The FARC is the oldest and largest of Colombia's left wing rebel groups, as well as one of the world's richest guerilla groups. Since its inception in 1966 the FARC has professed an anarcho-communist agenda. The FARC operates by kidnapping high ranking government officials or prominent Colombians and holding them for ransom. It also finances itself through the illegal drug trade, pulling in around 500 to 600 million dollars annually (The Guerilla Groups in Colombia). The FARC also operates through rural extortion as well as random acts of terrorism and acted with near impunity in southwestern Colombia. However in the new millennium this is no longer the case. In 2002 former president Alvaro Uribe came to power and essentially waged war against the FARC (Renwick). Within the last three years the FARC has lost over 5000 fighters and now counts barely 7000 fighters in its struggle against the Colombian government. Alvaro Uribe's crackdown has also led to a 90 percent reduction in illegal aircraft operations, the destruction of 20 tons of cocaine, elimination of 1,402 cocaine laboratories and the death of 24 high ranking FARC commanders (Volckhausen). .
Continuing Uribe's work current president Juan Manuel Santos has continued to mercilessly clamp down on the FARC militarily while increasing his pressure on them at the negotiating table. However president Santos has to remain careful as the FARC used the previous negotiations from 1999-2002 to recruit, rearm, and reorganize (M.). Despite the uncertain circumstances with the dissolution of the FARC going forward, its fall from power and the opening up of the Colombian countryside can only bring greater economic prosperity. Colombia's central government has never been able to control all of its territory. The regions outside Colombia's core are rich in extractive resources such as oil, gold, precious stones and rare earth elements as well as marijuana, coca and opium poppies.
