I still have a very open mind about the FARC, but from what I have heard I do not think it is quite fair to say they are a Colombian equivilant of the Zapatistas. I have heard this 80% figure several times. Does that mean the FARC is responsible for 20% of the attrocities? They should still be condemned for that. I don't see how you can have a liberation movement that kills the people. Of course the paramilitaties are the real villians here, but that doesn't mean the FARC should immediatly get our simpathy.

After going to Mexico and participating in some of the events of the Zapatista caravan, and seeing how much a part of mainstream Mexican popular culture the EZLN has become, I have some serious questions about the Zapatistas' continuing relevance as a radical liberation movement. The only thing that has reasured me are reports that the work they are doing in Chiapas is so extraordinary that it does't realiy matter what role they have in the larger Mexican society.

I agree that first and formost we need more information here. If the FARC are really just another band of brutal power-hungry warriors, the fact that they've read some Marx shouldn't win them our sympathies. If however, they are a real positive force in the social fabric Colombia (and I have seen little evidence of this in even the progressive media) than they should not be such a mystery to us.

you said:

seeing how much a part of mainstream Mexican popular culture the EZLN has become, I have some serious questions about the Zapatistas' continuing relevance as a radical liberation movement.

and I wondered: since when does widespread popularity mean you're not radical or liberationist? Also, I'd have thought that a bit of mainstream acceptance is probably essential for something to be truly a 'movement'... or is radical liberationist democracy like a pop band - only cool until a lot of other people decide they like them? but of course, i couldn't comment - not having hung out backstage at a Zapatista gig...

and sorry I know next to nothing about FARC except that you don't get a lot of trendy young euros and yanks hanging out with them, and my friend in Colombia told me not to come visit for a while cos I'd likely be a target for either side. but we do need to know more about what is happening there, specially seeing as the UK government is big on the 'social' side of 'scam colombia'...

Dear friends,

I have done research on the FARC, they deserve the full support of activists and readers worldwide as they are the sole standers in between Fascist butchers and the peasantry (now workers, trade unions and a diverse base of resistance to the narco-state). Both the FARC and the peasantry have a long history together in Colombia, they are the same thing, long before the U.S. began their fraudulent "War on Drugs", a well known fact by criminologists and others who pay attention. We must look past the strength of western anti-communism and right wing sources who deliberately attempt to falsify Marxist insurgencies. If you take a look at what is happeining, they have done much more than the Zapatistas where the state do not take their demands seriously and there is not much that they can do. In Colombia, approximately 60% of Colombia is under Marxist rebel control, they have created 'Laboratories of Peace', fortresses of resistance, never seen before. We must understand that there is a war going on there and the FARC are the best equipped to deal with such a terrifying situation. If you read up on the history of the Patriotic Union (UP), leaders and activists were liquidated when the FARC gave up their arms, according to Latin Americanist James Petras, an important lesson was learnt by the guerillas. These are basic truths of revolution and war. To the rich and powerful, all revolutionaries are "terrorists", but to the most oppressed, they are liberators.

The Bolivarians the FARC and the Colombian peasantry need our support, the references listed above are to my knowledge correct and true. If the U.S. lose Colombia, they lose a strategic factor which could cost them control of the hemishere and eventually their own existance, considering the present global anti-capitalist movement. Please think about it.

Sincerely,

B. Adams.

"All the world's peoples who have fought for liberty have, in the end, eliminated their tyrants" - Simon Bolivar, San Mateo, March 1814.


Links:

 http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/molano.htm
 http://www.cislac.org.au/ (See 'Colombia' section)
 http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=4578&group=webcast
 http://www.cislac.org.au/v62/v62clbia.htm
 http://jinx.sistm.unsw.edu.au/~greenlft/1997/294/294p15.htm

Further Reading:

*Andres Cala. ‘The Enigmatic Guerilla: FARC’s Manuel Marulanda’ in Current History, February 2000,

*Ricardo Vargas Meza, Vargas, R. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Illicit Drug Trade. Transnational Institute (TNI), The Netherlands Acción Andina, Cochabamba, Bolivia Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Washington, DC, June 1999.

*Karen DeYoung. ‘Colombia’s Non-Drug Rebellion’ in Washington Post National Weekly, April 17, 2000

*DEA Congressional Testimony by Donnie Marshall, Chief of Operations, DEA before the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice regarding the "Cooperative Efforts of the Colombian National Police and Military in Anti-narcotics Efforts, and Current DEA Initiatives in Colombia" on July 9, 1997. Page 6. www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/cngrtest/ct970709.htm.
The Colombian Drug Situation is Ultimately a Law Enforcement Problem, William Ledwith, Drug Enforcement Administration, Statement before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, August 6, 1999.

