THE Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) celebrate its 45th anniversary this week, making it the oldest and still one of the strongest insurgent armies in the world.
"They are weakened: their central command has been badly hit, they have lost territory and have had to return to a traditional guerrillas' war," said Leon Valencia of the Rainbow Foundation, dedicated to conflict analysis. "But they are not beaten."
Even as the Tamil Tigers are crushed in Sri Lanka and the Nepalese Maoists opt for the political route, Farc remains committed to its increasingly unreachable goal of overthrowing the state and imposing a socialist regime. It is pretty much all that remains of those armed rebel groups that swept Latin America in the 1960s.
Battered it is, reduced from almost 16,000 fighters in 2002 to half that today. Last year its founder and legendary leader Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda died of a heart attack aged 78.
Two other members of Farc's ruling body, the Secretariat, were killed, one in an aerial bombardment of a rebel camp in neighbouring Ecuador, another murdered by his own bodyguard – who cut off a hand to show the authorities and claim a reward.
Last year a record 3,000 guerrillas deserted and high ranking members such as Miguel Angel Beltran, known as "Cienfuegos", have been arrested in other Latin American countries.
Yet Farc is far from defeated. It has a new leader, a bespectacled and bearded anthropologist known by the alias "Alfonso Cano", a committed Marxist Leninist and hardliner. He has now established his control over the movement and delivered his new strategy for the rebels, called "Plan Rebirth".
Farc has stepped up its campaign, with more attacks so far this year than any year since 2003. And the rebels are trying to move away from their peasant roots and into the cities, aided by training from groups such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Basque separatist group Eta.
Farc's communiqué celebrating its 45th anniversary was defiant and optimistic:
"The decisive stage of the fight for peace has begun," read the message posted on the internet. "We have sworn to win and win we shall."
Much of Farc's longevity, certainly since the mid-1980s, can be attributed to one thing: cocaine. While Farc is ultra-conservative in its doctrine and tactics, it has proven itself to be adept at business, latching on to the drugs trade and taking its cut from all the links in the narcotics chain, from the cultivation of coca fields up to the bricks of cocaine that leave Colombia's shores at a rate of more than 600 tonnes a year.
There have long been accusations, vehemently denied, that president Hugo Chavez of Venezuela sympathises with Farc.
What is clear is that Farc has camps on Venezuelan soil and much of its supplies come from here and from Ecuador.
"We have incontrovertible evidence that elements of the Venezuelan military help them with weapons and logistics," said a senior intelligence figure in the Colombian defence ministry. "As long as this continues our chances of a military victory are slim."
Farc celebrates its 45th anniversary secure in the knowledge that it will not be the last.
