In Colombia, Hundreds of Ex-Rebels Have Been Murdered Despite Peace Agreement

By Rodrigo Acuña

2 May 2021

So far this year alone, Colombia has seen 33 massacres of social leaders, trade union organizers and ex-guerrilla fighters belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). At least 119 people have been murdered by paramilitary groups, state security forces or unidentified assassins as of April 27, according to the Instituto de Estudio para el Desarrollo y la Paz, or Institute of Study for Development and Peace. According to Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office, in the first three months of 2021, more than 27,000 Colombians were forcibly displaced due to violence by groups fighting for territorial control and control of the drug trade — an increase of 177 percent compared to last year.

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under Truthout and tagged Colombia FARC.

Colombia: the FARC returns to war?

By Rodrigo Acuña

Latin America Bureau

20 September 2019

The recent announcement by Iván Márquez – the second highest commander of the original Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – that sections of South America’s largest demobilised guerrilla movement are returning to war, should come as little surprise to some observers of Latin America. In a recent video, Márquez, whose real name is Luciano Marín, said that the Colombian State has failed to implement its promised land reform for peasants as established in the 2016 Peace accords.

From the rebel’s perspective, the Attorney General, ultra right-wing members of Congress, former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez and current president Iván Duque Márquez are to blame for the failure of the peace agreement. The Embassy of the United States in Bogota was also mentioned.

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under Latin America Bureau and tagged Colombia FARC.

Colombia: mixed messages

By Rodrigo Acuña

The Diplomat

January 2008

The recent release of hostages by Colombia's largest rebel movement the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has again demonstrated the rebels' willingness to engage in peace negotiations with the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez.

And yet, if the latest reports that the FARC have kidnapped six tourists are correct, it also reveals that their leadership does not regard its international image - which is deservedly bad enough - high on its list of priorities. This is particularly the case after the successful mediating role played by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the declaration passed by his country's National Assembly which stated that the FARC and the Army of National Liberation (ELN) - the country's second largest leftist guerrilla group - to be insurgents and not terrorists.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under The Diplomat and tagged Colombia FARC Human Rights Civil War.

A Narco-Terrorist State

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

18 April 2007

A recent article by Paul Richter and Greg Miller in the Los Angeles Times has again brought international attention on Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. At the centre of the LA Times article is a leaked report from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which claims that Colombian army chief General Mario Montoya and a paramilitary group carried out an operation against Marxist rebels in 2002, that left 14 people dead and ‘dozens more disappeared in its aftermath’.

Given the nature of the activities of paramilitary groups in Colombia and Uribe’s ‘long and close association’ with Montoya, the revelation adds to a scandal which, Richter and Miller say, ‘already has implicated the country’s former Foreign Minister, at least one State Governor, legislators and the head of the national police’.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged Colombia Álvaro Uribe Human Rights Crime.