Un Mundo de Compasion
The FARC in Colombia
The FARC is a terrorist labled group in Colombia. They are known for their kidneppings and their use of child soldiers.
Facts about it:
- 11,000 children under the age of 18 and some as young as 10 are in the ranks of the FARC.
• The FARC was established in the 1960s as a Communist-inspired peasant army fighting for land reform and to reduce the gulf still dividing rich and poor in the Andean country.
• Branded a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, the FARC has been driven onto the defensive by President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed security campaign. The United States has given Colombia $5.5 billion in mostly military aid over the last seven years.
• U.S. and Colombian authorities say the FARC has used the multibillion-dollar Colombian cocaine trade to fund its operations. Colombia's four-decade-old conflict is now often a fight over drug-producing land involving the FARC, right-wing paramilitaries and other narcotics gangs.
• The FARC still holds sway in some rural areas where it grows coca, the raw material for cocaine, and keeps kidnap victims hostage in secret jungle camps. Betancourt and the three American defense contractors were the group's highest-profile hostages.
• The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, had been holding about 40 high-profile hostages it had sought to exchange for jailed rebels.
• Violence has eased and the economy has expanded in Colombia's central, north and northwest urban areas, but the FARC is still a potent force in the southern jungle regions where the state's presence is still weak.
http://www.latimes.com
The Genisis Foundation:
For our project we learned about the Genisis Foundation. This non-profit organization is speifically designed to change the way Colombia children learn. They believe that eduction is of the up-most importance, especially in Colombia because of their un-equal education barriers. As it says on their website, "In 2011 Genesis Foundation directly benefited 168,620 children, investing $1,343, 489 in 21 projects in rural and urban areas of the country." This organization sometimes helps children who were affected by the FARC, helping them to get an education.http://www.genesis-foundation.org/