FARC EP

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejercito del Pueblo

Lineup 1964
Country ColombiaColombia Colombia
Armed forces Infantry troops , guerrilla fighting
Type Guerrilla fighters
structure Combat fronts, combat columns, combat companies and combat groups
Subordinate troops

Blocs and battle fronts of the different zones

Origin of the soldiers Colombia and Ecuador
equipment AK-47 , M16 , Browning M2 and RPG-7
commander
Important
commanders
insignia
Old logo of the FARC-EP Old logo of the FARC-EP

The FARC-EP , FARC for short (actually FARC-EP , abbreviation for Spanish Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo , Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army ' ) is a left or social revolutionary guerrilla movement in the civil wars of Colombia . A peace treaty with the government that has since been broken resulted in a left-wing Colombian party called Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común , which describes itself as Marxist .

Since 1964 it has been waging an armed struggle against the Colombian state, its representatives, the Colombian armed forces and right-wing paramilitary groups and drug cartels with interruptions (such as peacetime between June 2016 and August 2019) . In the past, however, she has targeted bystanders and civilians in some of her violent acts. The civil war that lasted over 50 years resulted in around 220,000 deaths and millions of refugees up to June 2016.

The main sources of income for the FARC-EP so far have included kidnapping, blackmailing local drug cartels, gold mining, and the manufacture and smuggling of illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine . To this end, the FARC-EP fronts had allied themselves with some of the most powerful drug cartels in the area, while at the same time militarily active against other cartels and the Colombian army. In some cases senior members of these drug cartels have also been accepted as officers in the FARC-EP.

On June 22, 2016, the conclusion of a definitive ceasefire between FARC-EP and representatives of the Colombian government was announced. The FARC-EP pledged to deliver all weapons to representatives of the United Nations within 180 days. It was also intended to gradually integrate the approximately 7,000 remaining FARC-EP activists into Colombian civil society.

In a - non-binding - referendum on October 2, 2016, a narrow majority of 50.22% of Colombians rejected the peace treaty.

In March 2017, the FARC-EP began laying down arms. At the end of June 2017, the United Nations confirmed that the FARC had been disarmed.

Until it was disarmed, the FARC was the largest and most active guerrilla organization in Latin America . It has been officially classified as a terrorist organization by Colombia, the United States, Canada, the EU , New Zealand, Peru and Chile . In November 2017, the EU removed the FARC from its list of terrorist organizations.

In late August 2019, a small faction of former FARC leaders announced the rearmament, stating that the Colombian government had failed to honor the peace accords. The Colombian government responded with a military operation that killed several FARC members assigned to conduct rearmament activities.

Origin and ideology

The first fronts of the FARC-EP emerged in the context of the violent clashes that had been going on in Colombia since 1948 between the supporters of the Liberal and Conservative parties of Colombia (these riots were called La Violencia ) and some militants of democratic or communist-Marxist organizations, such as of the Communist Party of Colombia ( Partido Comunista Colombiano ) and other parties. During the riots, members of the liberal or conservative as well as the communist parties organized self-defense groups and guerrilla units that fought against the units of the opposing parties as well as against each other in street fights or guerrilla actions. During La Violencia in 1949 the so-called independent republics ( repúblicas independientes ) were founded by the Communist Party of Colombia as well as left and radical farmers in remote parts of the country in order to achieve political autonomy and to repel opposing attacks by the rival parties. In these republics , including the Republica de Marquetalia , the residents often founded other paramilitary combat groups to fight against the opposing gangs, which were often financed by the other parties, or against the Colombian army. Some of these Marxist fighting groups were given the name Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Colombianas .

In 1964, with the help of an American counterinsurgency team from the CIA, the Colombian armed forces captured the Republic of Marquetalia, capturing its most important localities and killing several fighters from the rural defense groups during the fighting. The surviving residents rallied around the two most important leaders of the rural combat groups Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas and founded the guerrilla organization Bloque Sur after the most influential and important leaders held a conference on July 20, 1964. The Bloque Sur initially consisted only of the surviving fighters from the Republic's Defense Groups, but the organization grew with the recruitment of volunteers, often young farmers and school teachers. At the end of 1965, American and Colombian authorities suspected that this association had more than 3,000 members and fighters. In 1966 the Bloque Sur went on after an alliance with some splinter groups of the ELN and other guerrilla organizations in the FARC.

The organization Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Colombianas was officially founded on May 5, 1966 by Marulanda and Arenas as the military arm of the Communist Party of Colombia. Marulanda himself rose a few months later together with Arenas in the Secretariat of the FARC until he finally took over the complete command of the FARC around 1967. The FARC described itself as a Marxist-Leninist combat group of the Colombian people. Since the 1990s, the FARC has also operated the underground radio station Cadena Radial Bolivariana, Voz de la Resistencia on VHF and shortwave .

Development 1966–1980

Former leader Manuel Marulanda (1928–2008)

Activities 1966–1970

The first combat groups of the FARC-EP consisted mainly of farmers and rural school teachers. The first activities of the FARC-EP in the south of the country, especially in the departments of Amazonas , Caquetá and Putumayo , were limited to military attacks against Colombian patrols or larger units, which made the operations of the Colombian army in these areas difficult. The poor infrastructure and the dense Amazonian jungle in these three departments prevented rapid operations and attacks by the Colombian troops, while the FARC units were able to march faster and use guerrilla tactics against the enemy formations. The heavy losses of the Colombian troops during these attacks led to a crisis in these departments, in which a state of emergency was often declared . The FARC-EP guerrillas also used heavy weapons, such as the shoulder-mounted rocket launchers RPG-2 and RPG-7 , during the attacks . Sometimes the FARC fighters also used mortars or captured small-caliber artillery pieces , which were mainly used to bombard enemy police stations or military camps for a relatively short time. At the same time, the FARC fighters began attacks against police forces or right-wing paramilitary groups such as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia or Los Rastrojos . These battles also include mutual blackmail, reprisals , revenge expeditions and hostage-taking . Reprisals against the families of the enemy fighters were also often carried out by the paramilitary fighting groups. Since the activities of the FARC-EP were limited to the rural areas of Colombia until the mid-1970s and the organization consisted almost exclusively of farmers, some high- ranking members, including Timoleón Jiménez , fighting name Tymoshenko , traveled through Latin America. The aim of these trips was to obtain information about the strategies of other communist-oriented guerrilla organizations, to create possible alliances and to improve the training of FARC fighters by observing other guerrilla fighters. The FARC members visited the particularly active guerrilla fighting groups Sendero Luminoso , which operated in Peru , the Tupamaros , which were active in Uruguay, and the MIR , a guerrilla organization and political party that operated in Chile . In the late 1960s, a revolutionary ideology training center for FARC officers and soldiers was established, and various schools and two military academies were established in the areas controlled by the FARC-EP . Despite this, the political program did not go beyond agricultural issues and revolutionary ideology until 1980, while the military program mainly provided for guerrilla tactics and communication opportunities in the jungle. In 1973 the General Command, also known as the Secretariat , and the General Staff of the FARC-EP were officially established, to which Manuel Marulanda, Raúl Reyes and Alfonso Cano belonged until their deaths.

