Introduction. Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC, also known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is a rebel group that formed in Colombia in May of 1964 in response to a military attack on the community of Marquetalia. FARC had been around prior to 1964, but only decided to involve themselves after the attack. A Time article from the 1960s noted that “Colombia’s violence started in 1948 as an ugly political war between the country’s Liberals and Conservatives—triggered by the assassination of the Liberal Party Leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan”. Towards the beginning of the organization of FARC, many onlookers and participants thought it seemed like there might be an end to the tumultuous attacks and violence; however, FARC …show more content…
When FARC initially formed, the group was a branch of the Communist Party, and they followed a Marxist-Leninist ideology. The New World Encyclopedia defines Marxism-Leninism as “an adaptation of Marxism developed by Vladimir Lenin, which led to the first successful communist revolution in Lenin’s Russia in November 1917… The core ideological features of Marxism-Leninism include the belief that a revolutionary proletarian class would not emerge from capitalism… there was a need for an overthrow of capitalism and a movement toward communism”. The goal of FARC was to aim for a more fair government that did not ignore the needs of poor people, and the group thought that a communist structure in society would help them reach that goal. It is estimated that, at it’s height, FARC had roughly 20,000 active fighter, but now it is estimated there are “between 6,000 and 7,000 active fighters within the ranks of the FARC… This is down considerably from the estimated 20,000 active fighters they are believed to have had around 2002” (BBC, 2016). The FARC is financially well off, and the group is estimated to be the third richest terrorist group in the world (although it is debated whether or not they are considered a
The Civil War in El Salvador lasted from 1980 to 1992, and the El SAlvadoran government was doing their best to minimize the threat of their opposition. Their main opposition, The Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberacion Nacional; otherwise known as the FMLN, was a guerrilla group that was organized to fight the corruption in the country. 175). One of the main goals of the organization was to create a new society that is not degrading its citizens and promotes equality. Throughout El Salvador’s history, one organization to the next would run the country through repressive actions and social injustice. One of the main reasons that the FMLN fought the acting government were due to these social restraints on the lower- class citizens in El Salvador.
The republic of Colombia has been fighting an internal war for over 50 years. On April 9th 1948, 1:00P.M. The leader of the Liberal Party Jorger Eliecer Gaitan walked out of his office in the downtown area, got shot 3 times and died once he got to the hospital. This day went down in Colombian history as the Bogotazo. Gaitan was a moderate socialist congressman that gave a voice to the middle and lower classes in Colombia. He gave hope to those that had nothing under the right wing elitist government. In 1948 after his death, the era of the Violencia started. A civil war between the Colombian communist party and the farmers against the right wing military conservative government due to the high inflation and unfair assistance to those that
Plan Colombia is a long-prevailing foreign aid package bestowed to the country of Colombia from the United States. This foreign aid package grants substantial financial assistance to Colombia, intending to fight the “War on Drugs” and to reduce the trafficking of narcoleptics, but there is a multitude of other factors and implications, both unintentional or indirect and intentional due to ulterior motives. To accomplish the goals of Plan Colombia, most of the aid has been provided in the form of armed forces. This situation is complicated because of the ongoing civil war between the government of Colombia and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC). Additionally making matters difficult has been the strong association of the Colombian military and some right wing paramilitary units. Such conflict in Colombia exacerbates its drug problem, but Plan Colombia allegedly seeks to tame.
At the same time, FARC continues to spread its influence through militant attacks and violent protests against the government. In August 2013, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ordered 50,000 soldiers into the capital city of Bogota to quell violent demonstrations by farmers and rural groups upset with government policies they claimed are negatively affecting their lives. “[T]he Santos government has accused the rebels [FARC] of infiltrating the protests in an attempt to stir unrest and force the president to make concessions at the negotiating table . . . FARC has been increasing its political dominance in swathes of rural Colombia,” ...
As the Medellín Cartel was the largest drug cartel in Colombia at the time, they had controlled 80% of all the cocaine supply that was entering the United States. Despite the fact that Escobar donated millions of dollars to the local people of Medellin and funded the construction of schools and sports centers to help create a good reputation for himself. But even if he did donate millions of dollars to the poor, it was still just a chip into the Medellín Cartel’s wealth. By looking at the statistics of the number of people who were affected by Escobar’s acts of terror it has become evident to me that the negative effects of the Medellín Cartel had heavily outweighed the benefits of how Escobar tried to give back to the local people of Colombia.
Due to the nature of military dictatorship, in 1960, social discontent began to give way to left wing militants made up of the Mayan indigenous people and rural peasantry. This is the match that lit Guatemala’s Civil War, street battles between the two groups tore the country and pressured the autocratic ruler General Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes to fight harder against the civilian insurrection. Similar to the government abductions that took place in Argentina, the military regime began to do the same.... ... middle of paper ... ...
