The Southern Bloc of the FARC-EP was the first bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to exist and is where the roots of the guerrilla movement lie. The bloc has been held responsible for several notorious attacks, including the infamous "donkey-bomb", numerous attacks against military bases, as well as Íngrid Betancourt´s kidnapping. It was also blamed by government investigators and prosecutors for the bombing of the El Nogal club. FARC itself denied that any of its members were responsible for the attack.
The bloc operates in much of the area that borders with Ecuador and Peru, with some supposed incursions into foreign territory. The government suspects that many FARC leaders may be hiding in the jungles protected by the South Bloc.
The specific divisions of the group are arguable. Because of the current conflict existing in the country, much of the information recovered is conflicting and cannot be taken as absolutely reliable. Some of the believed divisions or 'fronts', as they are commonly called, are shown below. Many of these fronts sometimes work together towards a certain mission, while others are further divided into 'columns' and 'companies' with a smaller number of members. For more general information see FARC-EP Chain of Command.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Joaquín Gómez, "Usuriaga" | Milton de Jesús Toncel Redondo | |
| "Fabián Ramírez" | José Benito Cabrera Cuevas | |
| "Sonia" | Anayibe Rojas | Captured and extradited in 2004. |
| Jairo Martinez | 4th in command of this bloc [1] |
Also known as the Isaías Pardo Front, up to 120 militants form it. It operates mostly in the Nariño Department and the Caquetá Department.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ovidio Matallana | Bladimir Ballén Garzón |
Up to 100 militants form this front that operates mostly in the Caquetá Department and the Huila Department. Its current leadership is unclear.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| "Montoya" | Hernando Medina | Killed in 2005. |
Up to 150 militants form this front that operates mostly in the Caquetá Department and the Huila Department.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| "Caballo" | Alexánder Duque |
Up to 250 militants form this front that operates mostly in the Caquetá Department. It is considered one of the most important fronts of the Southern Bloc.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fabián Ramírez | José Benito Cabrero Cuevas | Commander of the Southern Bloc. |
| Faiber | Captured in 2005. |
Also known as the José Ignacio Mora Front, around 300 militants and 2,000 non-combatants form it. [2] It operates mostly in the Caquetá Department. The group is considered responsible for Íngrid Betancourt´s kidnapping. In March 2012, the group was held responsible for taking a French journalist, Roméo Langlois, as an hostage during an attack in which 4 Colombian soldiers were killed. Langlois was released a month later. [3] [4] [5]
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Wilmer | Front commander | |
| "El Mocho César", "César Arroyabe" | Josué Ceballos | Killed in 2002. |
| Adiela | Demobilized in August 2010. [6] | |
| "La Flaca" | Demobilized on October 26, 2010. [7] | |
| "Colacho" | Second in charge of this front. Killed in April 2011. [8] | |
| "Diomédez" or "Diomedes" | He participated in the kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt in 2002. Killed in April 2011. [8] |
Up to 170 militants form this front that operates mostly in the Putumayo Department and the Caquetá Department.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| "Robledo" | Humberto Caballero Cortés | |
| Arley Leal | Regulo Leal | Captured in 2007. |
Also known as the Antonio José de Sucre, up to 450 militants form it. It operates mostly in the Putumayo Department. The group is very active in the border with Ecuador and was suspected of sheltering Raúl Reyes before his death in a Colombian cross border raid on 01 March 2008.
