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REVOLUTIONARY SOCIAL CHANGE IN COLOMBIA
The FARC-EP is arguably the only mechanism that can and has the capacity to conserve rural wildlife and biodiversity (McNeely, 2003: 148). It has proven its ability to keep “timber mafias from destroying forests and colonists from settling in fragile regions” (see Satchell, 1999: 41). Therefore, small producers and peasants have expressed hope that the guerrillas can do the same in relation to the palm industry. Both civilians and the guerrillas, however, informed me the only realistic way to continue this process and prevent environmental destruction is through defensive measures. The FARC-EP program of conservation, to help sustain the environment amidst the confines of civil war and extreme natural resource extraction, is intensely militant (Coghlan, 2004: 207–8). As one environmentalist noted while working with the guerrillas, “villagers or colonists who get caught fishing, hunting, or logging illegally usually get a warning ... second time, they get fined and a really stern warning. Third time, they get shot” (Satchell, 1999: 41; see also Molano, 2005: 90; Coughlin, 2004: 207; Taussig, 2004a: 142–3; Villalón, 2004a: 49; Pearce, 1990a: 173). This is not to suggest that the guerrillas target civilians. On the contrary, locals are insulated from the very real dangers of the FARC-EP’s stringent environmental policies (see McNeely, 2003: 148). Rather, violators are dealt with harshly. Placing this in the perspective of war, McNeely (2003: 142) argued that in order to sustain and protect the “biodiversity-rich tropical forests ... peace can be even worse, as it enables forest exploitation to operate with impunity.” While not pleasing to some, reality demonstrates that if the FARC-EP refused to maintain strong-arm tactics then capitalist expansion would most assuredly further degrade the regional environment. Although it is extreme, without the FARC-EP’s conservational praxis Colombia’s biodiversity would be open to “full-blown, large-scale unplanned exploitation in areas that are now off-limits” (McNeely, 2003: 148). HOW THE FARC-EP HAS AFFECTED CULTURE Spending time amongst the FARC-EP I noted that the average day for insurgents begins around 4:00 am. Everyone awakes at this time and starts the day by eliminating any trace of their existence from the previous evening. This is followed by a communal breakfast at 6:00 am proceeded by the first educational class of the day, commencing at 8:00 am (see also FARC-EP, 2001b: 14). Depending on the front, after morning tasks have been completed a division of labor is established and daily assignments are given out: patrolling (and possible combat), community outreach, additional classes in literacy training, reading skills, and for more academically mature members readings in Marxism-Leninism, economics, and history (see also FARC-EP, 2001b: 14-15; Wickham-Crowley, 1992: 139). After routine or appointed activities are completed all return to their encampment for an evening meal, followed by additional classes where one or a few members prepare further educational lectures for their comrades (see also Braun, 2003: 56). Every day begins within a collective context and ends in the same way.
