ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the background of the FARC and Colombia and then turn to their financial resources and expenditures. It examines the government's efforts against FARC finances and explores future options that should be considered. The most significant and violent challenges to the Colombian state are the FARC-EP, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The FARC-EP was founded in 1966 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party under the influence of fidelista groups, on the basis of the independent peasant republic of Marquetalia. During the initial efforts to consolidate Plan Colombia, the Colombian government emphasized the need to increase the cooperation among its institutions to counter drug related activities and insurgency, based on intelligence based operations. In 1999, as part of the strategy to obtain the support of the United States launching Plan Colombia, the administration of President Andrs Pastrana created the Financial Analysis and Information Unit (UIAF).
