Colombia: December 24, 2003

Archives

While the major right wing rebel group disbands, the two left wing ones (FARC and ELN) are running into cash flow problems. FARC has about 18,000 people on the payroll, ELN 5,000. Each member costs the organization $5-10,000 a year, plus much larger expenses for the rebel leaders and logistical operations that bring in consumer goods and weapons to rebel camps or rebel controlled towns. The usual sources of income; kidnapping, extortion, armed robbery and drugs, are all drying up because of the renewed government offensive. And then there's the sinking popularity of the leftist rebels. Most Colombians are sick of the decades of violence and are now motivated to do something about it. The right wing rebels, who were created to protect regions of the country from the left wing rebels, saw the numbers and cut a surrender deal with the government. The left wing rebels won't do this, yet. Some FARC and ELN factions are agitating for a peace deal, and if too many rebel payday's are missed, things could get ugly. 

 

Article Archive

Colombia: Current 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close