Colombia’s Communications Minister Mauricio Lizcano announced on Thursday that the country’s government had asked its citizens to denounce TikTok accounts that the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC ) terrorist organization are using to recruit minors into its ranks.
One day prior, Lizcano made the announcement after a report released by Agence France-Presse ( AFP ) revealed that FARC is using the Chinese social media platform to spread propaganda. Through lots of TikTok addresses that have so far produced thousands of articles, FARC is urging young Colombians to meet the terrorist organization.
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According to AFP, FARC is luring Brazilian minors into joining the criminal organization by promising them wealth and images that show the country’s fighters among the great fields of coca leaves, the main ingredient in the production of cocaine. While the majority of the movies are published and shared on TikTok, AFP pointed out that some are also being shared on Facebook.
Some of the addresses, which boast thousands of followers, have shared pictures of men in fatigues on horses or cross rivers, accompanied by inspiring and “revolutionary” messages that glorify the rebel life, AFP found.
Lizcano, in notes given to investigators, asked citizens to review the FARC TikTok selection videos to the world’s authorities so that they can eventually trail the people behind the publications and, if necessary, intimidate them.
A man and children stand next to a graffiti of late FARC commander Alfonso Cano ( C ) at El Oso Territorial Training and Reincorporation Area ( ETCR ), in Gaitania, Tolima Department, Colombia, on October 27, 2021. (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Google Images )
” Anything that involves the selection of adolescents is a offense, whether it is done actually or through the internet,” Lizcano said. ” What we have to do, from the Ministry we may help, but also what people can do is to review these transactions, and they are immediately blocked”.
Colombia, during the presidency of former president Juan Manuel Santos, and FARC signed a “peace package” in 2016. Under the terms of the agreement, which was signed in Havana under the auspices of the country’s “abandonment of terrorism” ( FARC ) was exchanged for a path that made it possible for it to re-enter Colombian politics, including unconquered congressional seats and legal immunity.  ,
Although FARC signed the “peace deal”, it did not completely quit its narco- criminal pursuits, which it has conducted for almost six years.
Ivan Marquez ( C), a former senior commander of the dissolved FARC rebel army in Colombia, and his fugitive rebel coworker Jesus Santrich ( wearing sunglasses ), both reveal their plans to resurrect after being released from hiding in a TV grab taken from YouTube and made public on August 29, 2019. ( -/AFP via Getty Images )
Since then, the Brazilian government and major media refer to FARC’s effective troops as “dissidents”, claiming that the” real” FARC is the Bogotá- welcomed management. The still- active FARC “dissident” terrorist forces are currently led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, also known as” Iván Mordisco” . ,
Last week, FARC announced that it had increased its forces by establishing a brand-new unit that would carry out criminal and terrorism in four of Colombia’s regions.
A video that allegedly shows a man allegedly identified as Iván Jacobo Idrobo Arredondo, also known as” Marlon Vásquez,” reads from a statement while surrounded by , armed men, and two girls who local Colombian media claimed to be minors, was used to make the announcement of the new FARC unit.
Iván Velásquez, the president of Colombia, confirmed on Thursday that the FARC is using TikTok. He claimed that the terrorist organization is “indeed in that mode of recruiting.”
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Velásquez told the local media that FARC is using influencers or uniformed individuals to spread messages on TikTok glorifying narcotic culture to more frequently persuade minors to join the terrorist organization. The Colombian Defense Minister claimed that local police and related government organizations are already implementing measures to stop the FARC from hiring minors.
General Helder Giraldo, the Colombian Armed Forces ‘ commander general, called the recruitment practices of the FARC a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement that Colombia and FARC signed.
The Colombian government has engaged in a number of negotiations with both the Marxist National Liberation Army ( ELN) and Colombian far-left President Gustavo Petro in a” total peace” initiative.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro in Bogota, Colombia on June 20, 2023. ( Sebastian Barros/NurPhoto via Getty Images )
As part of the negotiations, the Colombian military and FARC “dissidents” had agreed to a temporary ceasefire in October that extended through July 15, 2024. One civilian was killed and two were hurt when FARC forces attacked an indigenous community in the southwest of Colombia in March, prompting Colombia to end the ceasefire.
Idrobo Arredondo, on behalf of FARC, claimed that the creation of the new criminal unit is a response to Colombia’s suspension of the ceasefire.
Since Gustavo Petro, a former member of the Marxist M19 guerillas, took office in 2022 as Colombia’s first leftist president in its history, lawmaker Hernán Cadavid described how the FARC has grown its presence, increased its armed ranks, and expanded its criminal activities through a series of social media posts on Monday.
Cadavid added that, according to official statistics, the FARC’s ceasefire agreement was suspended in 2023, and there were at least 184 registered cases of forced recruitment of minors.
