Adrian's Reviews > The FARC: The Longest Insurgency

** spoiler alert ** While the book was not brilliant i'd say it was definetly good and worth it , to understand a bit more on this country that has been plagued over the decades by a really trash , violent and abusing class of politicians and upper class.

A few points:
- Colombia's geography is in such a way that it is really hard for the capital Bogota to assert , control and check what happens in the rest of the country.
- Over the decades the two political parties have ruled in turn or together in one form or another over the country prioritising their own agendas and not giving a shit about the working class especially the peasants in the remote highlands
- FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) was formed as a communist leninist political-guerilla movement that would oppose gonverment abuses and fight against class inequality. Some of their main goals have not changed from their incpetion: redistribution of land to the peasants , nationalising the state resources especially oil and energy.
- Over the decades the guerilla has fought a bloody war first against the national army, then against paramilitaries sponsored by the government and later by the US - who wanted to gain easy access to the vast resources of the country.
- The US , the Bogota gov , the paramilitaries have tried by any means thus violating a huge number human rights to eradicate the guerilla movement.
All proved to be in vain eventually , because the roots of the problem (inequality) have never been addressed , therefore the poor class has always found a better alternative to join the FARC and actively support them.
- In need of revenue FARC got heavily involved in the cocaine business , as the middle men between the poor farmers and the drug cartels. They would set a fixed price per kg of coca and act on behalf of the farmers not to grt extorcated.
- After nearly 70 years and a lot of bloodshed , after many presidents , all adopting an aggresive stance towards the guerilla , the problems have remained the same. The guerillas are fighting with rudinentary weapons attacking nowadays foreign oil corporations setting shop in the oil rich areas , blowing up pipelines and planting land mines across huge spots of land.
- Despite the huge number of colltateral damage and incredible number of civilian deaths , no the politicians try relentlessly to keep everything under the rug , to pay paramilitaries to do their dirty work thus killing , raping , torturing and displacing civilians in order to root out the guerilla , failing to address the socio-economical issue , the elephant in the room.

A really really sad situation , and a total surprise for me , hoping post Narco Era Colombia would get their shit together.
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