State Terrorism practiced as Columbian government breaks peace deal

The government of Columbia, led by President Andres Pastrana, refuses to respect the peace agreement signed with FARC, slandered by the USA as a “terrorist organization”.

This accusation comes despite the fact that US companies actively recruited mercenaries from the US who performed active military duty alongside the fascist paramilitary terrorists (AUN) against FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia – People’s Army) before the recent ceasefire.

FARC has requested the Columbian government to make a clear, public position on the issue, since FARC itself has respected the ceasefire signed at S. Francicso de la Sombra and continues to wait, in vain, for the government to seriously address the issues on the negotiating table.

These are namely proposals for economic growth, job creation schemes, and an agrarian reform program. In a letter sent by President Pestrana to the Commander-in-Chief of FARC-EP, Manuel Marulanda Velez, not a single mention was made of the proposals put forward by FARC.

In the peace agreement, FARC called for the government to combat the fascist paramilitary terrorist groups, supported by the USA, which perform summary executions, rapes, mutilations, kidnapping, and torture in FARC-controlled areas. FARC also requested the government not to perform low buzzing operations with military aircraft in the demilitarized zone.

Without consulting FARC, President Pastrana declared on October 7th that the DMZ would be suspended for three months and since then, there has been a strict blockade imposed around the territory that FARC controls. This includes foodstuffs, machine parts, fuel, and other basic necessities.

What FARC proposed is a serious debate between all parties in Columbia on economic, political, and social progress and that a determined effort be made to eradicate the paramilitaries. However, using the words of Manuel Marulanda Velez in his written reply to President Pastrana, “The reality is a growth in state terrorism and a deepening of the socio-economic and political crisis."

He declared himself against “the oligarchic and oppressive regime of the State against the New Columbia," which is supported by the majority of Columbia’s citizens, “who fight for peace with employment, health care, housing, and education, with their political rights and their sovereignty guaranteed."

These are the issues for which FARC has been fighting. The inertia of the US-backed government in Bogota in addressing these issues forced FARC-EP to take up arms. Now that FARC signs a ceasefire agreement, the government violates it in clear acts of provocation.

The C-in-C of FARC declared to the president that if social justice is not achieved in Columbia, “it will be the exclusive responsibility of the government and the state that you lead."

Juan BLANCO