3. MLA/APA/AMA Citation: Renwick, Danielle. "Colombia's Civil Conflict.

" Council on Foreign

Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 25 Aug. 2016. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
Source Validation: The Council on Foreign Relations is a reputable source because many of
its contributors are specialists that serve or have served as professors or Senior Fellows at
famed institutions such as Georgetown and Princeton.
How did you find this source?: I found this source through Google Scholar.
Intended audience: This article was not loaded with as much field specific terminology as
many of the other other articles I have read so I assume it is meant for well-read individuals
rather than specialists.
What arguments/topics does this source discuss?: This article focuses on what FARC is,
how it operates, and the effects of its war with the Colombian government and right wing
paramilitaries on the people of Colombia. It points out that roughly 225,000 people, primarily
civilians, have died fighting FARC since the group formed in the 1970s. FARC is a left-wing
communist guerilla group that used to draw support from Colombias poor backwaters. For
decades it improved community relations by supporting development through the sale and
manufacturing of cocaine. However, after the U.S spent $10 billion on helping Colombia stem
the drug trade FARC began to lose much of its influence. It recently signed a peace deal with
the Colombian government aimed at converting it into a legitimate political party thus ending
decades of bloodshed. However, the deals success is dependent upon the governments
capacity to solve the very issue that gave birth to FARC, immense poverty and wealth
inequality in Colombias south. If it fails to invest in its poorer regions, resettle the 5.6 million
displaced by war, and fundamentally improve the opportunities for employment in places
formerly ravaged by war, the peace deal would essentially be null and void.
Minimum 3 quotes, paraphrases, summaries of source text that seem likely to be
helpful in future writing:
Civil conflict in Colombia, one of the closest U.S. allies in Latin America, has left
as many as 220,000 dead (PDF), 25,000 disappeared, and 5.7 million displaced over the
last half century. By the early 2000s, fighting among the military, left-wing guerrillas, and
right-wing paramilitaries had left the country on the brink of becoming a failed state.
The government must fulfill ambitious promises on rural development as it
continues to grapple with criminal organizations and a smaller insurgency group, the
National Liberation Army (ELN).
In 2000 U.S. lawmakers approved Plan Colombia, an aid package that aimed to
help the country combat guerrilla violence, strengthen its institutions, and stem drug
production and trafficking. The United States has spent more than $10 billion in the
sixteen years since.