point will be revisited later, and it will be important when evaluating strategies for ending the conflict. The modern political situation in Colombia is that of an ongoing struggle between the Colombian government and several guerrilla groups. Having already examined how the modern Colombian government came about, I will now turn to the history of the guerrilla groups.
             The peasants who had survived the military offensives of the 1950's undertook long marches into the uninhabited regions of the country, clearing and working new lands in areas they declared "independent republics" . The peasants' independence did not last. The large landholders, looking to expand their holdings, claimed the newly cleared lands for their own. The government defined these "independent republics" as groups of communist bandits, launching military attacks against them and blockading them economically. As war was waged, pushing the peasants ever deeper into the jungle, the pea
             ...