AUDREY ANDERSON

Colombia vs. Guerilla Groups 

Nationalism is having a strong belief that the nation-state interests are more important than other countries' interests. Colombia's long time history with violence and drugs has only discouraged the realm of nationalism for the country.  Going back to 1966, Columbia has been having issues with guerrilla groups. The most powerful and well known guerrilla group that contains the strongest presence in Colombia is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). 

This guerrilla group "takes in between $500 million and $600 million annually from illegal drug trade." The FARC group largely controls the  drug scene, which makes it problematic for Colombia to control and fight them. 

The violence from these guerrilla groups results in inequality among the land for the Colombian people. Rural inequality is greatly influenced by gorilla groups because these groups go into land and drive out the citizens. This leads to the citizens running for safety to another city or even another country. In addition, Colombia uses tax incentives and government subsidies to help the higher class keep their land even if they don't use the land for the best use. This combination of problems leads to the rich able to keep their land and the poor loosing their land through lack of funds or lack of security. 

This is just a small example of the damage that guerrilla groups cause to countries and citizens. 

The Colombian citizens are tired of guerrilla groups coming in and taking their land, money, and citizen rights. The Colombia government is trying to create solutions through peace efforts but with FARC and other guerrilla groups controlling money through the drug business, it's a hard and long process that sometimes might seem inevitable.