Monday 4 February 2008

'FARC off' says worldwide protest (updated)

 TFR76_Cover_Web-Edition Tomorrow morning offers Aucklanders and Wellingtonians the opportunity to stand up against tyranny.  First, some background. 

Hugo Chavez's South American socialism is pulling the switch on Venezuela, and is making moves to turn out the lights all across South America.  For forty years Venezuela's neighbour Colombia has been wracked with kidnapping, killing and would-be insurrection from an organisation called the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) whose stated goal is to create a communist state, and for whom Chavez is now their mouthpiece.

FARC's insurgency has already resulted in the displacement of 2 million people, thousands of deaths, and the labelling of Colombia as the "kidnapping capital of the world."  These people are scum.

Colombians are heartily sick of the violence of these 'narco-guerillas,' and they sure don't want either Chavez-style communism or his interference.  What they want is peace and the chance at prosperity they have without FARC's terrorism. 

Around the world tomorrow one million voices will be raised in protest against FARC and its terrorism.  The Auckland and Wellington rallies are timed to coincide with protests throughout Colombia and in 131 other cities throughout the world. Demonstrators will be demanding an end to FARC's campaign of terror against the the population of Colombia and to its kidnappings, massacres and murders.

The idea of a worldwide protest was born less than a month ago on the social networking Web site Facebook under the banner, "No more kidnappings! No more lies! No more deaths! No more FARC!". [Story here.]

"We hope the whole country will come out to join us," said Cristina Lucena, a 24-year-old political science student from Bogota and one of the protest's six main organizers.  Join several hundred Colombian nationals in NZ tomorrow to help make their voice heard from here.

Join the international protest against the terrorist activities of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Queen Elizabeth Square in Auckland on Tuesday, February 5 from 6am-9am, and in Wellington at the end of Lambton Quay and beside the Parlament building from 7.30am to 8.30 am.  WEAR WHITE FOR PEACE.

  • Organiser's No Mas Farc press release here.
  • Some useful background on FARC in The Guardian.

1 comment:

Julian said...

Thanks PC for highlighting the appalling activities of one of the oldest Marxist guerrilla groups in the world.

As an aside, I recently watched an interview with Venezuela’s "Dear Leader", an interview which was conducted in 1998. In it, Chavez responded to fears people had about his intentions. He categorically stated that he would not nationalise any business in Venezuela nor would he interfere with the operations of media organisations. 10 years on and his true intentions are now unfortunately all too clear.


Julian Darby