Extremist groups in Latin America BK and Nattinee Jan 26, 2017

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Forbes ranking of the world’s richest terrorist organizations. The FARC was a result of civil conflict in Colombia. The war destroyed governmental structures and anti- government groups was established. Goal: 1. They want to overthrow government of Colombia and 2. They want to establish a communist state with FARC-controlled government. Majority of their soldiers are younger than 18 who join for a variety of reasons Educational opportunities Avoiding dangerous work in coca processing Escaping from domestic violence Money In June 2016, the FARC signed a ceasefire accord with the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos in Havana.

How they finance? The group earns an estimated $600 million a year. While Al Qaeda makes $150 million, Taliban earns $400 million and Boko Haram earns $25 million a year in revenue. Source of fund: Violent drug (Cocaine) Illegal narcotics trafficking Kidnapping Taxation

Tax from the trade of every single cultivated products An average ransom: 100,000 USD for its Colombian victims $1.5 M for Foreigners (About 27,000 people were kidnapped between 1970 and 2010) The total value of the cocaine trade is assessed at $10 billion per year in U.S. dollars Keep the like cocaine, gasoline, cement or even the transaction of transportation. However, the FARC also provides some useful services to the farmers such as protection from common thieves. Also in rural areas where have been forgotten by the central government FARC offers the benefit for those people and also demands some extortion fees in return The FARC charges an average ransom of 100,000 USD for its Colombian victims Tax from the trade of every single cultivated products Globalization has helped allowing resources to circulate faster and connecting them to foreign markets

National Liberation Army (ELN)    

“The government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) will begin formal peace talks in Ecuador on Feb. 7, once the insurgent group frees a kidnapped politician and authorities pardon two jailed rebels… The sit down will end three years of back and forth between the two sides and hopefully stop a conflict that pit leftist rebels against right-wing paramilitaries and the military, killing over 220,000.” "My father was released by the ELN around midday [Jan 2nd, 2017] in La Guajira, a village near Maicao, close to Venezuela," Armando Figueroa, son of the businessman abducted March 16, [2016]. Figueroa said his father, who was released after an undisclosed ransom was paid, was "physically worn out but very happy to be with his family.“ The elder Figueroa said he did not eat every day, and was treated cruelly. "He burst into tears saying 'thank God I am out of that torture,'" the son added.

Background Formed in 1964 following the decade of Colombian civil war; it began as a social movement Cuban Revolution and Che Guevarra inspired students, Catholic radicals, and leftist intellectuals, form the ELN to fight for a popular democracy in Colombia. Felt the Colombian majority was excluded by the state, and they sought to take over the government and replace it with one that was more representative In 1973, everything changed and dramatic events led to a dramatic shift in priorities a government military offensive almost eliminated the group in its entirety; eliminating 135 of the 200 members Under new leadership, ELN started kidnapping for revenue in order to rebuild the group; expanding to bank robbing, kidnapping and assassinating military members By the 1980s, the ELN sharpened its focus and “core competency” ELN members had become expert kidnappers: kidnapping from boats, vehicles, and airplanes Unlike the FARC, the ELN avoided the drug trade and focused on furthering its political goals.

Background In the 1990s, the ELN diversified its portfolio Targeting and extorting the employees of many oil companies, over $300 millions was earned in 1998 alone At this time, the ELN also changed its policy and entered the drug trade. It started taxing coca and marijuana growers 1997 the US State Department officially declares the ELN a terrorist organization The 2000s marked fierce competition and attempts at new partnerships Internal conflict and the rise of paramilitary forces, resulted in the ELN losing large amounts of territory ELN engaged in peace talks with the Uribe administration in 2002, 2004, and 2005; all of these peace talks failed May 2008, the ELN sent a letter to the FARC, expressing its interest in cooperating Clearly in decline, by 2009 units started disobeying leaders’ orders and allying with drug traffickers for financial security Since 2010, the story has been of re-emergence and a fight for continued relevance In 2012, the ELN was not invited to the peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government. Angered by its exclusion, the ELN immediately responded by killing police officers and blowing up pipelines in 2012. In 2013, the ELN continued to increase attacks and declared war on oil companies. In June 2014, the Colombian government restarted exploratory talks with the ELN

ELN Financing: A Leader’s Commentary (2000) Q. How do you finance yourselves? A. The vast majority of our members are working people…Therefore most of the ELN's social and political work is financed by donations from these people. Those members who are part of the professional guerrilla, the people in arms…They grow crops for example and this contributes greatly to the ELN's finances. There are also voluntary contributions made by people who share our ideals. The fourth way we finance ourselves we call a tax policy.…In situations where companies fail in their obligations to pay tax we carry out an "economic retention" to make them pay the tax--taking into account that "their" wealth was produced in our soil and ought to be shared with the total of the population. We call this activity "humanitarian solidarity," where the rich have to share because their profits are the result of a social activity…. Q: When you say "retention" you are talking about kidnapping? A. Here we need to make a clarification. On the one hand there is hostage taking, a crime forbidden by international human rights law, on the other we have kidnapping, and separate to these two we have retention…Retention for economic reasons has a different goal; its aim is to try to benefit society… Q. Do the guerrillas of the ELN receive any salary? A. None of them are paid, not even the urban guerrillas. Our guerrillas only receive their equipment, things like food, clothes, weapons, etc., but they do not receive any money. Q. What if they have families who need economic help? A. In the urban field there are members whose budget must be covered because they have to pay expenses like rent, etc. They are very busy in their political activities so we pay their expenses. They have a budget that allows them to perform their activities, but we do not consider it a salary. Our policy is to provide a subsidy to support the families of those who have not got a regular job and are l00% involved with the ELN.

Source Jensen, M. (2014, July 17). Terrorism in Latin America: Infographic. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from https://warontherocks.com/2014/07/terrorism-in-latin-america-infographic/ Martel, F. (2014, November 13). Colombia's FARC Make More Money than Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and the Taliban Combined. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.breitbart.com/national- security/2014/11/13/colombia-s-farc-make-more-money-than-al-qaeda-boko-haram-and-the- taliban-combined/ Wikipedia. (n.d.). FARC. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FARC#Financing COHA. (2010, July 6). FARC – Rebels with a Cause? Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.coha.org/farc-%E2%80%93-rebels-with-a-cause/

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