On September 19, 2010, the National Police reported the death of more than 20 guerrilla combatants from this front. [9] [10] [11] [12]
On November 15, 2010, 17 body of suspected FARC members were recovered after Colombia Forces carried out a bombing in FARC 48th front. [13] Two suspected member were children, probably kidnapped by FARC: 12-year-old Jimmy Lee, a Colombian refugee in Ecuador, and 15-year-old Doris Carolina Cadena Benarcazar, an Ecuadorian citizen from Carchi Province. [14] Ecuador denounces the recruitment of Ecuadorean minors into the ranks of Colombia's FARC guerrilla group. [15]
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Robledo | Front commander [16] | |
| "Danilo" | Fabio Ramírez Artunduaga | Captured in Ecuador on June 27, 2011. [17] [18] |
| "Édgar Tovar" | Ángel Gabriel Lozada | Killed in 2010 |
| "Uriel" | Nelson Yaguará Méndez | Captured in Ecuador in 2005. |
| "Eliseo" | Demobilized in April 2010. | |
| "Saúl" | Demobilized in July 2010. [19] | |
| "Domingo Biojó" | Sixto Antonio Cabaña Guillén | Killed in 2010 among the deaths reported by the Police on 2010.09.19. [20] |
| "Lucero","Lucero Palmera" | María Victoria Hinojosa | Killed in 2010 among the deaths reported by the Police on 2010.09.19. [21] |
| "John Freddy Pitufo" | Killed in 2010 among the deaths reported by the Police on 2010.09.19. [21] | |
| "Caballo" | Killed in 2010 among the deaths reported by the Police on 2010.09.19. [21] | |
| "Segundo Cuéllar" | Killed in 2010 among the deaths reported by the Police on 2010.09.19. [21] | |
| "Oliver Solarte" | Killed on March 14, 2011, during Operation "Marte" (Mars) [22] [23] | |
| "Julián Conrado", "El cantante" | Guillermo Enrique Torres Cueter | Captured in Venezuela on Monday May 30, 2011. [24] [25] [26] |
| "Euclides" | Killed in September 2011. [27] [28] | |
| "Marihuano" | Jhon Erlinton Pianda Dovicamo | Explosive expert, captured on April 27, 2012. [29] |
| "El mexicano" | Justo Galindo Reina | Former member of 32nd and 49th front, captured on April 27, 2012. [29] |
Around 50 to 100 militants form this front that operates in the Cauca and Caquetá Departments.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| El Mojoso | Wilson Peña Maje | Front commander |
| Poncho | Demobilized in August 2010. [30] | |
| "Rubín Castañeda" | Héctor Alirio Quintero Ríos | Captured on September 2, 2011. [31] |
Also known as the Timanco Front, up to 70 militants form it. It operates mostly in the Huila Department.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| "Águila Negra" | Bercelio Castro | Arrested in 2007. |
| "Franklin" | ||
| "El Flaco" |
As of 2013, at least 220 [32] specialized militants form this powerful group that operates mostly in the Huila Department and the Caquetá Department, with much urban activity around the country.
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| "El Paisa" | Óscar Montero | |
| "Diván" | Second in command. [33] | |
| "Genaro" | KIA in 2008. | |
| "Genaro" | Luis González or Genaro Corredor Pinzón | Captured on Thursday April 21, 2011. [34] [35] |
| "Tropezón" or "Edgar" | Junior Lozano Urrea | Deputy of alias "Genaro" (captured in 2011/04/21). Killed in April 2011. [36] |
| "Jecko" | Captured on Thursday April 21, 2011. [34] | |
| "La Marrana" | Captured on Thursday April 21, 2011. [34] | |
| "Yerbas" | Humberto Valbuena Morales | Captured in 2006. |
| "Ledis"; "woman of a thousand faces" | Mónica Echeverry | Captured in May 2010. [37] |
| "Dilmer" | Alfonso Solano Rincón | Killed on February 5, 2011. [38] |
| "Pedro" | Herminsul Arellán Barajas | Captured in March 2011. [39] |
| "El ingeniero" | Aldemar Soto Charry | Main explosive expert of the Column Teófilo Forero. Captured in April 2011. [40] |
According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo , the Yesid Ortiz Mobile Column was created by fusing remnants of the Teofilo Forero Mobile Column, the 3rd and 14th fronts into a single group which were weakened by the Military of Colombia as part of the Plan Patriota. The main objective of this unit according to El Tiempo is to recover lost territory in the Department of Caqueta. [41]
| Alias | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| "Cristian" or "Doctor agujas" | Heberto Sánchez Tamayo | Physician. Coordinator of the care for the rebels in Southern and Eastern Blocs. Captured on September 24, 2011. [42] |
Simón Trinidad is the alias of Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, a high-ranking member of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and reputedly the first high-ranking member of that guerrilla group to be captured. "Simón Trinidad" is currently serving a 60-year sentence in solitary confinement in the United States at ADX Florence "Supermax" prison near Florence, Colorado with a scheduled release date of February 17, 2055.
