Colombia’s Mercenary Industry is Behind the Haitian Coup

Almost every assassin involved in the murder of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was Colombian. That’s no coincidence: if you want mercenaries for hire on the cheap, often trained by the US military, you can find them in spades in Colombia. Colombia’s right-wing vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez recently complained that “Colombia should not be making international headlines… Read More Colombia’s Mercenary Industry is Behind the Haitian Coup

July 31, 2021December 10, 2021 Oliver DoddLeave a comment

Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement is in crisis, despite the commitment of Comunes

In 2017 Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) gave up its weapons and began a process of demobilisation, based on a 2016 peace agreement which promised the Farc political legitimacy and protection from capitalist-backed paramilitary violence, as well as comprehensive rural reform for the benefit of peasants. Highlighting that the exploitation and victimisation of… Read More Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement is in crisis, despite the commitment of Comunes

October 3, 2019December 10, 2021 Oliver DoddLeave a comment

Death squads in Colombia – paid for by big business

Throughout Colombia’s half-century civil war, wealthy social sectors, especially landowners, have sponsored the formation of private armed groups to act as a counter-measure against the labour movement to protect their interests. These paramilitaries have generally employed violence and terror as a conscious weapon against civilians. The objective has been to make workers too afraid to… Read More Death squads in Colombia – paid for by big business

May 23, 2019December 10, 2021 Oliver DoddLeave a comment

Why Latin America’s oldest insurgent communist army is growing

Embedded researcher OLIVER DODD, who lived among the armed guerilla forces of the ELN, explains their origins, theory and practice Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) is Latin America’s oldest insurgent movement. When founded in 1964, the ELN was, strategically and tactically speaking, inspired by the Cuban Revolution, which proved that a determined and well-organised political-military… Read More Why Latin America’s oldest insurgent communist army is growing

April 9, 2019December 10, 2021 Oliver DoddLeave a comment

President Iván Duque and Colombia’s ELN

Since 2017, Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Marxist revolutionary group, have been engaged in discussions to end 54 years of war. So far, the government has been playing down the strength of the insurgent group while hoping to negotiate its surrender in return for its protection as a legal political entity.… Read More President Iván Duque and Colombia’s ELN

July 19, 2018 Oliver DoddLeave a comment

Meeting FARC Insurgents

Near the Colombian border in Ecuador, in 2010, I spoke with a former FARC guerrilla who was forcefully relieved of his duties after a military aircraft took one of his legs away. Like the overwhelming majority of Campesinos I have met, and although he was categorised as a ‘terrorist’ by some governments, I was received… Read More Meeting FARC Insurgents

February 1, 2018March 18, 2020 Oliver DoddLeave a comment