Description
Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the
FARC is Colombia’s oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped Marxist
insurgency. The FARC is governed by a secretariat, led by septuagenarian Manuel
Marulanda (a.k.a. “Tirofijo”) and six others, including senior military
commander Jorge Briceno (a.k.a. “Mono Jojoy”). Organized along military lines
and includes several urban fronts. In February 2002, the group’s slow-moving
peace negotiation process with the Pastrana administration was terminated by
Bogota following the group’s plane hijacking and kidnapping of a Colombian
Senator from the aircraft. On 7 August, the FARC launched a large-scale mortar
attack on the Presidential Palace where President Alvaro Uribe was being
inaugurated. High-level foreign delegations—including from the United
States—attending the inauguration were not injured, but 21 residents of a poor
neighborhood nearby were killed by stray rounds in the attack.
Activities
Bombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, as well as
guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political,
military, and economic targets. In March 1999, the FARC executed three US Indian
rights activists on Venezuelan territory after it kidnapped them in Colombia.
Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC kidnapping for ransom. Has
well-documented ties to full range of narcotics trafficking activities,
including taxation, cultivation, and distribution.
Strength
Approximately 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants and several thousand
more
supporters, mostly in rural areas.
Location/Area of Operation
Colombia with some activities—extortion, kidnapping, logistics, and R&R—in
Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador.
External Aid
Cuba provides some medical care and political consultation. A trial is currently
underway in Bogota to determine whether three members of the Irish Republican
Army—arrested in Colombia in 2001 upon exiting the FARC-controlled demilitarized
zone (despeje)—provided advanced explosives training to the FARC.