The Popular Liberation Army is a Colombian anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group created in 1967. Most of its former members demobilized in 1991, forming the Esperanza, Paz y Libertad party, but a dissident faction, formerly led by Megateo, known as "Los Pelusos", continue operating. On June 22, 1994, Francisco Caraballo, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia (M–L) and Commander in Chief of the People's Liberation Army, was arrested along with his wife, son and several other EPL members. Víctor Ramon Navarro Cervano, alias "Megateo," the leader of the last faction of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), was killed in a military and police operation in Norte de Santander department in 2015. On December 15, 2016, Megateo's successor Guillermo León Aguirre, alias “David León,” was captured in Medellín. 40 days after the capture of David León, the body of his successor Jade Navarro Barbaso, alias “Caracho,” was still not found after disappearing.
Tumaco is a port city and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia, by the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the southwestern corner of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, and experiences a hot tropical climate. Tumaco is inhabited mainly by Afro-Colombians and some indigenous people.
The Eastern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, from September 2010 known as Bloque Comandante Jorge Briceño, in honour of the slain guerrilla leader, was considered to be the strongest military faction of the guerrilla group. It was divided into groups of 50–400 combatants in each group, which patrolled and controlled different areas of Colombia's Eastern and Central-Eastern territory, as well as helped to carry out the killings, taxation, and arrests necessary to advance the organization's financial and political goals.
The Western Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was the smallest of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's (FARC) blocs in size, although not in military capability. It was often held responsible for attacks that occurred in Cali and the surrounding area. The specific divisions of the group are arguable. Some of its divisions or fronts, as they were commonly known as, are shown below. Many of these fronts worked together at times towards a certain mission, while others were further divided into columns and companies with a smaller number of members. For more general information, see FARC-EP Chain of Command.
The Central Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia operated strategically in the Andes Mountains, around the middle of Colombia. The group was considered as the largest threat to Bogotá and its economy, as it operated in areas surrounding the capital. Strong military action in the 2000s, however, forced the bloc to hide in remote parts of the mountains, away from many highways and cities.
Luis Edgar Devia Silva, better known by his nom de guerreRaúl Reyes, was a leader, Secretariat member, spokesperson, and advisor to the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC–EP). He died during an attack by the Colombian army 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) within Ecuador, sparking the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis involving Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
Luciano Marín Arango, better known as Iván Márquez, is a Colombian guerrilla leader, member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), part of its secretariat higher command and advisor to the Northwestern and Caribbean blocs. He was part of the FARC negotiators that concluded a peace agreement with President Juan Manuel Santos. On 29 August 2019, Márquez abandoned the peace process and announced a renewed armed conflict with the Colombian government.
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The Caribbean Bloc of the FARC-EP was a medium-sized FARC-EP bloc which operated in the northern areas of Colombia and along the Caribbean coast, with routes and access to the coast being strategically important, and was thus sometimes referred to as the Northern Bloc. At the end of the 1990s the group had much control over the rural areas connecting the urban centers of the Caribbean region, but in the 2000s was forced to retreat into the more inhospitable Andes. The group's leaders have been held responsible for numerous kidnappings and killings along the entire Caribbean coast, including the urban centers Cartagena, Barranquilla, Valledupar and Santa Marta. This bloc was also the center of the high-profile kidnapping of Fernando Araújo, who recovered his freedom during a Colombian National Army offensive in early 2007.
The Northwestern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as the Iván Ríos Bloc has historically been a strong influence in the Medellín and Antioquia regions, and still is today. It has been among the blocs most seriously targeted by former president Álvaro Uribe's defense plan and the Colombian Army's offensive. Due to this, the bloc has been forced to retreat to more remote areas of the countryside and has lost the dominance it once had in the area. The specific divisions of the group are arguable. Because of the current conflict existing in the country, much of the information recovered is conflicting. Some of the believed divisions or "fronts", as they are commonly called, are shown below. Many of these fronts sometimes work together towards a certain mission, while others are further divided into "columns" and "companies" with a smaller number of members. For more general information see FARC-EP Chain of Command.
This is a timeline of events related to the Colombian conflict.
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FARC dissidents, also known as Carlos Patiño Front, are a group, formerly part of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who have refused to lay down their arms after the Colombian peace process came into effect in 2016, or resumed their insurgency afterwards. In 2018, the dissidents numbered some 2,000, to 2,500, armed combatants with an unknown number of civilian militia supporting them. The FARC dissidents have become "an increasing headache" for the Colombian armed forces, as they have to fight them, the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the Clan del Golfo at the same time.
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