If there’s one thing that’s been made excruciatingly clear in 2016, it’s that internet trends know no bounds. Where virtual ends and reality begins is no longer crystal clear.  

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This new form of cognitive dissonance is perhaps most aptly understood through the “mannequin challenge,” an internet trend popularized by US teenagers that depicts a scene frozen in time.

From a Kardashian literally delivering a baby to a studio of pole dancers, the challenge has spread to nearly all walks of life. Hillary Clinton, Beyonce, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Diplo, and many other high-profile figures have gotten involved. 

So, of course the natural progression of the internet trend was to the remote jungles of Colombia. 

The FARC, a rebel group that has been embroiled in a decades-long civil war with the country’s government, released a mannequin challenge that humanizes the much-maligned and little-understood organization. 

Read more: After decades of war, Colombia will have peace

With a dwindling membership — once over 20,000, the organization now consists of roughly 6,500 fighters — and a new peace deal approved by Congress, the FARC is beginning the process of reintegration into civil society. 

The mannequin challenge video, which was released from the FARC-EP YouTube account, sheds a bit of insight, albeit contrived, into the conditions at the camp. 

FARC fighters pose for photos, check their smartphones, play chess, chop wood, and read each other books. 

It’s a perfectly normalized scene in an increasingly abnormal world.  

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FARC Mannequin Challenge Shows Anything, Literally Anything, Can Happen This Year

By Phineas Rueckert