La Violencia Thesis

Could one imagine being the neighbor of a criminal who has killed, rape, or kidnapped a family member? What about one that has introduced drugs to her child? Colombian citizens are about to learn what it is like to live next door to a terrorist, a criminal, a political party and one who will never be held accountable for his crimes. On September fifteenth, in Havana, Cuba, the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the FARC, declared that they were nearing completion of a peace treaty. The FARC was formed in 1964 as a communist group as the civil war known as “La Violencia” was ending. The FARC and Colombia have been at war with each other ever since it's founding; creating the longest running active guerilla

On the ninth of April, 1948, Presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, was murdered by Juan Roa Sierra on the streets of Bogota. This event caused what is known as the Bogotazo, which was a huge riot that left over 3,000 people dead. The riot became the spark of La Violencia, which was the fight between the Liberal and the Conservative party. According to the article, This Day in History, During this violent period, citizens of Colombia were left to fend for themselves. Law enforcement could not handle the chaos therefore, many people turned to guerilla units and death squads for

The FARC has always managed to produce a high number of income through ransomes of kidnapping, international drug money, and illegal mining. On Council of Foreign Affairs, authors Danielle Renwick, and editor Stephanie Hanson state, “ InSight Crime, an online publication that specializes in organized crime in Latin America and Caribbean, put a conservative estimate at $200 million in 2012, while Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said the figure could be as high as $3.5 billion” (Renwick, F.E.C.L.G). The FARC’s biggest client, is the United States. According to Danielle Renwicks article, about sixty percent of the cocaine produced in Colombia is exported to the United States.According to a published article Jeremy McDermott, The FARC tax cocaine growers fifty perecent per kilo, buyers two hundred dollars per kilo, tax production a hundred dollars per kilo, and a flight tax that is also a hundred dollars per kilo. In addition, a article on BBC news states “In 2002, rebels were responsible for the majority of the 2,882 kidnappings registered, making millions of dollars in ransoms” (Latin America & Caribbean, C.F.R:E.T.K.A.N.S). The FARC has been able to fund their campaign through drug trafficking and kidnapping, many of these illegal activities have influenced countries like the united