Modernization and internationalization

Influenced by the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua in 1979, members of the FARC-EP were increasingly recruited from left-wing students from the larger cities and military alliances with smaller guerrilla movements were also concluded. As a result of the new recruits, the restriction of the FARC-EP to exclusively agricultural demands took a back seat, and the ideological basis of the movement was developed by the Secretariat and the Political Commissariat of the FARC-EP. In addition, FARC fighters began to infiltrate the larger Colombian cities in order to recruit new volunteers, mostly students or young workers, who often also came from the slums of Bogotá . Most of these new fighters had become aware of the FARC-EP through the political activity of many left-wing school and university teachers. At the initiative of Jacobo Arenas, the Seventh Guerrilla Conference of the FARC-EP was held in 1982 . Several important members of the General Staff of the Organization as well as all members of the Secretariat and also some observers of the other military guerrilla groups of Latin America took part in this conference. During the conference, a new strategy was adopted that included all types of struggle (political and military) to achieve the revolutionary goals of the FARC. In the course of this strategic realignment, the FARC finally renamed itself FARC-EP (EP: Ejército del Pueblo , People's Army); not only tactics of guerrilla warfare were used against the Colombian troops, but also larger operations based on military models. The best known of these is probably the attack by 700 FARC-EP fighters against the troops of the 52nd Battalion of the Colombian 3rd Brigade near Peñas Coloradas, killing around 60 Colombian soldiers and capturing 43. The FARC-EP's links with other Latin American guerrilla organizations were expanded and, as a Marxist grouping, the FARC-EP received financial support from Cuba and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union .

Drug cartels

In the 1980s, Colombia became one of the largest cocaine producers in the world. It was during these years that the first drug cartels began their activities, especially the Cali and Medellín cartels . Most FARC-EP fighters and commanders were not directly involved in drug cultivation or drug smuggling at this point, but the FARC-EP gained new supporters among many of the left-wing, smaller coca farmers. Some of the larger cartels, however, used some FARC-EP fighters as bodyguards or armed escorts for payment in US dollars . The FARC-EP made alliances with powerful cartels and fought against others. In some areas of the country, the FARC commanders performed almost state functions from the mid-1980s, for example by collecting taxes. In addition, the FARC-EP broadened its financial base by providing security services, transportation, safe storage and infrastructure for the drug traffickers. The drug cartels, on the other hand, often provided fresh fighters, local mercenaries or contractors, weapons, ammunition and money. In 1984 the FARC first made more general political demands in the form of an open letter . In the same year, the commanders of the Secretariat began negotiations for the first time with the then Colombian President Belisario Betancur . The negotiations lasted several months and eventually resulted in a ceasefire that lasted until 1987, despite several interruptions and armed attacks by both parties.

Unión Patriótica

In 1985, a few high members of the FARC-EP and the Communist Party of Colombia founded a new political party, the Patriotic Union ( Unión Patriótica ), to legally pursue their revolutionary goals instead of continuing the FARC-EP's armed struggle. In 1986 the UP was recognized as a legal political party in Colombia. In the same year, she ran for parliamentary elections and gained 1.4% of the vote. In the presidential elections, her candidate Jaime Pardo Leal received 4.5% of the vote. The UP also took part in the 1988 gubernatorial elections.

In the following years 2,000 to 3,000 of the members of the UP (the FARC-EP, however, speaks of up to 5,000), especially those with public or more important functions, were systematically murdered or kidnapped by the paramilitary groups and death squads of the AUC or other right-wing combat groups. Former UP presidential candidate Pardo Leal was killed in 1987 by a 14-year-old AUC militant. In April 1988 the NGO Amnesty International drew attention to the possible involvement of some units of the Colombian military in these killings and kidnappings. The government of Virgilio Barco Vargas, however, vehemently denied these claims. Most of the murders of UP political officials, however, have never been officially investigated by the Colombian authorities. However, after the new presidential candidate of the Unión Patriótica, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa , was murdered by the AUC on March 22, 1990 , the UP entered the 1991 elections, much weakened. It existed officially as Colombia's political party until 2002, but had been completely insignificant since the early 1990s at the latest. After the adoption of the new constitution in 1991, the FARC-EP and the Colombian government resumed peace negotiations with Venezuelan and Mexican mediation; the talks were fruitless, however. On September 4, 1996, the FARC-EP attacked a base of the Colombian military and some local police forces in Guaviare in a larger, coordinated military action . Over 130 people died in the three weeks of fighting, most of them civilians, but around 50 Colombian soldiers were also killed in the course of the action. In the early 1990s, the FARC-EP consisted of an estimated 8,000-18,000 armed fighters and numerous non-combatants, often youthful guerrillas who were still in training. The FARC-EP was divided into 7 blocs organized over 60 regional fronts and hundreds of companies or columns.

aims

In 1993 the FARC-EP drew up a ten-point plan as part of the Platform for a Government of Reconstruction and National Reconciliation , which was to serve as a basis for talks with the government and contained the following demands:

  1. Resolving the conflict by political means;
  2. The Colombian military is not allowed to exercise any domestic political functions;
  3. Enforcement of the separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive , freedom of the press and democratic participation options at all levels;
  4. Strengthening domestic consumption, protecting domestic industries from foreign competition and state control over the energy sector ;
  5. Use of 50% of the state budget for social spending and 10% for the promotion of science;
  6. Introduction of a progressive tax system ;
  7. Development programs for rural regions;
  8. Revision of the energy policy and renegotiation of the contracts for the extraction of natural resources with the multinational companies ;
  9. Building sovereign relationships based on the right to self-determination with all countries of the world;
  10. Non-military solution to the drug problem.

Development 1998–2002

Under President Andrés Pastrana (1998–2002) there were renewed peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP. In the course of these negotiations, the FARC guerrillas were given an area of ​​around 40,000 km² in Colombia, the so-called Zona de distensión , which the FARC-EP fighters had completely under their control. Negotiations were to take place in this officially declared neutral area, and the Colombian parliament had to vote every six months to extend the maintenance of the negotiating zone. In the zona de distensión , the FARC-EP began, according to government statements , to recruit new fighters since the beginning of the peace negotiations, especially among the smaller local communities, and at the same time were able to obtain several tons of weapons on the black market. Other weapons, notably the AK-47 and M16, were supplied by small drug cartels as payment for the services of some FARC fighters. During the negotiations, the FARC-EP intensified its military offensives against the Colombian military in the rest of the country. They also hijacked a passenger plane and several important Colombian politicians.