*Alma Guillermoprieto, New York Review, May 11, 2000. The following is recommended, Lemoine, op. cit; discussing the appeal of the FARC to many peasants and working people who see it as “the army of the poor,” and particularly to women, who now constitute one-third of its forces, because of its break from oppressive and degrading practices that are particularly harsh at the depths of poverty and desperation.

*Scott, D, P & Marshall, J. (1991). Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. University of California Press. Berkeley.

Why is there a romaticism around FARC? This argument that any enemy of my enemy is my friend is extremely dubious. The comments made about FARC remind me of the SWP's support for Laurent Kabila, who was an 'enemy' of the West. Kabila led Zaire/DRC down the road of complete collapse, where ordinary people endured the kind of human rights abuses seen in Rwanda - in fact, Interahamwe became allies of Kabila.
Turning to FARC, they are simply just another army with a dictatorial command structure. They have kidnapped ordinary people, encouraged coca production instead of food production in order to fund their war and they are absolutely not accountable to the people they rule in the territory they control. Granted, many campesinos have turned to them and the ELN in the face of violence from the right-wing death squads and the US-backed Pastrana regime. But this does not legitimise total war and it is quite different from the defence of Zapatista autonomous communities.
Peace, justice and socialism cannot be guaranteed by FARC, ELN or any other pretender to state power. If you believe in these values, you should campaign against all combattants and for the betterment of Colombian civilians.

How many people are willing to fight for the poor?

Marxist rebels do need to be supported.

But in order for people to understand that, as liberation theologian Frei Betto said: "You need the heart and compassion of a Christian combined with the class analysis and praxis of a Marxist. That is, you have to be like Che."

Oliver.

You say FARC is fighting for the poor, yet how much compassion does it and the ELN have when they take civilian hostages and then murder them when the ransom money is not forthcoming? Also, how do they ensure accountability when there is absolutely no democratic mechanism within their army structures?
Forget the mythology around Che Guevara and all the propaganda surrounding these guerrillas. Really, they want what Pastrana and his greasy little lot have - power and money. Human rights, democracy, equality, etc, are nothing more than rhetorical devices to get some middle-class Westerners to fall in love with them.

Dear Readers,

I am afraid some people do not know enough about the FARC; if you do not support the FARC then that is your choice. But I think you need to be wary of what the U.S. media says, if anything, and so should most people in Western society during wartime. When you talk of assassinations of "noncombatants", you are talking about literally Fascists in suits, very wealthy land owners who sponsor the paramilitaries and trained killers actively involved in the conflict. When you talk of "indiscriminate" use of projectile missiles, you are talking about weapons used against the FARC and used against the enemy. When you talk about kidnapping, you are talking about wealthy politicians, land owners, drug lords and paramilitaries involved as well. You need to read up on the history of the FARC and the peasants in Colombia.

There is a civil war happening where the FARC has significant support, otherwise it would not be a civil war. Technically speaking, Colombia has been at civil war since the assasination of Liberal Populist Leader Gaitan in 1948 by the CIA*, so you are talking about workers, peasants and people actually resisting the narco state.

Futhermore, the leading Colombian military analyst Alfredo Rangel sees the matter differently. He "makes a point of reminding interviewers that the FARC has significant support in the regions where it operates," Alma Guillermoprieto reports. Rangel cites "FARC’s ability to launch surprise attacks" in different parts of the country, a fact that is "politically significant" because "in each case, a single warning by the civilian population would be enough to alert the army, and it doesn’t happen."1

The FARC’s position has been confirmed, in standard US terminology as "narcoguerillias;" it is a useful concept for U.S. counterinsurgency. But has been disputed by knowledgeable observers. It is agreed – FARC rely for its funding on coca production, which they tax, as they tax other businesses. But " 'the guerillas are something different from the traffickers,' says Klaus Nyholm, who runs the UN Drug Control Program," which has agents throughout the drug-producing regions. He believes the local FARC fronts to be "quite autonomous."2 In some areas "they are not involved at all" in coca production, and in others "they actively tell the farmers not to grow [coca]." Andean drug specialist Ricardo Vargas describes the role of the guerillas as "primarily focused on taxation of illicit crops." They have called for "a development plan for the peasants" that would "allow eradication of coca on the basis of alternative crops." "That’s all we want," their leader Marulanda has publicly announced, as have other FARC representatives.3 So the interests of the peasantry are the interests of the FARC.

