FARC-EP

FARC is led by Manuel Marulanda Velez (Tirofijo) and others like Jorge Briceño (Mono Jojoy). In 1982 it added the '-EP' that stands for 'Ejercito del Pueblo' (People's Army). It says that it stands up for the rural people against the wealthy urban. It also opposes the United States' help on Colombia, more specifically Plan Colombia, the private use of natural resources, and paramilitary violence. They plan an armed revolution and use kidnapping and illegal drug trade to make money. They say that they keep open to a negotiation with the government such as swapping jailed and extradited FARC members for kidnapped people. They think that the government is in a very closed environment so that is why they work their ways to achieve their goals. FARC is often labeled as a terrorist group because of its civilian attacks, among other things. FARC often recruits children as soldiers or informants. They have about 5000 members below the age of 18. They can be as young as 12 years old. If children try to escape, they are punished with torture or even death. FARC-EP is made up of several groups:

• Squad: the basic unit consisting of 12 combatants.
• Guerilla: consists of two squads.
• Company (Compañía) : consists of two guerrillas (i.e. approximately 50 men, therefore a lower level of command than a company in most armies).
• Column: consists of two or more companies.
• Front: consists of more than one column.
• Block of Fronts: consists of five or more fronts. There are seven such blocks.
• The Central High Command (Estado Mayor Central).

"The FARC believes that since the early 1980s it has met the requirements for the recognition of a "state of belligerence" contained within the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 and additional protocols. Their opponents and the Colombian government claim that the practice of civilian kidnapping for ransom and the tax levied on coca crop buyers makes it an illegitimate army and also point to a wide rejection of the guerrilla policies in national surveys."

FARC has a military academy in which it has a two month training program. The program is mostly based on infantry. The trainees are then tested to measure their skill. The ones who rise above the rest may go on to advance training.

In 2005, FARC began a new modus operandi. They began Plan Resistencia to counter-act the country's attempts to stop them. They retreated deep in to the jungle and halted their larger attacks.

When Pastrana was president, they exchanged 70 politics for about 65 jailed rebels. When Uribe became president, he listened to no negotiations that didn't involve a cease-fire. He instead choose to use rescue missions which proved to be succesful, such as the recent Fernando Araujo rescue. Most relatives of kidnapped people by FARC choose not to use rescue missions to save their relatives because of the time that the governor of Antioquia was killed for prompting a rescue mission. Uribe has chosen to trade about 55 captured rebels for all the political hostages. The proposal does not include the ransom kidnapees. The French and Swiss governments supported the plan that the country would free the rebels and FARC would then release the kidnapees, including Ingrid Betancurt who is supposedly out of the country. On March 25, 2006, FARC released two police officers. A prisoner named Juan Ernesto Guevara died because of a heart disease in the year 2005. He had been captured in 1988.

I think that the information displayed on Wikipedia was very detailed. I didn't use it all because I would have you reading for an hour. The article also goes in-depth with its 'See Also' section, which includes the Nogal accident, for example. I think that my next topic will be about other least known terrorist organizations. The only ones people know about are Al-Qaeda, and in Colombia, FARC-EP and ELN. I want to see Farhad's and Gino's work for this week to see what they are planning for the final TLP documentary.

Al-Qaeda and E.T.A.

First of all I am going to talk about what I learned about terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ETA. The members of Al-Qaeda are all muslims, or followers of Islam, but they have a lot of different beliefs than those of muslims in other places of the world. They believe that their cause is what is called a Jihad, or a holy war, against enemies of their religion and cause. Al-Qaeda members wish that their attacks will change the way people living in the western part of the world feel about muslims in the middle east. They work the strongest in Arab countries, even though they have other members in countries all over the world.

The current leader of Al-Qaeda is a man called Osama Bin Laden. He was born in the year 1957, he is the 17th son of a family that is very rich, he grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he has more than 50 siblings, and is the man that has begun a Jihad against the "enemies of their religion". He attacks because he thinks that other countries helped the jews during their wars in the middle east. He thinks all americans are against them, or that they are sided with the jews. He is very rich, and has contacts all over the world. Most of his followers would die for their cause. He has attacked the world trade center twice, the first attack being in 1993. He has also placed bomb cars near the United States embassies in Kenya and in Tanzania.

Al-Qaeda's true meaning (of the word) is 'the base'. It began in 1989 after the russian army left Afghanistan. During the 1980's, Arab peoples went to Afghanistan to help the Afghans fight away the russians. They helped them for the mere reason that they were also muslims. The Arabs thought that they were fighting a Jihad. When russia left, the organization stood tall against countries believed to be enemies of Islam. Al-Qaeda has now reached approx. 45 countries. Al Qaeda also has several fronts including Al-Barakaat, Al-Wafa Humanitarian Organization, Benevolence International Foundation, and Global Relief Foundation.