On February 21, 2002, the Colombian government declared the peace negotiations with the FARC-EP to have failed and began a powerful military offensive in the negotiation zone. The FARC-EP were able to repel several Colombian attacks on the Zona de distensión . More than 150 Colombian soldiers, along with around 30 FARC-EP fighters, were killed in the fighting. However, the FARC-EP still controlled large parts of Colombia, including part of the Zona de distensión . Shortly afterwards, the presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt was kidnapped by FARC-EP fighters during an armed attack and only freed more than six years later, in July 2008, by Colombian military troops after a raid on a FARC camp.

Since the breakup of two large drug cartels in the late 1990s, the FARC-EP had stepped up its cocaine-related activities in the areas of the country controlled by its fighters. Instead of merely offering aid and protection services for drug producers, the FARC-EP itself began, according to government statements, to cultivate coca under its own initiative in some parts of Colombia and to operate its own laboratories for recycling. The FARC-EP denied this statement and the FARC-EP General Staff claimed that they just wanted to increment and improve economic activities in their regions. The FARC-EP tolerates coca cultivation in its zones so as not to deprive local farmers of their livelihoods. The acreage of coca in Colombia had increased sixfold to around 120,000 hectares during the 1990s.

According to an investigation that has been ongoing in Spain since 2008, alleged contacts between the FARC-EP and the Basque underground organization ETA , who pursue the aim of murdering Colombian political figures in Spain through joint acts of violence, including Andrés Pastrana and his successor Alvaro , also take place during this period Uribe . In this context, the Spanish judge Eloy Velazco accused the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chávez of having partially covered up the contacts between the ETA and the FARC-EP. Venezuela's ambassador to Spain, Isaías Rodríguez , however, dismissed the accusations against the Venezuelan government back immediately, noting that judges Velazco support his assertions on information from the Colombian government, said information from a laptop of FARC commander Raul Reyes came , possibly manipulated by the Colombian army.

Developments 2002–2004

Pastrana's successor Álvaro Uribe won the 2002 elections by demanding drastic action against the FARC . He gave up the negotiation course and sought a military solution to the conflict.

The FARC was commanded until March 2008 by Manuel Marulanda , the oldest guerrilla leader in Latin America at the time. His successor is Leon Saenz Vargas alias Alfonso Cano . Another member of the General Command was, along with others, José Briceño, alias Mono Jojoy . The troop strength was estimated at around 20,000 fighters in the 1990s; According to some estimates, it had dropped to around 8,000 men by June 2008. In the six years between Uribe's inauguration in 2002 and mid-2008 there were around 9,000 deserters, and 3,840 FARC fighters died in the second half of that period alone. From these figures one could deduce a strong fluctuation in the ranks of the guerrillas.

In its fight against the Colombian state and the paramilitary auto defensas Unidas de Colombia , the FARC combined guerrilla tactics with “conventional” combat. They were mainly funded by ransom payments and drug trafficking. Revenue has been estimated at over $ 300 million annually, with other sources estimated at up to $ 980 million. In 2000, the FARC's “Law 002” stipulated that every Colombian with assets over a million dollars had to pay a “revolutionary tax” of ten percent - the percentage depending on the actual (estimated) assets. Kidnappings were seen as leverage. According to press agency reports, between 700 and 1000 hostages were in the hands of the FARC rebels in the summer of 2008, for whom they were demanding high ransom payments. The FARC itself declared in March 2009 that at the time nine people were held hostage for economic reasons. At the same time, they offered 20 hostages (military and police) in exchange for the release of 500 prisoners in Colombian prisons. The hostage relief organization País Libre (Free Land), founded by Colombia's Vice President Francisco Santos , has meanwhile assumed 472 prisoners.

Developments since 2004

Developments 2004–2007

  • On June 16, 2004, FARC-EP fighters killed 35 civilians and police officers near the village of La Gabarra , Tibú , Norte de Santander, during the La Gabarra massacre .
  • On July 13, 2004, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) condemned the continuing violence of the FARC-EP in Colombia for the massacre committed by FARC-EP fighters. He pointed out that the FARC-EP units were thereby violating Article 17 of the Second Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions .
  • On August 4th, a bomb killed 9 police officers in the village of Andinapolis , Trujillo , Valle del Cauca .
  • In February 2005, the FARC-EP began two smaller military offensives in southwest Colombia, in which around 40 people were killed and injured on the side of the Colombian army. Observers interpreted these two attacks as a sign that the FARC-EP had now reached the end of its strategic withdrawal phase and would return to the strategic offensive in southern Colombia. They suspected that the FARC-EP wanted to use this offensive tactic to prevent the re-election of President Uribe in 2006.
  • On February 20, 2005, the newspaper El Tiempo reported that the spokesman for the General Staff of the FARC-EP, Raúl Reyes , had stated in a radio interview that the time of restraint and military regeneration of the FARC-EP units was over and the seizure of power in the country, as the attacks on military targets have shown.
  • On April 6, FARC-EP fighters killed 17 Colombian soldiers in Arauca Department .
  • On June 24, FARC-EP fighters killed 25 Colombian soldiers near the village of Puerto Asís , Putumayo , and wounded another 20 soldiers.
  • At the beginning of October 2005, the FARC-EP blocked traffic in the Arauca Department, Colombia's main oil supplier. In the Putumayo department, near the border with Ecuador , the FARC-EP caused a power outage that same week by bombing a high-voltage pylon .
  • On December 17, 2005, 6 police officers were killed by FARC-EP fighters near the town of San Marino , Bagadó , Chocó . Another 30 police officers were taken hostage but released on December 20.
  • On December 28, 2005, 28 Colombian soldiers were killed by FARC-EP fighters near the village of Vista Hermosa , Meta .
  • On February 26, 2006, eight civilians were killed by FARC-EP fighters near the town of Puerto Rico , Caquetá .
  • On April 5, 2006, the German Lothar Hintze was released by the FARC-EP after five years of being held hostage in Colombia.
  • On July 31, 2006, 15 soldiers were killed by FARC-EP fighters near the village of Tibú , Norte de Santander . The soldiers were ambushed by an anonymous caller pointing out a car bomb in Tibú. The soldiers were killed by explosive devices and a subsequent exchange of fire.
  • On July 31, 2006, a Mazda 626 exploded in Bogotá , killing a 50-year-old man. Another 21 people were injured, including children from a nearby daycare center. The missed target was a troop transport with 45 soldiers.
  • Since September 9, 2006, there has been a case against two elite officers of the Colombian army for their involvement in the attacks in Bogotá. In a video, the two commanders appeared with members of the FARC EP.
  • On October 19, 2006, 18 people were injured by a car bomb outside the military academy in Bogotá.
  • On November 1, 2006, 17 police officers and 2 civilians were killed in multiple ambushes by the 5th, 18th and 58th Brigades of the FARC-EP in Tierradentro , Montelíbano , Córdoba . It is estimated that a total of 450 members of the FARC-EP participated in the attacks. This was the government's worst defeat in Uribe's second term, as the attacks took place in the middle of the former territory of the disbanded AUC paramilitary groups . The fighters shot at the police station with gas cylinders and assault rifles and ambushed the 50 police officers who had come as reinforcements from another station. This was the second incident in the area, where 36 soldiers died as early as 2000 when they got out of their helicopters.
  • On December 6, 2006, the FARC-EP declared war on the ELN ( Ejército de Liberación Nacional ) after the ELN negotiated a peace treaty with the government and thus betrayed common revolutionary goals, according to the FARC-EP. Behind the conflict, an argument about oil-rich areas and areas for drug cultivation and trafficking is also assumed. The FARC-EP launched a systematic military campaign in which over 500 ELN guerrillas were killed. Thousands of residents fled the conflict.
  • On April 9, 2007, a Colombian police officer was killed by a bomb in the city of Cali . Another 34 people were injured.
  • On May 9, 2007, 9 Colombian police officers were killed by a bomb in Santander Department .
  • On May 10, 2007, 10 Colombian soldiers were killed by a bomb in the Valle del Cauca department .
  • In August 2007, after an attack on a FARC-EP camp, the Colombian military found the diary of Tanja Nijmeijer , a Dutch woman who was believed to have joined the guerrilla. Besides her, other foreigners are suspected to be in the ranks of the FARC-EP.