It is the peasantry and a growing wider scope of support who have chosen an armed party; that is not your choice; it is theirs. And it is a well known fact in the social sciences that non-violence cannot overthrow capitalism. Given the events of the past half century in Latin America, what is happening in Colombia has been largely the choice of workers and peasants throughout Latin America.

Colombia is not Marco's Mexico, Gandhi's India, nor is it Russia 1917, but it is a justified civil war; a historical phenomenon when people choose to do something about their problems. Marxist rebels must be supported.

Sincerely,

P.F.C.

1. Alma Guillermoprieto, New York Review, May 11, 2000. The following is recommended, Lemoine, op. cit; discussing the appeal of the FARC to many peasants and working people who see it as “the army of the poor,” and particularly to women, who now constitute one-third of its forces, because of its break from oppressive and degrading practices that are particularly harsh at the depths of poverty and desperation.

2. Karen DeYoung. ‘Colombia’s Non-Drug Rebellion’ in Washington Post National Weekly, April 17, 2000.

3. Andres Cala. ‘The Enigmatic Guerilla: FARC’s Manuel Marulanda’ in Current History, February 2000, Ricardo Vargas Meza, Vargas, R. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Illicit Drug Trade. Transnational Institute (TNI), The Netherlands Acción Andina, Cochabamba, Bolivia Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Washington, DC, June 1999.

*Paul Wolf Website.

ESSENTIAL READING:

Pierce, J. The Legacy of Che Guevara. Cited today, 2001.  http://jinx.sistm.unsw.edu.au/~greenlft/1997/294/294p15.htm

Well, you may be in favour of being led by a Marxist vanguard clique, but have any of the campesinos and workers who live under the guns of the FARC and the ELN been asked about this civil war? What possible justification do the FARC and the ELN have for ruling these people, let alone carrying out their war in the name of these people? Don't turn to some quotes from pundits - give me an example of how the military structures of these guerrillas are directly controlled by the local populations.
Just as I think the US is guilty of heinous crimes in Colombia by supporting the fascist military and its death squads, I believe that the guerrillas are no better. A peace process between the elites on both sides is therefore largely a compromise negotiated over the heads of the impoverished Colombian masses. Both sides are violent terrorists without the interests of the Colombian people at heart. As for human rights, do you have any answer to the murder of indigenous campesinos by guerrillas in Zambudó in the Embera-Katío indigenous territory, as documented by Amnesty International this year?
Your assertion that the guerrillas are just kidnapping people involved in oppression and exploitation is frankly nonsense. Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have documented cases of mass abductions of people travelling along certain roads or who chance upon a guerrilla road-block. Also, there have been cases of foreign botantists and scientists who have travelled to Colombia and Panama and have been taken hostage by the guerrillas for several months.
I agree that the guerrillas are not simply narcotics barons and I'm positively certain from sources within the British Home Office that government officials are involved in narcotics trafficking. Yet I doubt whether FARC is unwilling to cut off the supply of coca, its main source of revenue. As you yourself have mentioned, FARC is taxing coca production - hardly a prelude to replacing coca production with food.
As a socialist, I want to break the cycle of violence, war and domination. As Tolstoy said, 'Government is violence' and the FARC and the ELN are just another form of government and violence. Don't kid yourself that the guerrillas are somehow morally superior because they pretend to be friends of the poor. They are enemies of the poor because they are enemies of peace.

I repeat the comment I made just recently regarding FARC's role in Colombia. I think that Daniel Brett in particular makes some very interesting points that many people just choose to ignore comletely.

This concerns a piece supporting the FARC-EP previously on IMC (07June):

"The achievements of the FARC-EP certainly seem impressive. However, there is one achievement which you have neglected to mention - FARCs contribution to Colombia being the kidnap capital of the world. Rights groups estimate that the FARC kidnapped 734 people in 2000, although they have a bit to go before catching up with the ELN, who kidnapped 867. There were a total of 3,162 people abducted in 2000 by both the left and the right.
I'm sure that if you have a really big push this year you'll gain the number one spot in this gross abuse of human rights!!!"

I am launching a website (www.bolivarista.org) dealing with the issues discussed here. Primarily, it will serve as a resource for UK-based activists campaigning against Plan Colombia and for equality and justice in Colombia. Other issues to be examined in the website are neo-liberalism and the role of international financial institutions, human rights campaigns, indigenous people, the trade union movement, the intrusion of multi-national corporations, alternative development strategies and environmental destruction.
It's quite an undertaking and I would appreciate any help - including contacts with those who plan to launch a UK-based Colombia Solidarity Campaign.
Write to me at:  danbrett2000@hotmail.com