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This is a timeline of events related to the Colombian armed conflict.
This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing. Please help add to it.
Events that preceded the conflict.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018) |
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018) |
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018) |
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018) |
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018) |
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018) |
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2021) |
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army is a guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. They are known to employ a variety of military tactics in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism. The FARC–EP was formed during the Cold War period as a Marxist–Leninist peasant force promoting a political line of agrarianism and anti-imperialism.
The National Liberation Army is a revolutionary left-wing armed group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict, which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocate a composite communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism and liberation theology. In 2013, it was estimated that the ELN forces consisted of between 1,380 and 3,000 guerrillas. According to former ELN national directorate member Felipe Torres, one fifth of ELN supporters have taken up arms. The ELN has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia, United States, Canada the European Union and Venezuela's National Assembly.
The Colombian conflict began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory. Some of the most important international contributors to the Colombian conflict include multinational corporations, the United States, Cuba, and the drug trafficking industry.
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 organization blocs in size, although not in military capability. It was routinely held responsible for attacks that occurred in Cali and its surroundings. The specific divisions of the group are arguable. Some of its divisions or 'fronts', as they were commonly called, are shown below. Many of these fronts sometimes worked together 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 Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was the first bloc 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 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.
The Middle Magdalena Bloc of the FARC-EP was a FARC-EP bloc, notable for its involvement in the conflict with the AUC until the latter's demobilization in 2004. After that, it became one of the Colombian army's biggest worries as FARC started once again to gain control over the territory.
The internal conflict in Peru is an ongoing armed conflict between the Government of Peru and the Maoist guerilla group Shining Path. The conflict began on 17 May 1980, and from 1982 to 1997 the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement waged its own insurgency as a Marxist–Leninist rival to the Shining Path. It is estimated that there have been between 50,000 and 70,000 deaths, making it the bloodiest war in Peruvian history, since the European colonization of the country.
Jamundí is a town and municipality in the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
The insurgency in Paraguay, also known as the Paraguayan People’s Army insurgency and the EPP rebellion, is an ongoing low-level armed conflict in northeastern Paraguay. Between 2005 and the summer of 2014, the ongoing EPP campaign has resulted in at least 50 deaths in total, the majority of them being local ranchers, private security guards and police officers, along with several insurgents. During that same period the group perpetrated 28 kidnappings for ransom and a total of 85 "violent acts".
FARC dissidents, also known as Carlos Patino front, refers to a group, formerly part of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who have refused to lay down their arms after the FARC-government peace treaty 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 EPL, ELN and Clan del Golfo at the same time.
On 17 January 2019, a vehicle was driven into the General Santander National Police Academy in Bogotá, Colombia. The truck forced its way into the facility, hit a wall and detonated, killing 22 people and injuring 68 others. Suicide attacks are unusual in Colombia. The car contained about 80 kilograms (180 lb) of pentolite. It was the deadliest attack on the Colombian capital since the 2003 El Nogal Club bombing and the first terrorist attack on the capital since the 2017 Centro Andino bombing. The National Liberation Army (ELN) accepted responsibility for the attack and justified it as a response to the bombings made by the Colombian government during the unilateral ceasefire.
The Catatumbo campaign has been an ongoing period of strategic violence between militia faction groups in the Catatumbo region of Colombia and Venezuela since January 2018. It is an extension of the War on drugs and developed after the Colombian peace process of 2016. The existence of the war was officially announced in August 2019 after a Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation. Colombian media reports that the war has directly affected an estimated 145,000 people, with the HRW estimating this at 300,000.
Events in the year 2021 in Colombia.
The 2021 Apure clashes started on 21 March 2021 in the south of the Páez Municipality, in the Apure state in Venezuela, specifically in La Victoria, a location bordering with Colombia, between guerrilla groups identified as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) dissidents and the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.
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