijacking, and kidnapping of politicians and foreigners. FARC has reiterated throughout the years that its primary mission is to fight for the poor Colombians living in rural areas. As the socio-economic gap (between the rich and the poor) continues to increase in the rest of the world, FARC set out to redistribute wealth in Colombia. Since its formal admittance into the government and provision of a recognized political voice, FARC has been granted the platform to directly influence the nature of Colombian politics and its future at the international stage. The shift from a rebel group with terroristic tendencies to a politically affiliated groups with guaranteed 10 unelected seats in the Colombian legislature points towards an underlying quality of strategic thinking and the foregoing of immediate terrorist activities for long-term advantage. Therefore, everything that is known about the organization should be verified first and scrapped.
References
CISAC. (2019, July). Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) . Retrieved from CISAC: https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/revolutionary-armed-forces-colombia-farc
Gilbert, D. A. (2020). The Logic of Coercive Kidnapping (Doctoral dissertation, The George Washington University).
Gomez-Suarez, A. (2017). Peace process pedagogy: lessons from the no-vote victory in the Colombian peace referendum. Comparative Education , 53 (3), 462-482.
Gutiérrez D, J. A., & Thomson, F. (2020). Rebels-Turned-Narcos? The FARC-EP’s Political Involvement in Colombia’s Cocaine Economy. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism , 1-26.
Hunt, S. (2019). Grassroots Peacebuilding in Colombia: Layers of Peacebuilding and Their Intersections (Doctoral dissertation).
Jaramillo, M. J. (2016). The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Development of Narco-Submarines. Journal of Strategic Security , 9 (1), 49-69.
Otis, J. (2014). The FARC and Colombia’s illegal drug trade. Wilson Center , 1-26.
Pickard, S. (2019). Politics, protest and young people: Political participation and dissent in 21st century Britain . Springer.
Savonitto, C. (2018). War and Peace in Colombia: A Legal Assessment under International Law (Vol. 16). Edizioni Nuova Cultura.
Zalman, A. (2019, February 16). ThoughtCo. Retrieved from The Colombia FARC Guerrilla Group : https://www.thoughtco.com/farc-a-profile-of-the-colombia-farc-guerrilla-group-3209131
