A few months before the Pastrana Peace Process broke down, the Revolutionary Armed Forces odf Colombia (FARC) launched the Partido Comunista Clandestino de Colombia (PACOCLAN), hoping to establish a "political" façade to present to the world. This new party is to be to FARC what Sinn Fein is to the IRA. There are various reasons for this FARC initiative, most important that the old Communist Party and the Unión Patriótica have little political weight, and their leaders are scrambling to distance themselves from FARC. The few followers they still may have do not want to be associated with a terrorist group that only has a 1% approval rating. In the last congressional and presidential elections the left ran under the banner of "Polo Democrático" to play down its Marxist ideology and present a moderate image. Even though the politicians running under this banner denounced FARC, the "Polo Democrático" only managed to claim a few seats in Congress with 6% of the vote. It seems that in a country disgusted by the abuses and terrorism of the communist guerrillas, even a faint whiff of FARC is political poison.

For decades the FARC were the armed branch of the legal Colombian Communist Party (PCC). The PCC, however, was always notably unsuccessful at the polls, and failed to produce new or attractive leaders. During the peace initiative of the Betancur government (1982-86) the FARC promoted the Unión Patriótica (UP) a legal political party, hoping to establish a wider base. Many opportunists as well as several FARC combatants ran for office under the banner of this party. The party had very limited success, but it did to win a few offices at the local and national levels, including a score of seats in Congress, often in coalition with the Liberal Party. Many UP party militants, specially demobilized FARC guerrillas, were murdered. Once these FARC militants were out in the open, former victims of the guerrillas took revenge. In other cases FARC murdered UP politicians that could not deliver the expected tribute to the movement. When the truce broke down, the UP ceased to be a significant political force.

With the left in disarray, they can only help FARC indirectly, raising issues like the need for peace negotiations, without explaining how the government can make peace if the FARC refuses to negotiate. The fact that the left has been compelled to distance themselves from FARC, has led the terrorists to form the PACOCLAN. The leader of the Party is Guillermo León Saenz aka Alfonso Cano. Like all FARC leaders he has a gruesome criminal record, having ordered mass murders and kidnappings, as well as attacks on small towns. The FARC leadership is also deeply involved in drug traffic.

FARC has grandiose plans for PACOCLAN. They have stated that this party will lead a continental union of Marxist organizations to gain power.

The purpose of the party is to gain some level of legitimacy, hoping this will allow FARC leaders to travel the world, something they used to do regularly, but is now difficult, as both the United States and the European Union have recognized that FARC is a terrorist organization.

The Party spin is the usual Communist disinformation, that is credible only to Marxist sympathizers in Europe. FARC is the self proclaimed would be "savior" of the oppressed Colombian people. With the customary cynicism Alfonso Cano, for example, has stated: " We don't touch children; we're not bandits, we are revolutionaries and social compensators". The truth is that 60% of FARC combatants are underage Colombians, mostly recruited by force. In addition, País Libre, an NGO that focuses on kidnapping has documents showing that FARC has kidnapped 288 children this year.

PACOCLAN hopes to be the base group for a wider political movement, the "Bolivarian Movement for a new Colombia", emulating Venezuela's President Chavez in his misuse of the fame of liberator Simon Bolívar.

By : Fundación Cóndor