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Home | Military Conflict | Colombian armed conflict (1964-present)
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The Colombian armed conflict or Colombian Civil War are terms that are employed to refer to the current asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict in Colombia that has existed since approximately 1964 or 1966, between the Colombian government and peasant guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN). It is historically rooted in the conflict known as La Violencia, which was triggered by the 1948 assassination of populist political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, and in the aftermath of U.S.-backed military attacks on peasant communities in rural Colombia in the 1960s that led Liberal and Communist militants to re-organize into FARC. The reasons for fighting vary from group to group. The FARC and other guerrilla movements claim to be fighting for the rights of the poor in Colombia to protect them from government violence and to provide social justice through socialism. The Colombian government claims to be fighting for order and stability, seeking to protect the rights and interests of its citizens, private companies and multinational corporations such as Occidental Petroleum, from guerrilla attacks. The paramilitary groups, such as the AUC, claim to be reacting to perceived threats by guerrilla movements. Both guerrilla and paramilitary groups have been accused of engaging in drug trafficking and terrorism. All parties engaged in the conflict have been criticized for numerous human rights violations. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced millions. |