On twitter, @diegosolers shared what seems to be a trailer for a documentary made to support the FARC armed forces of Colombia in international venues. Although most of the reactions visible on twitter were skeptical, the existence of dozens of online videos supporting the FARC makes it look like the support or rejection of these so called terrorist groups is not a black or white issue.
The video shows a faction of the FARC allegedly dedicated to growing crops to feed the armed forces, stating they do not steal food from farmers nor do they push illegal crop activity, although they say they don't condemn it. Although marijuana is mentioned as a crop they do not support, no mention is made of coca plants, which have been said [es]to provide most of the FARC's money through cocaine production[en] and trafficking.
Youtube user Zuliaporto, who according to the YouTube profile is in Sweden, uploaded not only the previous trailer for the documentary he says will be fully available in Stockholm, but also several other videos like this next one, under the name of the armed forces, where members of the FARC speak out about the use and consumption of marijuana as well as their policies, criticizing the current government and accusing it of hypocrisy in regards of the drug regulations and policies.
This next video shows a faction of the FARC armed forces in a campsite having cultural and musical activities such as folk dancing:
These videos are at odds with what the public knows about the FARC and the first hand accounts of children being forcefully recruited, kidnappings and murders. They certainly provide a different, if not necessarily welcome or trusted, version of the story.
In Facebook, as journalist and blogger Carlos Sanabria discovered, the video is already flagged and he was unable to post it. However, he did publish it on his blog, not because he agrees with what is shown in the video, but because he believes in free speech.
Even Colombia's president, Álvaro Uribe has made public his opinion about the documentary:
Ahora andan las FARC con un video que les ayudaron a hacer unos extranjeros para meterle otra mentira al mundo
The rest of his statement about the video can be found here.
Back on twitter, @Guapacho writes, quoting a statement made in the documentary:
“No vivimos de los campesinos” <— solo los masacramos y los desplazamos #peliculadelasfarc
@ElReticente writes:
No me ofende que sean las Farc, porque mejor si tenemos imagenes para ver, con más razón juzgar. Pero tan mal hecho y postizo.