Feb 16 2014
Colombia´s conflict
For many years Colombia has been characterized as a country of drugs and violence marked by internal conflict that lasts until today. This conflict has claimed the lives of about 2 million people, which the population of Colombia today is 47 million, within that internal war has killed 4,2% of the current population (NoticiasCaracol,1). It is a very high percentage with regards an internal war of 60 years. That's why Colombia has suffered from armed conflict for several years and it has negatively impacted the country's development. To understand the issue it is necessary to see the origins of this conflict and also how this has affected the country. The conflict dates back to 1946 when it began a civil and political conflict between supporters of the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party for taking control of the State Power. But the outbreak was the assassination of the Liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán. Gaitán was the leader of poor agricultural producers and represented the interests, created jobs and economic opportunities for them to take advantage (Downing,1). But since the death of Gaitán, farmers lose their representation in politics and its future had been vanished.
Because of the economic problems and tensions between liberals and conservatives, Colombia entered a period called "La Violencia " (The Violence) which lasted from 1948 to 1960 until they reached an agreement between liberals and conservatives. In this period of violence, diverse groups outside the law as the National Liberation Army (ELN), comprised of university students inspired by the Cuban revolution and Che Guevara theory, which had been present in the workers' struggle. Another group was formed the April 19 movement (M -19), was an urban movement that represents students and workers from the dubious electoral loss of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, the 45th President of Colombia that thanks to a coup became the first president - dictator of Colombia, the M -19 they are paramilitaries and goes against the guerrillas(Downing,2). The terrorist group is known worldwide Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have Marxist ideals, self-described as guerrillas, formed more as an agrarian and peasant movement (Downing,1). From what began as political ideals and a place in the politics of the country to represent the rights of students, peasants and popular people, ended up being the root of the conflict that became a conflict of interest between capitalism, communism and narcotic industry. Groups like FARC and M -19 wanted political powers; they pressured the Colombian government violently, attacking innocent communities and infrastructure. Thus, the wealthy conservatives in major cities such as Bogota, Medellin and Cali, created the paramilitaries to combat the guerrilla groups (Downing,1). This conflict between paramilitaries and guerillas groups gave rise to illegal activities and provided the perfect place for drug production and trafficking, mainly to the U.S. Between 1980 and 1990 , the drug cartels began to form in major cities such as Bogota, Medellin and Cali, these illegal group made alliances with the guerrillas and paramilitaries to maintain control of the territory and drug production, once again, these illegal groups attacked innocent civilians in order to sow fear, empower them and keep attacking the Colombian government. The guerrillas realized that drug trafficking could make large amounts of money, and thus the political ideals were lost in order to control the drug trade, they expanded their production areas and control resources such as coca and marijuana.
Nowadays, the guerrillas are involve in extortion, where they ask for money in exchange for the kidnapped hostage and they continue with the production of illicit substances, making these the two ways for their economic support. On the other hand, they continue with terrorist attacks against the population but it has