Now, you are probably asking what is Eta. Honestly, I had no idea of that name until I made my research. Eta is a group that wants the Basque country to be an individual group, or separate from part of France and part of Spain. They have attacked several times, by bombings and assasinations. They usually target Spanish officials.

"There are probably about 500 active members."

I think that the information I found is very well detailed and makes its full purpose. Sure, it could have been more detailed, but it is well explained, none the less. I also think that it was very objective, which to me is good, because I like information that doesn't pick sides. It is kind of unfair to do so, but it is hard to be objective with such strong subjects. I think that the people at CBBC did a great job explaining those things.

Next I would like to investigate on the guerilla groups found in Colombia, such as Las Farc or ELN. They constantly kidnap people to accomplish their plans. If some of their members are captured they offer swapping kidnapped people for captured members. I really want to know about those groups a lot, and next week, I think I will.

My Take on Terrorism

I wanted to say that my TLP project is on terrorism, and I am working with Stefano P. from Mr. Hide's class. I found three articles in BBC Newsround. First of all, I am going to tell you what terrorism is.

"Terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation to achieve political ends."

Terrorists attempt to change the way the government thinks, and their plan is to terrorize people to behave the way they want them to.

There are several ways that terrorists attack. They have attacked with Anthrax, which was used in the United States in the year 2001. The terrorists sent a white powder containing anthrax in the U.S. mail system. Anthrax is formed naturally and it can kill people. Fortunately, only 22 people were infected and of those, only five were killed.

Terrorists also use bombs and car bombs frequently. Only one mere person with a bomb can scare a whole city. The terrorists usually place the bombs where there are lots of people, such as trains, planes, busses, public spaces, and important buildings. The timer triggers the bomb when the bomber has already fled the place. The picture in the top-right corner shows the effects of a bomb hidden in luggage in a plane. When terrorists plant bombs in cars or vans, etc., they are triggered by timer or even remote control.

Cyber terrorists are those that hack and place viruses on servers to overload the servers that store web pages. They usually commit frauds to steal money.

Hijackers usually take control of planes, boats, and busses to take hostages or use the vehicle as a weapon.

Terrorists also use envelopes in which, when opened, the letter explodes.

A mortar bomb is usually fired by a metallic pipe and flies a very short distance. These bombs can trigger with a timer and are cheap to make.

There are also suicide attackers, called kamikazes, that tie bombs to theirselves and walk up to the target to trigger the explosion. Kamikazes also use planes, cars, or other vehicles to crash into other planes or cars containing highly important people, or buildings. Even in wars they crash into other pilots.

Anyway, these are not the only ways terrorists attack. Another bad thing is that there will always be new ideas to attack.

There are several ways to stop terrorism. It is not easy at all, but these are several ways that have been tried. It is very hard, but not impossible to catch a terrorist, even if you know their faces. New volunteers usually take the place of those who are captured or killed. Osama Bin Laden is still top on the United States' FBI's most wanted list. In Afghanistan, the U.S. and Britain attacked the Talibans for letting Al-Qaeda set bases on Afghanistan. This works because it is almost impossible for terrorists to operate without help. To improve security in airports or public places and making civilians be more alert can be another solution. The problem is that their modus operandi changes constantly, so it's hard to be ready for everything.

Our School Uniforms

In the TLP Wiki, I saw that Amber (Ms. Baber's class) asked if we had school uniforms, and if we did, what did they look like. In Colegio Jorge Washington, we do. There are also special dress-up days, but I'll talk about that later.

The boys have to have white socks, khaki pants, and white shirts. You have to have a belt. The only difference between boys' and girls' is that girls have skirts. In the uniform, you used to have a school symbol in your left sleeve. Now we have it in the top left of the shirt (where the heart is).

There are also special cases in which we should come dressed up in a special way. Dress-day rules:

• You must come to school dressed-up as you are required to.
• Only bring sandals if it is part of the costume.
• If you do not want to come dressed up as you are supposed to, you may come in the school uniform, or blue jeans and the regular school shirt, not P.E. shirt.
• If you do not come to the school as told, you will be returned home to change. All classes, quizzes, tests, and/or exams you miss will be counted as unexcused. If you do not come back to school, you will get a suspension.

It sounds harsh, doesn't it. Anyway, lucky for those ones that have no uniforms in school. Well, I think I am finished with talking about the uniforms at Colegio Jorge Washington, or COJOWA for short.