Developments in 2008

Raúl Reyes (1948-2008)
  • On January 10, 2008, Clara Rojas , who was kidnapped together with Íngrid Betancourt in February 2002 , and the then Congressman Consuelo González, who was kidnapped on September 10, 2001, were released by the FARC following mediation by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez .
  • On February 4, 2008, nationwide protests against the FARC broke out in Colombia. According to police, more than 1 million people took part in the protest in Bogotá. Demonstrations and rallies also took place in other cities in Colombia and abroad. In Madrid , more than 10,000 people attended the event. The Colombian government had called for participation in the action, which was organized with the support of the authorities. The demonstrations abroad were organized by the Colombian embassies.
  • On February 27, 2008, following mediation by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and opposition Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba , four former Colombian MPs (Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Pérez, Orlando Beltrán and Jorge Eduardo Géchem) let them down more than six Years held hostage free for no consideration. The FARC justified this step with the poor health of the abductees and wanted the release to be understood as a positive gesture towards the mediators after the Colombian president had withdrawn their mediation mandate. In a press release, those released called for an exchange of the remaining hostages with detained members of the FARC and a non-military solution to the conflict. The FARC said they would not release any more prisoners without consideration.
  • On March 1, 2008, during a deployment by Colombian troops on Ecuadorian territory, the spokesman for the FARC High Command, Raúl Reyes , and 23 other people were killed; this led to a diplomatic crisis between Colombia on the one hand and Venezuela and Ecuador on the other.
    See: regionalization of the conflict
  • A few days later, it became known that a second FARC leader, José Juvenal Velandia, known as Ivan Rios , had been killed by one of his fellow militants in order to receive the bounty that the authorities had put out.
  • On March 26, 2008, the founder and hitherto head of the FARC, known by his battle names Manuel Marulanda or Tirofijo, died at the age of 78, according to the FARC, as a result of a heart attack. He was succeeded by Alfonso Cano .
Alfonso Cano (1948-2011)
  • At the end of March 2008, the Colombian government formulated an offer, supported by the governments of Spain, Peru and France, to exchange Íngrid Betancourt and other hostages for imprisoned FARC members.
  • On May 18, 2008, the high-ranking guerrilla Elda Neyis Mosquera , also known as Nelly Avila Moreno or under her battle name Karina , surrendered to the Colombian armed forces. She led the Frente 47 and is accused , among other things, of the murder of President Álvaro Uribe 's father . According to Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos , their security chief is also said to have surrendered . President Álvaro Uribe had guaranteed their safety. Karina's abandonment is an indication that parts of the FARC leadership are in disarray after the bombing of the FARC camp on March 1st, in which Vice Raúl Reyes was killed, and the almost simultaneous betrayal of Ivan Rios seem to be.
  • On July 2, 2008, the Colombian military liberated Íngrid Betancourt , three US citizens and eleven Colombian military officers from the hands of the FARC. The liberation action took place about 72 kilometers from the town of San José del Guaviare in southeast Colombia. Two FARC rebels were arrested. The US citizens kidnapped in 2003 were working for a company contracted by the US Department of Defense at the time of their kidnapping and had been accused by the FARC of espionage for the CIA.
  • According to the Colombian authorities, documents that were on computers and data carriers that were seized after the bombing of the Raúl Reyes camp, but that it cannot be ruled out that they were changed afterwards, served as the basis, a network of middlemen and Uncover donors in Europe; on July 26th, with the help of the Spanish police, Maria Remedios Garcia Albert was arrested near Madrid, who is accused of coordinating support for the FARC in Europe.
  • On July 20, 2008, over a million people demonstrated on the occasion of Colombia's Independence Day for the release of around 700 abductees.
  • After the Colombian armed forces bombed a FARC camp in the Colombian department of Guaviare , they claimed to have found one million US dollars in the abandoned camp of the commander of Frente 43 , Gener García Molina (alias Jhon 40 ) . In addition, three laptops and twelve USB sticks are said to have been secured.

Developments in 2009

  • In early February 2009, four hostages, including three police officers and one soldier, were released by the FARC for no apparent consideration. You were kidnapped in 2007. At the same time, President Uribe withdrew the mandate for further actions from the so-called Humanitarian Advisory Group for the release of the FARC hostages, since the releases would be misused for propaganda purposes by the FARC. A few days later, as announced, the FARC released ex-Governor Alan Jara, kidnapped in 2001, and Provincial MP Sigifredo Lopez, kidnapped in April 2002. Alan Jara then sharply criticized the Uribe government: it regularly prevents humanitarian solutions to the release of hostages. In his opinion, the FARC is still far from defeated. Especially in the mountains there should still be a lot of fighters, especially young ones.
  • At the beginning of February 2009, indigenous organizations reported the murder of at least 27 members of the Awá in the parishes of Barbacoas and Ricaurte in the department of Nariño . They were believed to have been killed by FARC rebels. Since the ELN and paramilitary groups, including drug smugglers, operate in this area in addition to the FARC, the perpetrators could not be determined with certainty. On February 11, 2009, the FARC confessed to the "execution" of eight members of the Awá who they had accused of collaborating with the army.
  • In December 2009, the FARC and the ELN issued a joint statement announcing that they wanted to end the hostile clashes between the two organizations. The declaration called on its units to respect "the non-fighting population, their property and interests and their social organizations".
  • At the end of December, the governor of the Caquetá department, Luis Francisco Cuéllar, was kidnapped and murdered hours later. Immediately after the kidnapping, Uribe accused the FARC of this act of violence and ordered the military liberation of Cuéllar and all hostages, whereupon the Red Cross suspended the several months of negotiations on the release of hostages. The FARC confessed to the act.

