Colombian Civil War

From the 1960s up until the present, Colombia has been dealing with civil war and conflict. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) were formed in the 1960s as a response to political unrest in the country. When explaining the difference between FARC and the ELN, the Council on Foreign Relations said that "Both [groups] oppose the privatization of natural resources and claim to represent the rural poor against Colombia’s wealthy. Historically they have cooperated in some parts of the country and clashed in others" (Felter). So while the two guerrilla groups sprouted out of the same causes, their opinions differ in some areas and have led to FARC being recognized as more militaristic. With that being said, both groups have been involved in kidnappings of government officials and the drug trade. Along with US involvement in the conflicts, the Colombian presidential election of Álvaro Uribe in 2002 is what lead to a decrease in paramilitary group activity and laid the groundwork for peace talks (Felter). Finally, 10 years later, president Juan Manuel Santos started peacefully negotiating with FARC on issues such as disarmament and guerrilla members' reintegration into society. In 2016, an agreement was established as a result of the peace talks. However, many Colombians were dissatisfied at the lack of punishment for FARC members who, in some cases, had committed violent crimes. Finally, in April of 2017 after much discussion and debate, all paramilitary groups were officially disarmed.

References

Felter, C., & Renwick, D. (2017, January 11). Colombia's civil conflict. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/colombias-civil-conflict

Read my page on Colombia here.