The attack of the Geurilla movements and their origin

The National Front, as we know from presentations, was an experimental time for the Columbian government. The Liberals and Conservatives attempted at sharing power by rotating presidential power every 4 years. However, during this period, the Geurilla movements began to emerge. These movements had a distinct goal: political reform. Due to this, the movements caused much suffering and violence. The Geurilla movements started in the 1960s and continue to thrive to this day.

Some of the first Geurilla movement to be established was the ELN in the early 1960s and the FARC in 1966. The ELN group was made entirely of students inspired by revolutions in Cuba. The FARC was formed in reaction to the National Front. The M-19 movement soon came into existence afterwards due to claimed fraud during the presidential election of 1970. These movements during the 1970s and 1980s caused havoc in Columbia by doing things like kidnapping people for ransom, stealing weapons, and causing riots. For a long time, the Columbian army was in battle with the Geurilla supporters. At one point, in 1984, president Belisario Betancur tried to make peace with them by signing a ceasefire. However, it only lasted a year before the movements began to start up again.

The FARC in the late 1980s and 1990s began to dominate, growing from 10,000 combatants to more than 15,000. The fought all over the country in 30 different locations. It wasn't until the presidency of Andres Pastrana did the government truly try to negotiate with these movements. To this day, they still fight these movements but are trying the best way possible to negotiate peace. In fact, in 2012, president Juan Manuel Santos and leader of  FARC Timoleon Jiminez started peace negations in Havana. On September 26, 2016, there was a peace treaty that was signed by both the government and the FARC leader at a ceremony in Cartagena, signifying that Columbia is going with the right direction with dealing with Guerilla movements.