Colombia has struggled throughout the years battling various terrorist groups. The FARC is the most dangerous terrorist organization that the country has continually fought for over four decades. Drug trafficking, bombings, and political leader targeted attacks are the tactics used by this terrorist organization in hopes to gain political power. Their agenda is geared to overtake the Colombian government to make the country into a socialist society. Various efforts and attempts in conjunction with the US government have led to a weakened state of the FARC. However, the journey to defeat this terrorist group continues.
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
Colombia is a country located in South America. The country is home to illegal drug production of cocaine, which supplies most of the cocaine demand in the United States (U.S.) and Europe. Although cocaine production has decreased throughout the years by efforts between the US and Colombia, it is still a rampant problem in various countries. The never-ending drug productions, along with governmental problems, have played a massive role in terrorist activity in Colombia.
The Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), are three known dangerous terrorist groups in Colombia (White, 2014). The FARC has caused further terrorism than the ELN and AUC combined. Some of the differences between the groups explain the dominant posture that the FARC holds.
The FARC is able to fund more terrorist activities than the ELN because the ELN doesn’t fund their terrorist activities through illicit drug production or trafficking. Funding through narcotics would go against the le...
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...mbia. Observatorio de Políticas, Ejecución y Resultados de la Administración Pública.
Higday, J. (2002). Enduring Freedom The FARC and Other Terrorist Groups in Colombia and South America: Are We Moving Closer to the Nest Phase in the War on Terror? Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin.
Noveck, J. (2010). Ingrid Betancourt Details Kidnapping in New Book. Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/22/ingrid-betancourt-details_n_735673.html
Ortiz, R. (2002). Insurgent Strategies in the Post–Cold War: The Case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Taylor & Francis. DOI: 10.1080/105761002753502484
Ramos F. & Vargas A. (2003). At least 32 Killed in Colombian Club Blast. CNN World. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/02/08/colombia.explosion/index.html
White, J. (2014). Terrorism and Homeland Security. California: Thomason-Wadsworth.
When the country of Colombia is mentioned, chances are individuals automatically start composing images of famous actors and musicians that have rooted from Colombia such as Shakira and Sofia Vergara, the excellent reputation Colombian coffee has made across the globe, or even the beautiful Emeralds that surround the astonishing land. Of course all of those things matter, but Colombia is a country that is definitely swept under the rug and under appreciated. Colombia’s history, independence movements, governmental structure, and culture are just a few of the topics that make Colombia so unique.
The definition of insurgency according to JP1-02 is “The organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a region. Insurgency can also refer to the group itself.” I chose to do my argumentative essay on the Dominican Republic Civil War, during the presidency of Rafael Trujillo. Which was considered the most heinous and boldness president in Dominican Republic’s history. I agree and support JP 1-02 definition of insurgency.
Kampwirth, Karen. Women and Guerrilla Movements in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chipas and Cuba. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002. University Park, PA.
This source is valuable to examine as it demonstrates how cocaine rendered the country more vulnerable to globalization when the nation was already engaged in a prolonged armed conflict. Taussig himself asserts how cocaine exposed the nation to other threats, claiming, “along with the cocaine come the guerrilla, and behind the guerrilla come the paramilitaries in a war without mercy for control of the coca fields and therefore of what little is left of the staggeringly incompetent Colombian state” (16). This source is also valuable as Taussig even mentions how the United States War on Drugs in the 1970s heightened conflict and corruption, doing nothing on an international scale and allowing for Colombian cartels to dominate the cocaine market throughout the 1980s. My Cocaine Museum analyzes Colombia’s transition to cocaine and a critique of world inaction and globalization, interweaving both fact and fiction through first-hand accounts of Colombia’s history. In this sense, it is a worthy source to examine due to the first-hand stories of the violence caused by cocaine trade. Yet, the novel shares a limited perspective as it only tells one side of the story of the arise of cocaine and gives little voice to those who took over the farms and turned them into profit machines for funding the war. Nonetheless, it sheds light on a very important reality in Colombian
The cartels are now in control of most of the drug trades and are successful. The Mexican border gives them the power to go everywhere they desire, making them a relentless force. “To date operation Xcellrator has led the arrest of 755 individuals and the seizure of approximately 5 U.S. Currency more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 11,000 of methamphetamine, more than 8 kilograms of heroin, approximately 1.3 million pills of ecstasy”(Doj 2). Mexican cartels extend to central and southern America. Columbia is the supply of much of the cocaine exported to the U.S. Colombia is under control of South American gangs, they do business with the Mexican cartels to transport drugs the north. The Northern Mexican gangs hold the most control because the territory is very important (Wagner1). They are many different types of cartel in Mexico it also signifies that there are killing each other so their cartel can expand an...
The future of Colombia is very bright; no country on this earth is in a better position with many rainforest, and strapping coffee reserves. Colombia began as a country under fire. Fighting to gain their independence from Spain, and enduring a civil war .The period of corrupt government and the cartel trying to keep a strong hold over Colombia. The country of cocaine and kidnappings is the best uncharted adventure haven in South America. If you ever get a chance to visit the beautiful country of Colombia do so it would be a great experience.
