Colombia vs. Venezuela

       Within Latin America there have been many guerilla groups sharing different ideologies from those of their home countries.  One of the largest groups of these is the FARC in Colombia, who started in the late 50s after dissatisfaction with the way the government was being run. Since then, they have remained an underground force, and secretly run a large drug trade through the borders of Colombia. A secondary guerilla force is called the ELN. They share similar political ideas with the FARC, and consider themselves to be the voices of the poor in Colombia, additionally resenting the US's influence in that country. Because of the uncertainties with safety their members could face in Colombia, many ELN soldiers have been known to spend time in the neighboring country of Venezuela, resting and storing supplies. In recent times, the president of Venezuela has come under critique for allowing these rebels to stay in his country, and he has been accused by Colombian officials of actually supporting and helping out the rebel groups. This issue has come to a head now because the FARC and ELN have recently broken a peace treaty with the Colombian government, basically declaring war against them. Since this has happened, Venezuela has done nothing to show their lack of an alliance, and in fact has been training and arming soldiers of the guerilla armies out of feeling that they share a common enemy. I think these countries show a realist theory of power in the way that they are hesitant to have peace talks and discussions and rather would jump the gun without fulling understanding the situation at hand. At the moment, they have enacted a policy to get back at Venezuela for their assumed influence and alliance with the FARC and ELN and the possibility f a war comes closer to reality every day.


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