The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The decade between 1948 to 1958 saw a period of intense Civil War in Columbia known as La Violencia. Following this civil war, in 1964, a Colombian Communist Party (PCC) Manuel Marulanda worked with Jacobo Arenas to create the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The PCC led groups of those individuals who felt neglected by the Colombian Government to settle throughout the countryside and create their own communities. Manuel Marulanda led a group to Marquetalia to create a society that prioritized the needs and concerns of the community. On May 27, 1964 the Colombian military attacked Marquetalia and other communities. Marulanda and a group of forty-eight guerillas fought back. As a result of this attack, on July 20, 1964, the guerillas from Marquetalia met with other surrounding communities and unified themselves resulting in the First Guerilla Conference. A total of 350 guerillas participated in this conference and formed a guerilla group called the Southern Bloc. This name would later be changed to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) during the Second Guerilla Conference in May 1966. In addition to the name change, FARC shifted their strategy from defending to aggressive attacks fused with social welfare services providing educational and medical services, training militants for combat, and carrying out attacks. In FARC’s early years, they would kidnap for ransom usually targeting politicians and high level elites in order to create a source of funding for their communities.