Developments in 2010

In March 2010, the FARC released the soldier Josué Calvo, who had been captured almost a year earlier, and Pablo Moncayo, a non-commissioned officer who had been in captivity for 12 years. They announced that there would be no further releases without consideration. For the release of the police and military officers who are still being held by them, they are demanding an exchange with members of their organization who are in Colombian prisons.

After Juan Manuel Santos was elected Colombia's new president, who is expected to continue the crackdown on the FARC by his predecessor Uribe , its leader Alfonso Cano made an offer in late July 2010 for talks to end the armed struggle. Santos “basically accepted” this offer.

In the course of the Sodom armed forces operation , the military chief of the FARC rebels Jorge Briceño , known under the name Mono Jojoy, was killed on September 22, 2010 . His successor was Félix Muñoz . In November 2010, according to unconfirmed reports, a member of the 30-strong governing body, José Benito Cabrera, was killed in a battle.

Developments in 2011

On November 4, 2011, FARC leader Alfonso Cano was killed by Colombian soldiers during an operation against the rebel group. In November 2011, Timoleón Jiménez aka Tymoshenko was appointed the new leader of the FARC.

Developments in 2012

On February 2, 2012, the FARC deposited a motorcycle bomb in Tumaco , the explosion of which killed 11 people and then treated 70 injured in the hospitals. On the same day, gas cylinders were blown up by a delivery truck outside a police station in Villa Rica . One policeman, four adults and one child died.

In February 2012, the FARC announced that it would stop kidnapping for ransom money . On April 3, 2012, it was announced that the FARC had released the last ten police officers and soldiers captured. They were abducted during attacks in 1998 and 1999. With the release, one of the most important points in the direction of peace talks was fulfilled. Another important point was that all other civilian hostages also be released. Their number was estimated (as of March 2012) at over one hundred people.

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC began in October 2012. The first negotiations took place in camera in Norway. The government delegation included negotiators Humberto de La Calle , Sergio Jaramillo and Frank Pearl as well as Oscar Naranjo, former head of the National Police, Jorge Mora, former commander of the armed forces, and entrepreneur Luis Carlos Villegas. The FARC delegation included Iván Márquez, who is considered the second most important man in the guerrilla movement, and Rodrigo Granda. At the request of the Colombian government , Interpol had revoked international arrest warrants against several FARC representatives for the start of the peace talks . President Juan Manuel Santos had budgeted a year for the peace talks. They were divided into five topics: rural development, the inclusion of demobilized FARC members in politics, conditions for a ceasefire, drug trafficking and compensation for victims. The agenda came about in meetings that lasted several months and that had been held in secret in Havana . The talks, which were under the auspices of Norway and Cuba and accompanied by Chile and Venezuela, were to continue on November 15, 2012 in Havana. On November 19, 2012, the FARc announced that it would begin a ceasefire that would last until January 20, 2013. According to the Colombian government, the FARC attacked a police station in the west of the country on New Year's Eve .

Developments in 2013

At the end of May 2013, the Colombian government and the FARC agreed on an agricultural reform, which, among other things, provided that victims of land grabbing and displacement should be compensated. Land allocation was the first of the five items on the peace agenda. The talks should be concluded by the end of 2013.

In July 2013, FARC rebels killed 15 Colombian soldiers, whereupon President Juan Manuel Santos announced that he wanted to step up the offensive against the FARC. On October 6, 2013, the police at Operación República 46 in Tumaco uncovered a drug laboratory that produced up to half a ton of cocaine per month. A few weeks later, the FARC launched a major offensive. Several police stations and military bases were attacked, and the Chocó department was largely cut off from the rest of the country. Early in the morning on December 7, 2013, FARC rebels set off a car bomb in the center of Inzá in the department of Cauca . Nine people were killed in the explosion: five members of the military, a police officer and three farmers from the region who had come to the weekly market. More than forty other people were injured. The town hall and the police station were destroyed by the explosion and numerous other buildings were damaged.

Despite the ceasefire, the Colombian army shot and killed FARC leader Diego Tabares during a battle in December.

Developments in 2014

The FARC and the Colombian government agreed to give up arable land to poor farmers and to set up additional seats in parliament for disadvantaged regions. The 2014 presidential election was won by Juan Manuel Santos , who had campaigned for peace negotiations with the FARC.

On November 16, General Rubén Alzate disappeared, whereupon the peace talks were halted and Santos announced that under these circumstances he would not send a negotiator to the next round of negotiations in Havana. The FARC confessed to the kidnapping and offered talks to the government about his release. The FARC released General Rubén Alzate and four other prisoners.

Developments in 2015

According to survey results in June 2015, for the first time since the beginning of the peace negotiations, more Colombians were in favor of a military solution instead of a continuation of the peace dialogue (46% versus 45%).

In September 2015, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and Timoleón Jiménez met for the first time at the peace talks in Havana. They announced a breakthrough in the peace negotiations: the agreement on a legal framework for dealing with the conflict. It was planned to create a separate judiciary to solve the crimes during the armed conflict. There should be a far-reaching amnesty for political crimes, while there should be no remission of sentences for war crimes and crimes against humanity. A prison sentence of a maximum of eight years is provided for participation in serious crimes. According to Santos, the peace talks should be concluded in six months. The text of the peace treaty should be approved by the Colombian people in a referendum.

Peace treaty, disarmament and demobilization

On June 22, 2016, both sides agreed a final ceasefire. Both sides had already agreed on transitional justice, agricultural development programs in the rebel strongholds and the future political participation of the guerrillas. A peace treaty should be concluded by Colombian Independence Day on July 20th. On September 26, 2016, the FARC and the government signed the peace treaty. On the same day, the EU foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini announced that the FARC would be removed from the EU list of terrorist organizations. A (non-binding) referendum took place on October 2, 2016, in which a narrow majority of 50.22% rejected the peace treaty contrary to forecasts. Above all, the mild punishment for the rebels was criticized; even serious war crimes should be punished with a maximum of eight years. Contrary to previous announcements, both sides gave hope that they would maintain the armistice. An open question remained how long the FARC could be financially sustained without resuming its criminal activities.

On November 24, 2016, a new draft of the peace treaty between the FARC militia and the Colombian state was presented. Part of the previous text of the contract has been changed; the penalties for the guerrilla fighters should now be tougher and the FARC's assets should be used to compensate the victims. The FARC should get at least ten parliamentary seats and thus be democratically involved, but no fighters and people who have violated human rights should move into parliament. The contract was approved by both chambers of Congress on November 30, 2016, with no dissenting votes. The opponents had boycotted the vote and the bill should no longer be presented to the people.

