FARC Deemed Responsible for Fatal Shooting: The Return of Colombia’s Largest Rebel Group

A fifteen-year-old girl, among five others, was killed after a shooting in a rural area near the town of Tumaco, Colombia. Major-General Álvaro Vicente Pérez of the Colombian army claims that former FARC rebels, currently calling themselves the Uriel Rendón Column, provoked the attack through their rivalry with other armed gangs. This recent FARC uprising was entirely unforeseen, given that FARC officially disbanded in 2016 following a peace deal with the Colombian government. 

“Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia,” or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) is a Marxist-Leninist group founded in 1964 by Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenus as a branch of the Communist party. The group was created to represent small, rural farmers during the Colombian civil war and to target economic inequality. FARC endorses the redistribution of wealth from those at the top of the socio-economic status to those at the bottom, as well as opposing powerful nations, such as the United States, because of their strong influence over Colombia. Even though FARC has been officially demobilized and disarmed since their 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government, ex-guerilla leaders who did not agree to the peace deal are continuing illegal and violent activities under the group’s name. Security forces estimate that there are currently 6,000-7,000 active rebellious ex-FARC fighters along with another 8,500 civilians also believed to be associated with FARC’s network, which is still remarkably less than the estimated 20,000 active fighters in 2002. FARC is organized in regional blocs controlled by various Secretariats, run by their top leader, Rodrigo Londono Echeverri, better known as Timochenko. The group began trafficking cocaine in the 1970’s for funding, which, along with kidnappings, accelerated the group’s exponential growth in both members and in power.

Even though the group was founded on a vision for equality, 260,000 people died under FARC authority, and seven million people were forcibly displaced due to a conflict between FARC and government forces. Children were both forcibly recruited and kidnapped during this conflict, which further facilitated FARC’s physical and financial growth. Although FARC’s current top leader Timochenko is not as public as past FARC leaders, his authoritative measures have been some of the deadliest. From ordering a governor’s murder to organizing the bombing of a social club, Timochenko’s leadership has been far from amicable. In opposition to his previous rulings, he played a crucial role in advocating for peace between FARC and the Colombian government with his involvement in the 2016 peace deal. 

In 2016, FARC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government and officially disbanded. They now exist as a political party called the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, though they continue to use the acronym FARC. Although FARC is officially demobilized, some ex-guerrilla leaders have been continuing illegal militant activities under the group’s name, hindering FARC’s intention to put an end to violent times. Following the 2016 peace deal, former FARC members experienced a post-war baby boom because they had not been allowed to have children under FARC rule. These children were named “los niños de la paz” or “the children of peace” as they represented hope for a new era of peace following decades of war. However, the attempt to integrate these 13,000 ex-guerillas into society has led to targeted attacks and killings, causing them to live in makeshift homes. The former militants fear that this hostile environment will launch their children into the same violent cycle in which they themselves were raised in. Between July and August of 2021, FARC dissidents from the Carolina Ramirez First Front recruited four minors from the La Pedrera municipality. Children who live in areas of the Amazon where violent FARC members reside are at high risk of being kidnapped and forced into recruitment. Not only do these FARC dissidents integrate minors into their ranks, but they also take control of the rivers and terrain to carry out cocaine trafficking. 

In many cases, FARC does not need to forcibly recruit members, as some Colombians join their ranks without a fight. Many FARC combatants join at a young age, not out of personal desire, but as an escape from brutal home life. FARC promises them a hopeful future and a sense of family, which countless young Colombians lacked decades ago. Many Colombians also were drawn to enlist in FARC by its wealth, acquired via illicit drug trade, as an attempt to escape poverty. Dissident ex-FARC guerillas causing the riots that resulted in a teen girl’s death coupled with failed efforts to assimilate ex-combatants into Colombian society paves a treacherous future for these symbolic “children of peace”. FARC’s cyclic violent history rises once again, shedding light on just how paper-thin a peace deal can truly be. 

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