“Thanks to Facebook, we have created an exponential effect.”
Just about two weeks ago there were mass protests throughout Colombia against the Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC. FARC, established in 1964 as the Colombian Communist Party, is a rebel group that over 31 countries call a terrorist organization. Allegedly it finances its operations through drug trafficking and kidnapping, currently holding over 40 political hostages and 700 captives for ransom. FARC had somewhat fallen off the radar due to Colombia’s recent booming economy, but antisentiment was refuled when FARC announced in June 2007 that 11 state lawmakers whom had been detained by the group for 5 years were killed in a “crossfire.”
Recently, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, in some sort of politial game, announced his recognition of the group as a “real army,” rather than a terrorist group, and proclaimed that the Venezuelan army was ready to help the group. This prompted Óscar Morales, a 33 year old engineer in Colombia to start a facebook group called “A million voices against the FARC.” It was originally designed to be a virtual protest among himself and his friends. That quickly spread, resulting in protests throughout the world on February 4. An estimated 4.8 million people turned up for over 365 marches throughout Colombia, one of the country’s largest demonstration.
I certainly am no expert on this situation - I was just floored, again, by the power of the internet.
