The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army: A Marxist analysis of a revolutionary social movement

Colombia has experienced an extensive internal war for over forty years. What once began as a mission of the Colombian army, funded by the United States, to attack and destroy peasant-based subsistence communities in the southern mountains of Colombia has evolved into a full scale revolutionary conflict. The principal actors within this reality are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP) and the Colombian government. This thesis examines how the FARC-EP, a self-described Marxist-rooted social movement, theoretically and tangibly applies itself within the rural (and urban) regions of the country for the purpose of achieving revolutionary emancipation for the Colombian majority. Because of the threat the FARC-EP poses to domestic and foreign interests within the natural resource-rich Andean country, the classification as a terrorist entity has recently been attached to the insurgency. This thesis analyzes whether this label, within the milieu of Colombia, is accurate or if the FARC-EP is in fact a guerrilla movement implementing a revolution based on the theories and actions of classical Marxism. As a result of this research being conducted the analyst can derive the FARC-EP's true character within Colombia and assess the place that Marxism has within the contemporary context of this Latin American country.