LATIN AMERICA Update on the FARC OE Watch Commentary: In the first reference, Editor in Chief of the Panam Post, Vanessa Vallejo makes a compelling argument to the effect that there was never a peace agreement in and that the FARC is now much stronger than it was when Alvaro Uribe left office in 2010. Vallejo points out that what many like to call dissidents of the FARC are not dissidents, but simply FARC. She makes her argument on the basis of the actions and words of what was the previous and now is the present leadership of the FARC, and on the size, geography and activities of the units comprising the ‘dissidence.’ Political power correlates to finances, and finances can correlate to the control of lines of communication for trade, in this context smuggling routes.

As reported in the second reference, Colombia remains the world’s largest producer of coca. Though slightly reduced in total acreage, the coca growing areas have become more productive, including in border areas. Smuggling routes go from something of potential black market value toward that market, and it appears that many of the best routes from Colombia are still controlled by the FARC. While many are used for clandestine coca transport, the routes are used to transport other goods as well, such as illegally mined gold. The third accompanying reference gives us some insight into the nature of human rights violation accusations in Colombia. It is reported that many of the ex-combatants of the FARC are being assassinated, along with ‘social leaders.’ The reference indicates that, if we are to believe the Colombian Ministry of Justice, most of the murders are being committed by criminal organizations, especially including FARC units that did not submit to conditions of the agreement. End OE Watch Commentary (Demarest)

“The ‘new’ FARC is much, much stronger than it was when ex-president Álvaro Uribe Vélez left power...”

Source: Vanessa Vallejo, “Las ‘nuevas’ FARC: el legado del acuerdo de La Habana (The New FARC: legacy of the Havana accords),” Panam Post, 23 January 2019. https://es.panampost.com/vanessa-araujo/2019/07/23/nuevas-farc-acuerdo-habana/

Dissidents of the FARC do not exist. The guerrilla planned from the start to get to Congress without giving up its arms or the marketing of drugs. To continue supporting the Santos-FARC accords is to be complicit in a tragedy… According to the Colombian Observatory of , there are around 2,500 ‘dissidents’ of the FARC in arms. They are distributed in 37 structures and present in 18 Departments and 120 counties, zones where the guerrilla has historically always been…With a couple of exceptions the top leaders of the FARC also make up part of what many are calling ‘dissidents’… The ‘new’ FARC is much, much stronger than it was when ex-president Álvaro Uribe Vélez left power, indeed Santos received a defeated guerrilla group.

Source: Iván Briceño, “ONU: Colombia es el mayor cultivador de hoja de coca (UN: Colombia is the largest grower of coca leaf),” Radio Santafe, 3 August 2019. http://www.radiosantafe.com/2019/08/03/colombia-se-mantiene-como-mayor-cultivador-de-hoja-de-coca-pese-a- leve-baja-en-2018/ “Colombia continues to be the principal grower of coca leaf in the world, in spite of a mild reduction of 1.2% in 2018…The representative in Colombia of the United Nations Office against drugs and crime (ONUDD) Pierre Lapaque, said ‘At the end of last year, the area seeded with coca had a slight reduction, passing 171,000 hectares (in 2017) to 169,000 hectares.’ Lapaque noted that there was a ‘compensatory effect’ that explained ... the shrinkage was not as significant: while the crops were reduced in nine departments, there were increases in regions such as Bolívar (north), Cauca (southwest) y Norte de Santander (border con ). The diplomat asserted that ‘the coca crops are continuously more concentrated.’”

Source: Editors, “Las ‘disidencias’ de las Farc son las que más asesinan a sus excombatientes (‘Dissident’ Elements of the FARC are who most is killing its ex-combatants),” El Nuevo Siglo, 4 August 2019. https://www.elnuevosiglo.com.co/articulos/08-2019-disidencias-de-las- farc-son-las-que-mas-asesinan-sus-excombatientes “…The majority of the crimes against ex-combatants of the FARC have been committed by its dissidents and [other] organized armed groups, the Justice Ministry informed yesterday… According to the official report, of the universe of identified murders, 190 victims, 26 have been committed by FARC dissidents – denominated Residual Organized Armed Groups (GOAR); 10 by private citizens, eight by and eight by the ELN. Likewise, Type 3 organizations (whose operations are limited to barrios or sectors) are responsible for eight homicides, Los Pelusos (dissidents of the EPL) are authors of five and two were committed by Public Forces [government]… This past 19 July, the Verification Mission of the United Nations revealed in front of the Security Council of that organization that it had verified the death of 123 ex-combatants of the extinct FARC guerrilla. The organism asked the state to guarantee the security of these persons.”

OE Watch | September 2019 71