FARC – Rebels with a Cause?

According to Washington’s somewhat loose definition of a “terrorist” organization, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, is one of the strongest and most notorious guerrilla organizations in Latin America. Members of the FARC are often described as delinquent insurgents who have lost all personal and institutional ethical boundaries and continuously engorge themselves in a wide range of criminal activities. However, there is more to the organization than drug running and kidnappings.

The FARC has been able to sustain itself for almost fifty years and, though its membership has dramatically fluctuated in recent years, it shows no sign of collapsing anytime soon. Unlike many other “terrorist” groups elsewhere in Latin America, the FARC has been able to integrate itself, at least to a degree, as a significant component of its country’s formal economy on both the national and international stage. In fact, it is a vital part of Colombia’s society and, to at least some Colombians, a symbol of opportunity and security.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Jeanie Gong