FARC gives up kidnapping as a tactic, will free 10 hostages

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17173832


Colombia Farc rebels vow to free hostages

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48333000/gif/_48333893_bn-304x171.gif
Colombia's left-wing Farc rebel group says it will free 10 members of the security forces it holds hostage and abandon kidnappings for ransom.
The move comes three months after the Farc killed four hostages they had held for more than 12 years, which prompted massive protests against the rebels throughout Colombia.
The Farc did not say whether they would free the civilians it holds captive.
The group finances itself through kidnappings and drug trafficking.
In a statement released on a website, the Farc Secretariat, the rebel group's highest body, said that it would free the remaining 10 "political prisoners" in its power.
The group had already announced last year that it would free five policemen and one soldier, but then called off the release, blaming increased military activity in the area for its change of heart.
In its statement, the Secretariat said it would add another four hostages to the planned release.
All 10 hostages are members of Colombia's security forces, most of whom have been held for more than a decade.
The rebels also announced they were "banning the practice of kidnapping for ransom from our revolutionary practices".
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the announcement, calling it "an important step", but said it was "not sufficient".
The Colombian government has demanded the release of all hostages held by the Farc as a precondition to the possibility of any peace talks.


This is a good thing inasmuch as kidnapping is an unpopular tactic that tends to victimize the wrong people. However, it's also a sign that the guerrilla leadership might be looking for a peace treaty.

[Optiow]

I hope this doesn't mean they're going down the road of peace process. After researching a bit I find I like FARC, and they're doing good work fighting against the Colombian government. I am glad kidnapping is going to stop, but I would hate FARC to give up the struggle. They're not perfect, but they're good people.

[eric922]

I'll admit I'm no expert on FARC, but isn't Columbia a right-wing dictatorship backed by the U.S.? So any group fighting against can't be too bad. that As for kidnapping, I'm glad they are stopping it, I oppose it on both ethical and tactical grounds.

[Prometeo liberado]

Does this mean that the Colombian government will release "kidnapped" FARC soldiers? Or because they are classified as "rebels" they don't count? I don't understand how enemy combatants can be "kidnapped"? I'm only speaking of soldiers and policeman here. When the bourgeois define the terms too often the discussion is hijacked.

[RedSonRising]

I hope this doesn't mean they're going down the road of peace process. After researching a bit I find I like FARC, and they're doing good work fighting against the Colombian government. I am glad kidnapping is going to stop, but I would hate FARC to give up the struggle. They're not perfect, but they're good people.


I'll admit I'm no expert on FARC, but isn't Columbia a right-wing dictatorship backed by the U.S.? So any group fighting against can't be too bad. that As for kidnapping, I'm glad they are stopping it, I oppose it on both ethical and tactical grounds.

Colombia isn't a right wing dictatorship, but it is an oppressive and violent state caught between many factions of groups using armed violence for survival or political authority functioning under the control of US imperialism.

The main criticisms are that they've been known to harass and displace indigenous populations, kidnap and coerce working class populations for territorial control, exasperate the drug problem, and ultimately fail to reach out to the urban and suburban sectors of the population (and even their own supposed peasant constituency) due to alienating violence and civilian casualties in their attacks on the state. I detail some of those critiques here http://www.revleft.com/vb/tribute-farc-and-t163985/index.html. I personally don't see them as constructive to the empowerment of the working people of Colombia, rather I see them as a tool the Colombian State uses to justify their oppression, and I don't see the civilian bloodshed as a justifiable "side effect" of a movement that's going nowhere.

[Fennec]

This is a good move, though no agreement with the puppet regime in Bogota should be made as long as our comrades remain imprisoned. Struggle against the lackeys of imperialism must continue. ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!

[GoddessCleoLover]

Do you mean the puppet regime in Bogota or are you referring to the government of Venezuela?

[Fennec]

Do you mean the puppet regime in Bogota or are you referring to the government of Venezuela?

Yeah, I was reading an article about Venezuela on marxist.com while writing that post. ;)

[Agathor]

I'll admit I'm no expert on FARC, but isn't Columbia a right-wing dictatorship backed by the U.S.? So any group fighting against can't be too bad. that As for kidnapping, I'm glad they are stopping it, I oppose it on both ethical and tactical gro unds.

They're not revolutionaries. They're a gang. They're drug dealers, extortionists and highwaymen. If that's revolutionary activity then the Sicilian Mafia are also involved in it.

FARC fights other marxist-leninist gangs, such as the Popular Liberation Army, for territory, like any other drug gang.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

Destroy the Colombian government! Free all Latin American nations from United States backed right-wing dictatorships!