April 9, 1948, was a tragic day in Colombia’s history. On this day, Jorge Eliécer Gaítán, a candidate for the presidency of Colombia, was assassinated. In the 10 hour period that followed the assassination, angry mobs marched throughout the city of Bogota, looting and burning down over 100 buildings. Before the night would end, nearly 3,000 people would die in the streets. This terrible event in Colombia’s history is today referred to as the Bogotazo. This paper examines some of the underlying reasons contributing to the outbreak of this violence and the events that transpired during the Bogotazo. The paper concludes that the events leading to the violence of the Bogotazo are still present in Colombia today and will hamper its prospects for peace in the future.
Throughout his life, he traveled around Latin America and pursued his passion of being a transnational revolutionary. His biggest success was in Cuba, however, his ideas and tactics were transcended into many other movements around the continent with the publication of his 1960 book, Guerrilla Warfare. Here, Guevara illustrates the situations, tactics and skills that are most effective for social revolution to occur. In his book, he delves into innate detail regarding the strategy, tactics and favorable environment for guerrilla warfare. Although he outlines the necessary conditions for a triumphant revolution, Guevara’s book was not useful for sparking any other successful insurgencies throughout Latin America because it downplays the significance of the urban resistance and popular support as important factors to consider within a successful social revolution.
Throughout the story the author uses a variety of symbolism in The Great Gatsby to help develop the theme of immorality in the story. Multiple colors are used to symbolize aspects of immorality in the wealthy population at the time of The Great Gatsby. These symbols are especially present in the character Jay Gatsby throughout the story. The color green, representing needs and wants, is found multiple times in the story. Another color that helps develop the theme is white; this color represents false purity in a person or thing. Finally, corruption is usually a significant aspect of immorality especially in a wealthy setting, and under grave circumstances it can even lead to death. This segment of immorality is portrayed in the story using the color yellow. These symbols help develop the characteristics found in Jay Gatsby and also help support the theme of immorality as the book progresses.
As unemployment and inflation strengthened poverty throughout the country, especially in the rural outskirts, in the city a new political movement, threatening the long established oligarch-military complex began to develop. When the radio began to announce that opposition’s, PDC candidate, Duarte was sweeping up votes, the radio was cut and when the transmission, the army government’s choice, Molina, was ahead. The blatant fraud encouraged liberal junior and jealous senior officers to stage a coup, attempting to place Duarte in power. After receiving help from forces in the Central American Defense Council (CONDECA), the which was formed in 1963 under the influence the United States to protect Cental America against “possible communist aggression,” and US military advisors, the senior military command put down the coup attempt. (___) The United States
Selah Saterstrom’s The Pink Institution is a novel set in the Deep South following the Civil War. It tells the story of a family over many generations from the point of view of the narrator (who is assumed to be the author of the novel). Saterstrom’s novel is considered to be a historic autobiographical gothic novel. Over the years, this novel has been the topic of many enthusiastic debates over whether the work is actually a novel or even gothic in nature. After reading and analyzing the work at length, there is no doubt that this work illustrates many themes found commonly in gothic literature.
The Freedom Socialist Party can best be described as a socialist feminist organization for which is dedicated to the replacement of capitalist rule. They believe that this can be done by using a workers’ democracy that will guarantee full economical, social, political and legal equality to the many diverse groups of people, along with minorities. They describe themselves as Marxists, Leninists, Trotskyists, feminists and humanists. The FSP wants to overcome imperialism, Stalinists bureaucratism, and racist arrogance. Yet, their main goal is to inject the socialist movement with the ideas of Trotsky feminism in order to prepare it for victory in the "crucial decade."
Africans and African descended people tried to cope or more so resist their daily problems of being enslaved. Slavery resistance originated in British North America almost as soon as the first slaves arrived in the Chesapeake in the early 17th century. The most shared of all the acts of resistance was an effort to claim some amount of freedom against an establishment that defined people basically as property. Maybe the most common forms of resistance were those that take place in the work location. Slavery was ultimately about forced labor, and the enslaved struggled daily to express the standings of their work. Over the many years, ordinary rights developed in most fields of production. These tolls dictated work customs, distribution of rations, general rules of conduct, and etc. If the slave masters increased the workloads, provided insufficient rations, or punished the slaves too severely, slaves showed their unhappiness by slowing work, pretending to be sick, breaking tools, or damaging production.
Growing up is a natural part of life. Everyone grows up. The loss of childish innocence and blind faith in what is said is one chief mark of growing up. Loss of innocence, however, presents itself in many forms, even to adults, and with it brings a greater understanding of the world at large. In literature, authors use the process to explore society and humanity. Through the characters’ loss of innocence, the authors of both To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice & Men discuss ideas of prejudice, family, and courage.
The 1960s was a period well remembered for all the civil rights movements that occurred during that time frame and the impact these movements had on the social and political dynamics of the United States. The three largest movements that were striving in the 1960s were the African American civil rights movement, the New Left movement and the feminist movement. These three movements were in a lot of ways influenced by each other and were very similar in terms of their goals and strategies. However, within each of these movements there were divisions in the way they tried to approach the issues they were fighting against. Looking at each of these movements individually will reveal the relationship they all share as well as the changes that were brought forth as a result of each groups actions.