The disarmament of the rebels was planned by the end of May 2017, but the deadline had to be extended by 20 days due to delays in setting up the transition camps for demobilization . By August 2017, around 6,800 fighters were to be reintegrated into civilian life and other secret arsenals were to be closed. Around 400 fighters are considered dissidents who opposed disarmament.

At the end of June 2017, the United Nations confirmed that the FARC had been disarmed. A total of 7,132 ordnance had been handed in and registered. On June 27, an official ceremony took place at a rallying point for FARC fighters in the Meta department . Around 69 tons of weapons were rendered inoperable according to a UN notification of October 13, 2017. The melted down weapons are to be used to create memorials for peace in Colombia, at the UN headquarters in New York and in Havana, the site of the peace talks.

Due to a lack of infrastructure, the state did not get all areas under sufficient control. In the power vacuum in these peripheral areas, armed groups spread, some of which are likely to consist of dissident FARC guerrillas. In unofficial estimates at the beginning of May 2018, the number was between 1,000 and 2,000. The media reported at least 170 murders of social leaders in 2017 alone, attributable to armed groups trying to gain control of the country in this way.

Formation of a political party

On Sunday, August 27, 2017, the FARC opened a congress with 1200 delegates, from which a political party should emerge by September 1, 2017. According to the will of the delegates, the party should be called Alternative Revolutionary Power of the People and thus keep the abbreviation FARC despite expressed displeasure: Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común . On November 14, 2017, the EU deleted the FARC from its list of terrorist organizations.

A total of 40 members of the guerrilla organization were killed from the disarmament in autumn 2017 to February 2018. Following attacks on its candidates, the FARC temporarily suspended its election campaign on February 9, 2018, in order to require the government to guarantee the safety of FARC politicians. The candidates traveled with bodyguards and police protection, their own expectations were reflected in rather small events. Other parties were also affected by the hardened political climate. In the elections, the party won less than one percent of the vote and thus only receives the parliamentary seats guaranteed in the peace treaty.

One of the people slated for a seat in Parliament was Jesús Santrich , who was arrested on April 11, 2018 on charges of being involved in an ongoing export of 10 tons of cocaine to the United States.

Developments in 2019

At the end of August 2019, a small faction around former FARC commanders Iván Márquez and Danilo Alvizu announced the rearmament and declared that the Colombian government had failed to comply with the peace agreements. Alvizu said the majority of the bills and initiatives envisaged in the peace treaty had not been implemented despite assurances. So the have poverty in the country is not reduced and former FARC members who were part in politics, had been pursued and killed. The Colombian government responded to the end of rearmament with a military operation in which several FARC members assigned to lead rearmament activities were killed.

Uniform and weapons

A FARC-EP company during the Caguán peace talks , 2001.

uniform

All FARC-EP fighters wore green camouflaged combat suits and mountain hats , plus field jackets and ponchos in the rainy season. Most of the guerrillas were unprotected, but some of the fighters had captured bullet-proof vests . Many wore a special armband on which the flag of the FARC EP was depicted. A characteristic feature of the FARC fighters were the mostly olive-green or black rubber boots that they wore with their combat suits; this already distinguished them from a distance from the government soldiers equipped with lace-up boots. FARC fighters also had a summer uniform, which consisted of khaki and sand-colored combat suits. In contrast to the camouflage uniform of the FARC-EP, this uniform was not waterproof and was worn by fighters during their free time, but probably not during combat operations.

Armament

The main combat weapons of the FARC-EP were Kalashnikovs , which were available in large quantities on the international black market , mostly as spoils from the Yugoslav wars . Cuba and the Soviet Union also supported the FARC-EP guerrillas with these weapons. In addition, the AK-47 further developments AKM and AK-74 were supplied by Cuba to the FARC-EP . In addition, there were weapons procured from the black market or delivered as payment by allied drug cartels, such as the NATO M16 assault rifle or its newer version, the M4 carbine .

The FARC-EP was also equipped with different variants of the M60 , as well as heavy PK machine guns and the older Browning M2 . Some small caliber artillery pieces were captured by the fighters, but because they did not have enough ammunition, the guns had to be abandoned. The FARC-EP, on the other hand, used around 2000 shoulder-supported bazookas RPG-2 and RPG-7 for fighting tanks and helicopters . In 2010 there were reports in Venezuela that the FFV AT 4 bazookas intended for the Venezuelan army from a Swedish weapons manufacturer had been handed over to the fighters of the FARC-EP by President Hugo Chávez . Sweden demanded an international statement against Venezuela for the breach of the sales contract. Venezuela's interior minister did not confirm the handover of the rocket launchers and also denied official involvement of the government and the president. For the period from January 1998 to July 2000, the Colombian army had stated that it had picked up 470 FAL- type assault rifles with serial numbers of the Venezuelan military.

Violations of human rights

Child soldiers

In early 2005, a Human Rights Watch report held FARC-EP responsible for violations of international norms relating to the recruitment and use of child soldiers . The UN estimates that 11,000 children are fighting in the armed conflict, with 80% of the children fighting on the side of the FARC and ELN. The majority of child soldiers are deployed under the command of the FARC. Forced recruiting is generally rare in Colombia on all sides.

"Inner Terror"

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported on cases of "internal terror" with which FARC commanders made lower-ranking fighters compliant, and on the practice of forcing pregnant women fighters to have an abortion or even killing newborn children so that the FARC's mothers would be fully available .

Other violations

In 2005, Amnesty International charged the FARC with serious violations of international humanitarian law . In 2008 the FARC was charged with being responsible for laying landmines .

See also

literature

  • Dario N. Azzellini , Raul Zelik : Colombia - Big Business. State terror and insurrection movement (PDF; 1.5 MB). Neuer ISP-Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-929008-48-3 .
  • Thomas Fischer: 40 years of FARC in Colombia. From rural self-defense to terror . In: Social. History. Journal of historical analysis of the 20th and 21st centuries . NF 20, 1, 2005, ISSN  1660-2870 , pp. 77-97.
  • Thomas Fischer: The persistence of the FARC . In: David Graaff et al. (Ed.): Colombia: From Failing State to Rising Star? A country between economic miracle and humanitarian crisis. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86573-734-2 , pp. 49-70.
  • Édgar Téllez et al: Diario íntimo de un fracaso. Historia no contada del proceso de paz con las FARC . Editorial Planeta Colombiana, Bogotá 2002, ISBN 958-42-0349-5 .
  • International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The FARC files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the secret archive of Raul Reyes. London 2011, ISBN 978-0-86079-205-5 .
  • Leech, Garry: The FARC. The longest insurgency . Zed Books, London 2011, ISBN 1-84813-492-4 .
  • Wyler, Liana Sun Rollins, John (2010): International Terrorism and Transnational Crime: security Threats, US Policy, and Considerations for Congress. Congressional Research Service.
  • Zelik, Raul (1999): Colombia. Big business, state terror and insurgency. Cologne: ISP Verlag.

