"In the 1980s, a diverse group of right-wing paramilitaries emerged to fight the leftist insurgents, some made up of landowners organizing to protect their property and others linked to drug trafficking. Both left- and right-wing groups depended on the drug trade for money and competed for territory to grow the coca crop used to manufacture cocaine.
As more players became involved, the war became increasingly chaotic and violent in a conflict that left an estimated 260,000 people dead and forced five million to flee their homes. Civilians were routinely the victims of random kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence."