Introduction

This chapter describes both the political and the criminal nature of the organisation, within Colombia, and beyond its borders. It focuses on the concept of commercial insurgency to explain Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) not as a monolithic group, but as a structure or a system in flux composed by sectors and individuals, with different interests and functions. The chapter argues that commercial insurgencies have three dimensions: political, military, and criminal. FARC had been increasingly acting from neighbouring countries in which they found safe haven, with or without the complicity of their governments. The political opposition as well as many Colombians still refuse to see FARC as something else than a narco-terrorist organisation. In Colombia, key interviews were conducted with eight demobilised members of FARC and an active member of the Partido Comunista Colombiano Clandestino. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.