Web links

Peace and Conflict Research

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Latin America News, Number 327/328 - Sept./Oct. 2001: The Scorched Earth Policy
  2. ^ Colombia Farc: Celebrations after ceasefire ends five decades of war. BBC News, June 24, 2016, accessed June 24, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Simon Romero: In Colombia, New Gold Rush Fuels Old Conflict. In: The New York Times. March 3, 2011, accessed November 7, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Colombia's most powerful rebels. on: BBC News . September 19, 2003.
  5. ^ War and Drugs in Colombia International Crisis Group January 27, 2005.
  6. ↑ Foreign Terrorist Organizations US Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism, accessed November 24, 2017.
  7. ↑ Listed Terrorist entities: Currently listed entities Public Safety Canada, accessed November 24, 2017.
  8. ↑ EU list of terrorist organizations of December 22, 2007 , see p. 6, no. 38.
  9. ↑ Nueva Zelanda designa a las Farc y ETA como grupos terroristas semana.com, February 12, 2010.
  10. ↑ Perú califica a FARC como "grupo terrorista" AFP report, February 20, 2010.
  11. ↑ Resolución de diputados de Chile declara a las Farc grupo terrorista eltiempo.com, December 22, 2010.
  12. ↑ a b EU removes Colombia's FARC from terrorist list ORF, November 13, 2017, accessed the following day.
  13. ↑ a b Colombia: Former Farc leader speaks of new armed fighting . In: Spiegel Online . August 29, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed September 11, 2019]).
  14. ↑ a b Former Farc commanders say they are returning to war despite the 2016 peace deal. Retrieved September 11, 2019 .
  15. ↑ a b Colombia: 9 FARC dissidents killed in bombing raid. Retrieved September 11, 2019 .
  16. ↑ As FARC reafirmam a opção comunista interview with Ricardo González, a senior FARC-EP officer. avante.pt, April 22, 2004 (Portuguese).
  17. ↑ Voz de la Resistencia le puso fin a 25 años de clandestinidad verdadabierta.com, May 19, 2017.
  18. ↑ Interview with Jesús Santrich (February 2004): Cadena Radial Bolivariana, la Voz de las FARC-EP. (No longer available online.) Agencia Periodística de Información Alternativa (ApiaVirtual), May 21, 2006, archived from the original on December 1, 2017 ; Retrieved November 23, 2017 (Spanish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.apiavirtual.net
  19. ↑ Article in El Pais of March 1, 2010
  20. ↑ Article in Le Monde of March 1, 2010
  21. ↑ Article in the Spiegel from March 1, 2010
  22. ↑ Harald Neuber: Debate about the relationship between the FARC-EP and the ETA. In: America21. March 5, 2010, accessed March 6, 2010 .
  23. ↑ Carsten Wieland: The beginning of the end of the FARC? Colombia's guerrillas are in the deepest crisis in their history Publication by the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, June 5, 2008.
  24. ↑ Der Standard : Background: Farc - Fight for more than four decades from July 4, 2008.
  25. ↑ Der Standard : FARC rebels release another hostage from July 5, 2009.
  26. ^ Secretariado del Estado Mayor Central, FARC-EP: Farc: estamos listos para el canje de prisioneros de guerra. In: ANNCOL. March 29, 2009, Retrieved April 1, 2009 (Spanish).
  27. ↑ ultimahora.com/EFE: ultimahora.com of March 29, 2009.
  28. ↑ Colombia Reports: FARC has 472 hostages in: País Libre of March 30, 2009.
  29. ↑ The FARC-EP select military targets to overrun the government, July 31, 2006 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ Two officers of the elite unit of the Colombian army between false assassins in Bogotá.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.eltiempo.com  
  31. ↑ Article by El Tiempo , November 2, 2006 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  32. ↑ Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK): CONFLICT BAROMETER 2007 ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Institute for Political Science at Heidelberg University, p. 37f. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hiik.de
  33. ↑ Eillens lost illusions FAZ of 19 September 2007
  34. ↑ Kiraz Janicke: Colombian Hostages Released to Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com, accessed May 18, 2010 .
  35. ↑ Tagesschau : Mass protests against Farc rebels in Colombia (tagesschau.de archive) on February 5, 2008.
  36. ↑ Die Welt : Liberation of Four Hostages, February 27, 2008.
  37. ↑ Der Standard : Liberated Hostage: Betancourt "very sick" of February 28, 2008.
  38. ↑ teleSUR: FARC confirma muerte líder guerrillero Manuel Marulanda ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated May 25, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.telesurtv.net
  39. ↑ Article in El Pais of March 29, 2008
  40. ↑ El País.com: Una destacada comandante de las FARC se entrega al Ejército colombiano of May 19, 2008.
  41. ↑ Josef Oehrlein: Guerrilla in resolution on faz.net from May 25, 2008, accessed on January 27, 2015.
  42. ^ Spiegel-Online Guerilla hostage Betancourt released after six years from July 2, 2008.
  43. ↑ elpais.com: Liberados Ingrid Betancourt y tres estadounidenses en poder de las FARC of July 2, 2008.
  44. ↑ Between the attack on the rebel camp and the handover of the evidence to the Colombian police by the army at least 48 hours had passed. During this time, all computers and data carriers were accessed. USA confirms violation of airspace - government in Caracas dissatisfied
  45. ↑ Large demonstrations for the freedom of Farc hostages SPIEGEL online
  46. ↑ elpais.com/EFE: Un jefe de las FARC se deja un millón de dólares al escapar a un bombardeo en Colombia of September 6, 2008.
  47. ↑ taz.de: Uribe dismisses mediator from February 2, 2009.
  48. ↑ taz.de: Exgeisel attacked President Uribe on February 4, 2009.
  49. ↑ Der Standard: FARC Rebels Release Another Hostage , February 5, 2009.
  50. ↑ Colombianos por la Paz Exigen justicia por masacre de indígenas. (No longer available online.) In: teleSUR. February 12, 2009, archived from the original on February 15, 2009 ; Retrieved February 18, 2009 (Spanish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.telesurtv.net
  51. ↑ FARC reconocen muerte de 8 indígenas Awá de Barbacoas (Nariño). In: Eltiempo. February 17, 2009, Retrieved April 10, 2019 (Spanish).
