Chavez has defended the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He had said that this group was a true army and should not be placed in the same category as other terrorist groups. Colombia which is a United States ally was outraged at what Chavez had said.
This has put Chavez deeper into Colombia’s conflict. FARC is the largest rebel group of the western hemisphere as it has 14,000 fighters. Most of the fighters are peasants that want a fairer distribution of wealth. FARC currently funds itself with the trafficking of drugs.
According to the government, FARC has 750 hostages for either ransom or political leverage.
The government said that FARC guerillas are terrorists because they kidnap people, place bombs in indiscriminate locations, recruit children, murder children, murder pregnant women, murder the elderly, along with using mines that have left thousands of victums.
Both the United States and the European Union have classified FARC as a terrorist group in 2002. All economic support for FARC had been outlawed. However, Colombia’s military also faced international criticism for civilian abuse.
The group had repeatedly asked the world to remove its name from terrorist lists.