[GoddessCleoLover]

Just not feelin' any love for FARC. They have a bad history of being narcotraficantes and kidnapping innocent people. Comrades of mine they are not.

[Seth]

They're not revolutionaries. They're a gang. They're drug dealers, extortionists and highwaymen. If that's revolutionary activity then the Sicilian Mafia are also involved in it.

FARC fights other marxist-leninist gangs, such as the Popular Liberation Army, for territory, like any other drug gang.

You mean the ELN, or National Liberation Army. EPL and FARC are amicable and back in the day FARC killed a bunch of former EPL people who demobilized or became reformists. They just differ politically.

[Seth]

Actually the latest "massive protests" against FARC were laughably tiny compared to the ones several years ago.

But yes, kidnapping tends to be alienating because the hegemonic media can be like "look at this poor rich family whose son was kidnapped by the guerrilla! Your family or friends can be next!" This rings with basically the entire working class because in fact a lot of other people are caught up in it too. The narrative is that the government wants peace but the arrogant guerrillas want a fratricide and will kill anyone to get what they want, and they're a big drug cartel anyway. So whenever something about a drug cartel comes up, its just common sense for your average Colombian (or Venezuelan, or Ecuadorian) news consumer to have FARC in the back of their mind. Like a lot of propaganda, this has a teaspoon of truth to it.

[gorillafuck]

Colombia is not a right wing dictatorship. It is a right wing representative democracy.

[Agathor]

Colombia is not a right wing dictatorship. It is a right wing representative democracy.

It's a highly flawed democracy. It certainly isn't a tyranny or a dictatorship, but there is an effective system of terror which ensures that the elections remain meaningless. In Colombia, trade unionists and political candidates are murdered at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/23/death-and-drugs-colombia/?pagination=false

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I'll admit I'm no expert on FARC, but isn't Columbia a right-wing dictatorship backed by the U.S.? So any group fighting against can't be too bad.

Shocking logic. By that logic, we'd have supported Hitler as not being too bad, for fighting against the likes of Von Hindenburg, Von Papen etc.

[eric922]

Shocking logic. By that logic, we'd have supported Hitler as not being too bad, for fighting against the likes of Von Hindenburg, Von Papen etc.
As I said, I'm no expert on FARC, after hearing what others I've said, it seems they are nothing more than a gang, so no I don't support them. You have to understand what little I know of FARC comes from mainstream media and they are very quick to label any group the U.S. doesn't like as terrorists, so it makes it hard to tell whether the group in question is actually a bad group or simply a group the U.S. doesn't like.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

They're not a gang, that's a title given to them by the liberal press to discredit them for using coca production to fund their activities, without giving any mention to material conditions that have tied Latin America and coca production together for a very long time. Obviously they are incredibly imperfect and are guilty of serious crimes, kidnappings of non-combatants included, so it would be good to see that come to an end.

That being said they are using agrarian revolutionary theory and tactics in a country with a rapidly shrinking peasant population. I don't want to see them give up their struggle but their direction is all wrong and their influence is waning. It will take more than dropping one or two or their more odious tactics, they need to break with agrarian revolution and make a real attempt at unifying with the other groups and start reaching out to the trade unions.

[gorillafuck]

It's a highly flawed democracy. It certainly isn't a tyranny or a dictatorship, but there is an effective system of terror which ensures that the elections remain meaningless.as opposed to other democracies?

[Bostana]

The F.A.R.C. can't go down the road of Peace if they wish to free Columbia.

They're the only Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia. It is a peasant army with a proclaimed agrarian, anti-imperialist platform of Bolivarian inspiration. It is very Inspirational.

[Seth]

The F.A.R.C. can't go down the road of Peace if they wish to free Columbia.

They're the only Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia. It is a peasant army with a proclaimed agrarian, anti-imperialist platform of Bolivarian inspiration. It is very Inspirational.

Well, I'd imagine most Marxist-Leninists don't really care for the Guevarist theory where a coup led by a guerrilla group which denies communism and is backed by landed interests can establish a dictatorship of the proletariat. FARC doesn't struggle as a vanguard party, but as an alternate military seeking to win a war and take power. So it uses whatever means it can to build up its military strength. You highlighted the other issue with the FARC in your post. It's a peasant army. Not only is the working class not in the lead, but it's barely present at all.

I actually don't see the drug thing as a massive deal. FARC isn't a drug cartel. Those who obsess over that are allowing bourgeois hegemony to define their politics.

[RedSonRising]

Well, I'd imagine most Marxist-Leninists don't really care for the Guevarist theory where a coup led by a guerrilla group which denies communism and is backed by landed interests can establish a dictatorship of the proletariat. FARC doesn't struggle as a vanguard party, but as an alternate military seeking to win a war and take power. So it uses whatever means it can to build up its military strength. You highlighted the other issue with the FARC in your post. It's a peasant army. Not only is the working class not in the lead, but it's barely present at all.

I actually don't see the drug thing as a massive deal. FARC isn't a drug cartel. Those who obsess over that are allowing bourgeois hegemony to define their politics.

Well for one thing, Focoism bases its legitimacy in the support of the countryside, and in the context of the Cuban revolution, did not shy away from working with urban working class revolutionary groups. The FARC has alienated other groups and upheld anti-military violence over politicization for a while now.

The issue of drugs is still a valid concern, because while the FARC aren't a drug cartel themselves and aren't responsible for the reliance of coca production in the countryside, they do exasperate the problem of substance abuse and suffering in working class communities elsewhere through their lack of attempted alternatives and active profit from its export.

[GPDP]

as opposed to other democracies?

As much of a farce as bourgeois democracy is in terms of bringing actual, meaningful democracy to workers, countries like Colombia and Mexico take the farce and turn it into a full-blown absurdity. Elections are literally rigged, not just in terms of the bourgeois always winning, but in terms of actual fraud and corruption being extremely common and expected. There is a definite qualitative difference between so-called first-world and third-world "democracies."

[RedSonRising]

The farc is also base in urban colombia,citys etc


They don't engage in any sort of meaningful building of class consciousness in urban areas. They have ties there, but they don't educate, or organize; they just agitate.

[--Navarro--]

But yes, kidnapping tends to be alienating because the hegemonic media can be like "look at this poor rich family whose son was kidnapped by the guerrilla! Your family or friends can be next!" This rings with basically the entire working class because in fact a lot of other people are caught up in it too. The narrative is that the government wants peace but the arrogant guerrillas want a fratricide and will kill anyone to get what they want, and they're a big drug cartel anyway. So whenever something about a drug cartel comes up, its just common sense for your average Colombian (or Venezuelan, or Ecuadorian) news consumer to have FARC in the back of their mind. Like a lot of propaganda, this has a teaspoon of truth to it.

What Farc does everyday is more linked to extortions, kidnappings, threats, exiling peasants and political activists, landmines, hiring drug cartels hitmen to kill people, drug trafficking in partnership with 'Rastrojos' and 'Urabeños', among other modalities. Lying, denying which is evident, etc.


They're not a gang, that's a title given to them by the liberal press to discredit them for using coca production to fund their activities, without giving any mention to material conditions that have tied Latin America and coca production together for a very long time.


No, a vast majority of coca growers didn't know coca cultivation 15 or 20 years ago.


It's a highly flawed democracy. It certainly isn't a tyranny or a dictatorship, but there is an effective system of terror which ensures that the elections remain meaningless.

That "system of terror" is useless in any town with more than 10k pop and that is not in some relatively remote area.


Elections are literally rigged, not just in terms of the bourgeois always winning...

No, and, in any case, "bourgeois" is not the word you're looking for. Don't force that kind of concepts where they don't belong to.




but in terms of actual fraud and corruption being extremely common and expected. There is a definite qualitative difference between so-called first-world and third-world "democracies."

If you check the data from any independent organization (MOE, the Observatorio de la Democracia of the Universidad de Los Andes or the OPE) you'll see that, while it happens, it's not "extremely common" as you think, at all. At least not in Colombia. Also I don't know of any organization that lists Colombia as a "highly" flawed democracy.

So, check your sources, contrast them and inform yourselves before taking such and condescending attitude towards Colombians or Latin Americans.

[#FF0000]

If you check the data from any independent organization (MOE, the Observatorio de la Democracia of the Universidad de Los Andes or the OPE) you'll see that, while it happens, it's not "extremely common" as you think, at all. At least not in Colombia. Also I don't know of any organization that lists Colombia as a "highly" flawed democracy.

Uhhhh Transparency International has them down for 94th, right around India and Greece, for corruption.

Again, this is common knowledge. Columbia is overwhelmingly corrupt.

[--Navarro--]

Uhhhh Transparency International has them down for 94th, right around India and Greece, for corruption.

Again, this is common knowledge. Columbia is overwhelmingly corrupt.

Is that the "Corruption perception" index?

Yes, there is a lot of corruption, but nothing proves the elections on a wide majority of Colombian municipalities are "meaningless", "coopted by mafias", "arranged" or anything similar. Clientelists networks are strong (more in some areas than in others) but most people vote freely.