  52. ↑ Governor of Caquetá kidnapped from his house. In: Red Globe. December 22, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2009 .
  53. ↑ Rebels confess to murdering the governor. In: FOCUS. Retrieved January 6, 2010 .
  54. ↑ Farc-Geisel is released after more than twelve years. In: Spiegel Online. March 31, 2010, accessed April 4, 2010 .
  55. ↑ Colombia's FARC rebels offer Santos talks to focus.de, July 31, 2010
  56. ↑ Military chief of the FARC rebels killed. In: OE24. September 23, 2010, accessed September 24, 2010 .
  57. ^ Rebel commander killed in Colombia. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 21, 2010, accessed November 22, 2010 .
  58. ↑ Farc guerrilla loses its last political leader. In: Spiegel Online . November 5, 2011, accessed November 5, 2011 .
  59. ↑ Guerrilla group names successor to Alfonso Cano. Online Focus, November 15, 2011, accessed November 16, 2011 .
  60. ↑ Ofrecen $ 1,200 millones por 'Rambo', responsable de ataque en Tumaco. In: El Tiempo . February 2, 2012, Retrieved February 2, 2011 (Spanish).
  61. ↑ Confirman seis por muertes cilindros bomba en Villa Rica (Cauca). In: El Tiempo . February 2, 2012, Retrieved February 2, 2011 (Spanish).
  62. ^ Colombia: FARC urged to end all kidnapping
  63. ↑ Hostage in Colombia: FARC rebels release police officers and soldiers. In: Spiegel Online . April 3, 2012, Retrieved April 3, 2012 .
  64. ↑ Werner Marti: First round of negotiations in Oslo: Start of talks with the FARC at nzz.ch, October 17, 2012 (accessed on October 17, 2012).
  65. ↑ Colombia: Government and FARC only slightly optimistic from Abendblatt.de, October 17, 2012 (accessed October 17, 2012).
  66. ^ After 50 years of civil war in Colombia: Government and FARC begin peace process at tagesschau.de, October 18, 2012 (accessed October 18, 2012).
  67. ↑ wienerzeitung.at: Colombia: FARC rebels lay down their weapons for the time being (19.11.2012)
  68. ↑ APA : FARC broke the ceasefire, according to government reports . In: The Standard . January 3, 2013 ( online [accessed January 5, 2013]).
  69. ^ Government and FARC agree on Land Reform Zeit Online, May 27, 2013.
  70. ↑ FARC rebels kill 15 Colombian soldiers derstandart.at, July 21, 2013
  71. ↑ El Espectador : Policía destruyó complejo cocalero de las Farc en Nariño of October 6, 2013.
  72. ↑ derstandard.at Der Standard Online, October 15, 2013.
  73. ↑ Carro bomba en Inzá, Cauca, deja 9 personas muertas y más de 40 heridos elpais.com.co, December 7, 2013.
  74. ↑ dw.de: Army kills FARC leader (16.12.2013)
  75. ^ Colombia: President Santos wins the runoff election. Zeit online, June 16, 2014, accessed November 20, 2014 .
  76. ↑ Colombia: Government stops negotiations with Farc. Spiegel Online, November 17, 2014, accessed November 20, 2014 .
  77. ↑ Colombia: FARC rebels admit kidnapping of General. Spiegel Online, November 18, 2014, accessed November 19, 2014 .
  78. ↑ Farc in Colombia: General Rubén Alzate is released. Spiegel Online, November 20, 2014, accessed November 20, 2014 .
  79. ↑ colombiapeace.org at Colombia Peace , (accessed November 5, 2015).
  80. ↑ Colombia: Government and Farc rebels agree on peace treaty at Spiegel Online , September 24, 2015 (accessed September 25, 2015).
  81. ↑ Colombia and Farc rebels agree on armistice Der Standard , June 22, 2016, accessed on the same day
  82. ↑ EU deletes guerrilla organization Farc from the terrorist list diepresse.com, September 27, 2016.
  83. ↑ Great defeat for peace in Colombia. In: sueddeutsche.de. October 3, 2016, accessed March 13, 2018 .
  84. ↑ Colombia says “No” to the peace agreement , NZZ, October 3, 2016
  85. ↑ Colombia signs new agreement with FARC guerrillas , swissinfo.ch, November 24, 2016.
  86. ^ Government and FARC agree new peace treaty , FAZ, November 13, 2016.
  87. ↑ Peace with a stale aftertaste , NZZ, December 1, 2016.
  88. ↑ NZZ, June 2, 2017, p. 4.
  89. ↑ NZZ, May 31, 2017, p. 2.
  90. ↑ NZZ, May 17, 2017, p. 2.
  91. ↑ Harald Neuber: Farc guerrilla in Colombia is disarmed. Telepolis , June 28, 2017, accessed the same day.
  92. ↑ a b Peace on the Test Stand , NZZ, March 9, 2018
  93. ↑ a b Drug scandals in the leadership of the FARC - the allegations against an architect of Colombia's peace process overshadow the presidential elections , NZZ, May 11, 2018.
  94. ↑ Adriaan Alsema: Colombia's community leader assassinations up 45% in 2017. In: colombiareports.com. January 7, 2018, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  95. ↑ NZZ , September 2, 2017, page 2
  96. ↑ NZZ, February 10, 2018, p. 2.
  97. ↑ Colombia: Words instead of weapons - The rebirth of a guerrilla - as a political party , SRF, March 9, 2018.
  98. ^ Right party of ex-President Uribe becomes the strongest force , SRF, March 12, 2018.
  99. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE: Colombia is at war again: Out and about with jungle fighters. Retrieved October 2, 2019 .
  100. ↑ Is the country falling back into civil war? , DER SPIEGEL 2019/37
  101. ↑ Colombia is at war again: Out and about with jungle fighters , SPIEGEL Plus from September 7, 2019
  102. ↑ France24 Reporters - Colombia: the endless march of the FARC-EP
  103. ↑ Swedish rocket launchers for the FARC EP
  104. ↑ ed. Hanna S. Kassab, Jonathan D. Rosen: The Obama Doctrine in the Americas - Security in the Americas in the Twenty-First Century, Lexington Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1-4985-2400-1 , p. 215
  105. ^ Colombia: Armed groups send children to war. In: Human Rights Watch . February 22, 2005. Retrieved July 20, 2012 .
  106. ↑ Colombia: FARC forcibly recruits indigenous minors. In: latina press. June 4, 2011, accessed September 7, 2012 .
  107. ^ Human Rights Watch .: "'You'll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia." (PDF) September 2003, accessed on October 4, 2016 (English).
  108. ↑ Nicoletta Wagner: Weakened by constant bloodletting. The increasing number of deserters and their reports show that the Colombian guerrillas lack internal cohesion . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (international edition), November 5, 2013, p. 7.
  109. ↑ Amnesty Report Colombia 2015
  110. ↑ Amnesty International: The conflict behavior of the armed opposition groups FARC and ELN, accessed on March 30, 2009.
  111. ^ Amnesty International: Colombia - Amnesty International Report 2008