The FARC vs. the People

A soldier and his bomb-sniffing dog examine an electrical tower destoryed by the FARC guerrillas. (Photo; Semana)

The FARC guerrillas like to formally call themselves the FARC-EP, the 'Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Army of the People.'

But the FARC have long attacked those people they pretend to defend, stealing from and extorting them, kidnapping them, kidnapping their children to turn them into private soldiers, driving them off of their land and even massacring them.

However, over the last two months, as the peace talks in Havana have bogged down, the FARC have escalated their attacks on both the military and common Colombians: the guerrillas have murdered policemen in cold blood; blown up electrical towers, plunging cities into darkness; and halted oil trucks and poured the petroleum onto the ground, polluting rivers and poisoning cities' water supplies.

Why would the guerrillas do this? Perhaps they want to force the government to agree to a cease fire, or to slow down the negotiations even more, to enable the guerrilla fronts to rake in milions more from the drug trade, or to enable the guerrilla commanders to spend more time in lovely, relaxing Havana. However, the attacks seem to have backfired. Instead, pressure is growing on Pres. Santos to set a deadline by which to sign a peace agreement, or else.

Or, as one commentator suggested, the guerrillas may just want to keep their fighters busy - even if that means preying on civilians.

Whatever their motives, the guerrillas are once again displaying their own moral bankruptcy, while destroying the dreams of peace for all Colombians.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours