The Guardian has been granted rare access to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, whose ranks have shrunk to small number of hardliners skeptical of the most recent attempts at peace:
The conflict has left 220,000 dead, 50,000 disappeared, and five million have fled their homes. Appalling atrocities have been by the FARC, by paramilitary groups operating in collusion with the state, and by the state itself. FARC was created in the 1960s to fight for the rights of the poor against a corrupt, exploitative and repressive elite. But Colombians claim they have lost their way through the imposition of a revolutionary tax on the lucrative cocaine trade, on cattle ranchers and multinational working in the region, and a ruthless campaign of kidnapping and extortion. …
After forming a political organization following a 1984 truce, 3,000 FARC fighters were killed by paramilitary and state forces. Many are wary of history repeating itself today.
