The Colombian struggle

[colombiano]

I would like to hear various opinions of the long struglge of the Colombian people. Keep in mind there are Two main marxist groups the ELN and The FARC(larger of the two around 17 k strong) the far right wing militias or Death Squads known as the AUC formely headed by Carlos Castano and of course the corrupt U.S. backed government. Many factors come into play here by both the left and the right. Examples kidnappings, narco trafficing etc etc. If you do not know about the situation there it is very interesting and I suggest learning as much as you can. Which in turn may help explain some of the situations happening in Venezuela now.

[Guerrilla22]

The various paramilitary groups, or death squads are in fact being funded and trained by the US government. If I remeber correctly, the presence of some of these paramilitants had been detected in Venezuela by the Venezuelan governmnet.

Apparently they were discovered setting up camp on the ranch of some wealthy business mogul, who had ties to the US government.

[colombiano]

I know my friend that is what makes it so interesting. The U.S. has the AUC death squads listed as an international terrorist organization yet there seem to be theories that they are in fact backed by the U.S. Keep in mind all of these groups use narco tarfficing and kidnapping/ extortion as means of funding there cause. If these accusations are true it is yet another example of U.S. hypocrisy. I have an extreme interest in this countires plight because my wife is Colombian and we both have seen the travesty that her people have endured over the years. I am convinced that democracy will Never work in any Latin American country, after seeing children sniffing glue in the streets to stave off hunger. The country needs social reform but the violence seems to have no end.

[LuZhiming]

ELN are pretty marginal, they might have something worthwhile about them, but there's little hope at the moment of them doing much of anything. As for the rest, FARC, AUC, and the Colombian government are all terrorist forces who spend most of their time not fighting eachother, but massacering peasents. Just read Amnesty International reports. And then there's drug trafficking, which AUC and the Colombian government are heavily involved in, in the case of FARC, the accusations of their involvement are exagerated. The U.S. government's role is one of increasing these atrocities, and U.S. corporations like Coca-Cola are happy to play along in their involvement in assassinations of labor organizors.

[colombiano]

This is from the BBC. A heart wrenching tale of what our Marxist Brothers are doing. When will the violence end?

Farc admits coca farmers massacre


Cocaine is a vital source of income for the Farc
Colombia's largest left-wing rebel group, Farc, has admitted that it carried out the killings of 34 coca farmers earlier this week.
A Farc statement said the farmers supported right-wing paramilitaries and accused the government of shedding "crocodile tears over the deaths".

Tuesday's attack in Norte de Santander was the worst since President Alvaro Uribe took office two years ago.

The United Nations has condemned the massacre as a "war crime".


The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia described the attack as "the premeditated murder of unarmed and totally defenceless civilians".

Dawn attack

The farmers - who had been working at the farm for the past fortnight - were sleeping in hammocks, when the gunmen arrived at dawn on Tuesday in the village of Rio Chiquita.


Uribe came to power on a pledge to curb violence

They were bound hand and foot with ropes and shot with automatic weapons.

"We saved ourselves by running toward the mountain," Jesus Bayona, 45, who survived after being shot in the foot, told the AP news agency.

A regional police commander Lt Col William Montezuma later told the BBC that 50 gunmen took part in the attack.

A government official said the farm appeared to belong to right-wing paramilitaries.

Landless peasants often pick coca leaves and sell them to both left-wing guerrillas and their right-wing opponents, which can leave the farmers targets of reprisals.

Other villagers and farmers have been fleeing the area, fearful of further attacks, according to a human rights monitor.

President Uribe pledged to curb the violence which has plagued Colombia for decades, and increased military spending.

[Subversive Pessimist]

I can't see why FARC are marxists. They seem more like some fanatics.

How is this going to end? Maybe they will come to some agreement?

[colombiano]

It seems as all previous peace agreements have all failed.