Tough times for Colombia’s FARC guerrillas
July 4th, 2008 | by admin |
“we are the National Army. You are free” were the sweetest words that could be heard by Ingrid Betancourt and 14 hostages rescued by the Colombian army from the FARC. In the photo Betancourt is seen hugging Colombian military general, Mario Montoya, after her arrival at the Bogotá military airport.
The FARC was established in the 1960s as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party. The FARC originated as a guerrilla movement. The group later became involved with the cocaine trade during the 1980s for the purposes of fundraising, which caused an official separation from the Communist Party and the formation of a political structure it calls the Clandestine Colombian Communist Party.
According to the Colombian government, FARC has an estimated 6,000-8,000 members in 2008, down from 16,000 in 2001, making it the largest as well as the oldest insurgent group in the Americas. Other available estimates are higher, including up to 18,000 guerrillas.
The FARC-EP is present in 15-20 percent of Colombia’s territory, most strongly in the southeastern jungles and in the plains at the base of the Andes mountains.
A look at recent setbacks suffered by Colombia’s largest rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, its Spanish-language acronym:
2003: Ricardo Palmera, a senior leader known as Simon Trinidad is captured in Ecuador on Jan. 2.
2004: On Dec. 31, Colombia extradites Palmera to the United States to face drug and terror charges following FARC’s refusal to free dozens of hostages.
2007: Rebel commander Tomas Medina Caracas is killed during a Sept. 1 raid on his jungle camp. He was the first of 50 FARC leaders to be hunted down to face cocaine trafficking charges pressed by the United States.
2008: FARC is embarrassed in January when the 3-year-old boy whose release was being negotiated was found to have been safe in a Bogota foster home for two years.
March 1: Colombian troops strike across the border in Ecuador to kill Raul Reyes, eliminating a member of FARC’s ruling junta for the first time and seizing rebel computers that yield a wealth of information.
March 6: FARC finance chief Ivan Rios is killed by his bodyguard, who delivers the rebel’s severed hand and laptop to the army in exchange for a reward.
March 26: Legendary FARC patriarch Manuel “Sure shot” Marulanda dies of a reported heart attack in the jungle at age 78.
May 18: Nelly Avila Moreno, a one-eyed female rebel commander better known as “Katrina,” surrenders to Colombian forces, joining more than 1,400 rebels who deserted this year, according to the government.
July 2: Colombian forces free 15 hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. defence contractors who had been FARC’s biggest bargaining chips.
