Farc
...over twenty years. The latest incarnation of this policy is Plan Colombia, a multi-billion dollar aid and equipment package devised to deal with the supply side of the drug trade by eliminating the source of cocaine as well as create the necessary infrastructure support for the Colombian government.
The main focus for the Unites States government has not been the reaction of the “cartels” or drug organizations but rather the reaction of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) hereby referred to as FARC. Over the last 10 years it has increasingly become evident that a major portion of FARC’s income comes from the cocaine trade (in one form or another). FARC has been strident in its criticism of Plan Colombia since clearly (at least in the minds of the leaders of FARC) the military segments of the plan are designed to battle itself and not the drug producers.
The purpose of this report is to outline FARC’s 36-year-old agrarian-based insurgency. Since its creation in 1964, FARC has become the most powerful guerilla force in Colombia. This report will examine FARC utilizing open source information, primarily Lexis-Nexis, FBIS, government reports, and congressional testimony. The components of the report will be:
• Background
• Organization and Structure
• Relationship with Cartels, States, and other non-state actors
• Relationship with the United States (including the effect of Plan Colombia on FARC statements)
• Attack profile (conventional and unconventional)
• Terrorist potential
The examination of the background of FARC will not be an exhaustive history, but rather a cursory look at several important events and occurrences, which have helped shape the organization into what it is today.
The organization and structure section of the report will include:
• Description of the units which...
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