Who is Farc?
Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is the oldest and largest group among Colombia’s left-wing rebels. Founded in 1964, with a declaration to use armed force to overthrow the government and install a Marxist regime, it has become one of the world’s richest guerrilla armies. In the 1990s Farc changed, becoming increasingly involved in the drug trade to raise money for its campaign. Some analysts believe the group now use extortion and kidnapping as an end in themselves as part of their role in the drug trade. Despite an offensive launched against Farc by president Alvaro Uribe on his election in 2002, the rebels still control about a third of the country, mainly in the south and east. Farc had about 16,000 fighters in 2001, according to the Colombian government, but some reports suggest their numbers are now down to about 9,000. Who is Ingrid Betancourt? Betancourt was born in Colombia on Christmas day in 1961 and grew up in Paris where her father was a diplomat. In 1989 s