How the commodity chain works isn’t only on the product, there’s a responsibility needed to be reached by the organization and geographical sense as well. This however, is more difficult for the cocaine commodity chain because of its illicit status. Geographically, the growth of the coca leaf depends on what it needs to grow, therefore the leaf is grown in Peru and Bolivia. The production of the cocaine was from Cuba and Chile then smuggled into the United States for distribution. The way this commodity chain is spaced out makes a lot of sense. Peru and Bolivia, side by side countries on the coast of South America produce the coca to be shipped along the coast to Cuba and Chile to be processed. By having these places on the coast, it puts transaction costs to a minimum saving them money. By different productions being in different places in order for them to work it labels the cocaine commodity chain as a social division of labour. Once the cocaine was in the United States, there were three main groups. The main man, this guy was responsible for bringing it into the country and making the connection to Southern America to receive their shipment. Then it is brought to the wholesalers. The wholesalers are responsible for distributing large amounts of cocaine to their dealers; who then sell in smaller amounts to consumers.
In Jeanette Schmidt’s article, Transporting Cocaine states, “Colombian cartels would pay the Mexican groups as much as $1,000/kilo to smuggle cocaine into the United States” (Schmidt, 2). The Colombian cartels would then pick up the drugs and resume distribution and sales efforts, making personal profits that are unrecorded. In order to seize these individuals who are growing in power and numbers, the U.S. must control the connections between Mexico and Columbia. Mexico is the biggest transporter amongst Columbia and the U.S. because it shares a border with the U.S. This increasingly poisonous drug trafficking leads to drug dealers...
Bruneau,C.,(2005, May).The Maras and national security in Central America. Strategic insights (5). Retrieved from http://www.nps.edu/academics/centers/publications/onlinejournal/2005/may/bruneaumay05.html
In 1995, the US began to fund aerial eradication campaigns in Colombia. Military planes dumped pesticides over thousands of acres of coca fields. These campaigns turned out to be counterproductive, leading to an actual increase in the amount of coca acreage. The spraying of coca only led Colombian growers to diversify their techniques, growing coca amongst other crops or in locations that were hard to identify by radar techniques. In 2002, the CI...
Colombia. Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo. Resumen Del Tratado De Libre Comercio Entre Estados Unidos y Colombia. Web. .
The threat of the terrorism is a global concern and need to be addressed globally in order for it to have effective solutions. The Bureau of Counterterrorism in the State Department (CT) is responsible for continually monitoring the movements of the active terrorist groups flourishing in different parts of the world for the sake of identifying the potential targets for designation. The review of the potential targets by CT considers the counts of the actual terrorist attacking a group has been fund to indulge into, along with the careful understanding about the way the group has planned and prepared for the act and estimating the probability of the acts of terrorism in the future in terms of their capability and intention for pursuing such acts (http://www.state.gov). There have been security threat issues not only in terms of the foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) but the threat is also growing due to domestic terrorism. According to the report of Homeland Security, (2007) it has been indicated that domestic terrorists based and operating within the terrains of United States including the eco-terrorist groups, white supremacist groups, and the animal rights extremists pose a serious terrorist threat to the country (http://www.hlswatch.com). Such groups are observed in all regions of the globe. The official definition of a FTO suggests that these are the foreign organizations designated by the Secretary of State according to the section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (http://www.state.gov). According to a memo by its Terrorist Research and Analytical Center, the FBI has partially defined Domestic Terrorism as “the unlawful use, or threatened use, of violence by a group or individual based and operating entire...
Thinking historically while conducting counterinsurgency in the 21st century poses questions regarding how to develop political and strategic plans. This bibliographic essay will examine the political and military aspect of fighting counterinsurgent warfare by 20th century theorists Galula’s, “Counterinsurgency Warfare Theory and Practice” and Trinquier’s, “Counterinsurgency Warfare Theory and Practice”. Strategy in fighting guerilla wars will be discussed by comparing conflicts in battles and ideologies from the past to current day. Moreover, ways to avoid the one size fits all war mentality when combating modern day insurgents will be recommended.
When comparing and contrasting U. S. military operations and capabilities with regard to regular versus irregular warfare it is important to understand the definition of irregular and the spectrum of conflict. In recent history, the term “irregular warfare” has been used interchangeably with or alongside insurgency and counterinsurgency warfare. This usage and comparison is too narrow. ...
Third world countries became the perfect battleground for cold war proxy battles during the early 1940’s to late 1990’s. United States wanted to flex its political muscle and try to curtail the spread of Soviet Communism in the developing nations. Most of the nations in developed world had already made their political and socio-economic stand regarding the form of governance and leadership pursued. Underdeveloped nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa were still vulnerable and easily influenced in terms of ideologies and political direction. Most nations in Latin America like Chile were recovering from colonialism and thus logistic, economic and political aid from powerful nations to propel their economies which made it easy for Americans and Russians to act as their “saviors’”. The quest for global dominance had intensified between United States and USSR and the shift was focused to developing nations like Chile. Both Americans and Russians used different mechanisms to enhance their propaganda and support the regimes which were friendly to them and used any means necessary to topple hostile regimes. CIA used covert operations in Chile and most of the Latin nations to plant their puppet leaders in order to safeguard their foreign policy interests and maintain dominance. Military coups and social unrests were planned, orchestrated and executed with the assistance of CIA. The research paper tries to critical analyze the impact of the cold war on Chile and influence of United States.