Colombia

Referred to as La Violencia, political unrest in Colombia\u27s countryside lasted from 1948 until 1962. Efforts to overthrow the Colombian government escalated again in the 1990s with a rebel uprising. To forward their advances, four different guerilla groups used landmines, staged coups and attempted political assassinations. Guerilla attacks led mostly by the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army (ELN) and United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), combined with drug cultivation, social inequities and widespread violence, contributed to Colombia\u27s 40-year political crisis. Upon his election in 2002, President Alvaro Uribe promised to begin taking action to end the power of the FARC and ELN and curb illicit drug production