Guerrilla Warfare

[Ruso]

Now, I know this might seem as a trivial, uninteresting topic for most but I'll post it anyway. As it is well known among some, the South American nation of Colombia is the first most murderous in relation to crimes per capita, in the world. Their war against the already famous FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) has made of this country one of the most dangerous in the world, sharing the label with Sudan and even Israel. Despite that, the surrounding nations have, so far, most of the time kept their neutrality. Recent investigations, however, demonstrate that many of the unfortunate crimes which have been commited in the southern neighbor of Ecuador, are related to guerrila interests from Colombia. The ecuadorian state finds itself with the question of whether to act, close the frontiers and oficially declare war on FARC, fearing their unpredicatble retaliation, or maintain their neutrality. It is now official that there are militant cells of the guerilla inside ecuadorian territory, and inside ecuadorian cities. Should one of the policies include the increasement of requirements for colombian visitors to enter the territory?

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap

[Viper]

Declare war after seeking US, and others, support.

Regimes such as that won't just go away on their own. Action must be taken. Doing nothing achieves nothing.

[Ruso]

Just to explain some things I forgot:

-The Colombian government is under American help, under the "Plan Colombia".

-Ecuador does not want to intervene because of the fear of retaliation from FARC

-Colombia is under declared war against the guerillas

-Colombian paramilitary groups gave up arms

-Because of Ecuador's neutrality, FARC has not attacked any ecuadorian possible target.

-FARC are related to Drug traffic

-FARC are officially declared by the Colombian gov as terrorist, not revolutionaries

-Despite the war, Colombia's economy is one of the strongest in the Americas

-Colombia is allied with the USA

-In Colombia, journalist do not fear any government opression, they fear the FARC vengeance,

-In Colombia, posting something like this, against these terrorist groups, and get caught, would be deadly.

[9thWonder]

Militaryt action should be taken, they aren't going to go away if you just let them run wild throught the country. And I know how the FARC affects daily life for people of Colombia, my family is from Colombia. My parents were born there, and most of my family stil lives there. It's a scary thing, the tourists are reluctant to come because of possibility of kidnap. Everytime I go to visit family, I have to be cautious.

[Ruso]

Yeah, it is really scary. Fortunatelly the paramilitary groups have given up, for the most part. And now, they are asking Ecuador to quit being neutral.

[Spartan]

The government should not take that task on until they are certain that they can keep up their efforts for an extended period. A group such as the FARC should not be allowed hold a government hostage to anything.

[DetroitBazaar]

Maybe I'm not understanding the question but will respond anyway. Declare war on Colombia? For what?- think about what created FARC, as with anything this is jus IMO only.

Peace

[hood]

-FARC are officially declared by the Colombian gov as terrorist, not revolutionaries

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Who exactly gets to determine who is terrorists or revolutionaries? I would really like to hear someone tell me what the threshhold is, I have a feeling that the American Colonists, in todays terms, would be reffered to as terrorists, kind of a joke. As for the Columbians, it's a lost cause, we should allow this organization to continue with minimal interference as long as they do not kill randomly, especially innocent people, but maybe thats what they are already doing?

[Viper]

Methods and means of establishing change have much to do with it as well as how high the percentage of local support is.

If they attempt change peacefully at first and are backed or comprised of the vast majority of the population, it's not terrorism.

Besides, revolutionaries don't exactly blow up their own people.

If the method is violent from the outset and/or is not supported by the masses, it can't be revolutionary.

[Ruso]

Maybe I'm not understanding the question but will respond anyway.  Declare war on Colombia?  For what?- think about what created FARC, as with anything this is jus IMO only.

Peace

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not on the Colombian gov. , on the guerrilas. FARC are a leftist guerilla force, which is fighting the Colombian state. Ecuador, is chosing neutrality, but Colombians are requesting ecuadorian alliance.

Who exactly gets to determine who is terrorists or revolutionaries? I would really like to hear someone tell me what the threshhold is, I have a feeling that the American Colonists, in todays terms, would be reffered to as terrorists, kind of a joke. As for the Columbians, it's a lost cause, we should allow this organization to continue with minimal interference as long as they do not kill randomly, especially innocent people, but maybe thats what they are already doing?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with you, those concepts are very relative and can be altered according to the situation. Nevertheless, they do implement certain methods that are far from revolutionary. They have lost popular support and they have become drug dealers. Their original ideals have been corrupted, and they are now nothing but a mafia.

[daniel18]

I support most Marxist guerrillas like FARC-EP and Shining Path. I wish them luck.

[Ruso]

I support most Marxist guerrillas like FARC-EP and Shining Path. I wish them luck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow, radical opinion. Have you been in Colombia or Per

[daniel18]

Wow, radical opinion. Have you been in Colombia or Per

[Ruso]

No, but I lived in El Salvador during the war, which was much worse at the time than Peru's or Colombia's civil war. The puppet governments of these countries and their fascist paramilitaries and death squads kill more people than the guerrillas (Peru being the exception).

I support them because I believe it's the only way they can escape colonialism.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Colonialism from whom? Fascist paramilitaries, or people who got tired of being killed?