FARC: Rebels without a cause?

[Bacchus4.0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1998304.stm

So a disenchanted chavista was hopeful that the Colombian peace process would lead to political integration of the FARC and thus represent Colombia's poor. The FARC do not represent Colombia's poor. Their goal is to overthrow the democratic government in Colombia, no matter the administration's ideology, and institute a Marxist system.
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But perhaps most telling in the debate on whether the FARC are freedom fighters or terrorists is the issue of public support.

There can be little doubt that the guerrillas have lost touch with the people they claim to represent.

In national surveys the FARC never poll more than 5% of public support, and that for all the imperfections in its political system, Colombia is a democracy.

After almost 40 years, it appears the FARC have become rebels without a cause.

[COLGATE4]

1. It's doubtful whether the FARC was really ever

about political ideology. FARC arose out the civil war called La Violencia ("the Violence&quot which began after the assassination of Gaitan in 1948, and which was in the final analysis a quasi-religious fight between Conservatives and Liberals. Marxism has since cleverly been used as the recruiting tool, effective on an often illiterate populace but in fact the goals of FARC's leadership have always been 1) power and 2) money. With the advent of the cocaine barons FARC found its place in the sun bringing in millions as guardian of the coca labs (and have since come to totally dominate that activity). It's about money and power, with window dressing of Marxist ideology just as it always was.