The RIRA on occasion attacks a British army base, or bombs a civilian site just to show it is still out there while FARC is a powerful force that the government has no choice but to negotiate with. Also, the RIRA does not recruit young children for its violent terrorist activities, while FARC recruits and kidnaps thousands of young boys and trains them in guerrilla warfare. The RIRA does not have thousands of acres of poppies (to make into cocaine) that it can within its territory -- the RIRA has no established territory -- that it can exploit (tax) in order to raise money. That said, the RIRA does do some drug smuggling, according to credible sources. There is an interesting connection between FARC and the RIRA: Evidence shows that the RIRA has been training FARC in "new technology" (bombs/mortars) (www.bbc.co.uk).

Works Cited

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6, 2009, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/farc.html.

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Provos," Oglaigh na hEireann) (U.K., separatists). Council on Foreign Relations.

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