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Colombian Armed Conflict (1964–present)
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 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 conflict is historically rooted in the conflict known as '' La Violencia'', which was triggered by the 1948 assassination of liberal political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán and in the aftermath of the anti-communist repression in rural Colombia in the 1960s that led Liberal and Communist militants to re-organize into the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The reasons for fighting vary from group to group. The FARC and other guerrilla movements claim to be fighting for the rights of the impoverished in Colombia t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term ''Cold war (term), cold war'' is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and Nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, Economic sanctions, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. After the end of World War II in 1945, during which the US and USSR had been allies, the USSR installed satellite state, satellite governments in its occupied territories in Eastern Europe and N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Right-wing Paramilitarism In Colombia
Right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia () are paramilitary groups acting Far-right politics, in opposition to revolutionary Marxist–Leninist guerrilla forces and their allies among the civilian population. These right-wing paramilitary groups control a large majority of the Illegal drug trade in Colombia, illegal drug trade of cocaine and other substances. The Colombian National Center for Historical Memory, National Centre for Historical Memory has estimated that between 1981 and 2012 paramilitary groups have caused 38.4% of the civilian deaths, while the Guerrilla movements in Colombia, Guerillas are responsible for 16.8%, 10.1% by the Colombian Security Forces and 27.7% by non-identified armed groups. The first paramilitary groups were organized by the Colombian military following recommendations made by U.S. military counterinsurgency advisers who were sent to Colombia during the Cold War to combat left-wing, leftist political activists and armed guerrilla groups. The d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedro Oliverio Guerrero
Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo (February 28, 1970 in San Martín, Meta, – December 24, 2010 in Mapiripán, Meta), also known as Cuchillo (The Knife), and as Didier, was a Colombian drug lord and the former leader of the Colombian Popular Revolutionary Anti-communist Army (Spanish: ''Ejército Revolucionario Anticomunista de Colombia'' – ERPAC), a drug trafficking, right wing paramilitary organization. His nickname came from the favoured weapon he used on his victims. Member of a family already involved in crime, Guerrero and his siblings were known as Los Cuchillos (the Knives) due to their habit of sporting those weapons. He joined the underground crime world during his teenage years as a member of the private militia of drug lord Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, ''aka'' El Mexicano. Following the death of El Mexicano, Guerrero escaped to the department of Guaviare where he joined the paramilitary groups that were active in the region. These paramilitary groups grew in number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloque Meta
Bloque Meta ( English: Meta Block) was a Colombian drug trafficking, neo-paramilitary organization engaged in the Colombian armed conflict. Bloque Meta's history can be traced back to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC. When the AUC demobilized in 2006, many former members of the organization formed ERPAC, which would later partly become the Bloque Meta, to continue the counterrevolutionary struggle against the FARC in Colombia's eastern plains. Above all, the Bloque Meta is considered one of Colombia's most brutal drug trafficking organizations. The group could have some 260 members in total. The last leader of the criminal group, Arnulfo Hernandez Guzman, also known as Tigre, was captured September 22, 2017, in Villavicencio (Meta). With this capture, according to statements by the Ministry of Defence, the organization is completely dismantled. Recent history The Bloque Meta is believed to have been created by former members of the AUC who refused to demobilize to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libertadores Del Vichada
Libertadores del Vichada (English: The Liberators of Vichada), was a Colombian drug trafficking neo-paramilitary group involved in the Colombian armed conflict. It is considered to be one of the most important drug trafficking organizations in eastern Colombia. The group is led by Martín Farfán Díaz González, alias 'Pijarbey,' a former leader of the neo-paramilitary group ERPAC. According to Colombia's prosecutor general, Díaz González is responsible for several homicides and acts of terrorism against the civilian population. The last leader of the criminal group was captured September 22, 2017, in Villavicencio (Meta). With this capture, according to statements by the Ministry of Defence, the organization is completely dismantled. Background The origins of Libertadores del Vichada can be traced back to the disintegration of ERPAC, an armed, paramilitary group that was partially demobilized in 2009. However, only 300 out of roughly 900 ERPAC members surrendered to Colomb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peasant Self-Defenders Of Córdoba And Urabá
''Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá'' (ACCU), Spanish for Field Workers Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá, was a paramilitary group formed in northwestern Colombia, operating mainly in the Antioquia Department and Córdoba Department. It was founded by Fidel Castaño, Carlos Castaño and Vicente Castaño to retaliate against the assassination of their father Jesús Castaño by FARC-EP guerrillas. The Colombian military had been supporting farmers' efforts by training some of them in military doctrine, which also had military veterans or retirees in their lines. The Army was authorized to do this following the Colombian constitutional article that supported civilian arming as self-defense against a threat to their rights, and the Castaño brothers as well as other farmers in the region had armed themselves and hired bodyguards following this principle. The military officially cut its links with these groups after finding out some of its members had ties to dru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CONVIVIR
CONVIVIR, an acronym for ''Servicios Especiales de Vigilancia y Seguridad Privada'' (English: Special Vigilance and Private Security Services) (the word to which the acronym owes its namesake, “convivir”, means "living in harmony" in Spanish) was a national program of cooperative neighbourhood watch groups created by a February 11, 1994 decree of Colombia's Ministry of National Defense and a law passed in the Colombian Congress, in response to growing guerrilla activity. Authorized during the government of César Gaviria but mainly developed during the administration of Ernesto Samper (1994–1998), the CONVIVIR groups quickly became controversial as it was considered to represent something of a revival of the Law 48 of 1968. Members of some former paramilitary groups transitioned into CONVIVIR, where they were joined by newer recruits and victims of guerrilla aggression, while others, such as the ACCU, remained operating independently. The then governor of Antioquia, Álvaro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alianza Americana Anticomunista
The ''Alianza Americana Anticomunista'' (AAA, pronounced triple-A; "American Anticommunist Alliance") was a paramilitary far-right group mainly operating in Colombia between 1978 and 1979. Contemporary accusations and declassified U.S. Embassy documents have linked the creation and operation of this group to members of a Colombian National Army battalion employing the Triple A name as a label. Foundation A 1979 report from the United States Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia details that then-General Jorge Robledo Pulido and members of the BINCI, "Charry Solano" Battalion of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (BINCI) were directly involved in the creation of AAA. The report describes a plan intended "to create the impression that the American Anti-communist Alliance has established itself in Colombia and is preparing to take violent action against local communists." Accusations and activities In December 1978, the Anticommunist American Alliance bombed the Colombian Communist Party ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Self-Defense Forces Of Colombia
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (''Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia'', or AUC, in Spanish) were a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the period from 1997 to 2006. The AUC was responsible for retaliations against the FARC and ELN communist organization as well as numerous attacks against civilians beginning in 1997 with the Mapiripán massacre. The militia had its roots in the 1980s when militias were established by drug lords to combat rebel kidnappings and extortion by communist guerrillas. BBCQuick Guide, The Colombian conflict. In April 1997 the AUC was formed through a merger, orchestrated by the ACCU, of local right-wing militias, each intending to protect different local economic, social and political interests by fighting left-wing insurgents in their areas. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Terrorist Organization Pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FARC Dissidents
FARC dissidents (Spanish: ''Disidencias de las Farc''), 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. FARC dissidents have been responsible for several attacks on the Colombian armed forces. These fighters are believed to be heavily involved in the production and sale of cocaine. In June 2020, it was revealed that the presence of FARC dissidents in northern Antioquia instigated a direct armed conflict with the Clan del ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Eagles
Black Eagles () was a term describing a series of Colombian drug trafficking, right-wing, counter-revolutionary, paramilitary organizations made up of new and preexisting paramilitary forces, that emerged from the failures of the demobilization process between 2004 and 2006, which aimed to disarm the United Self-Defense Units of Colombia (AUC). The Black Eagles were first considered to be a third generation of paramilitary groups, but Colombian military reports suggest they were intermediaries in the drug business between the guerrilla and drug cartels outside Colombia. As of 2007, they were reported to be active in the city of Barrancabermeja. According to Fundación Paz y Reconciliación, Black Eagles ceased to exist around 2011. Since then, there is no evidence of an armed structure, camps or a military hierarchy; instead, the term ''Águilas Negras'' is used as a "franchise" by different, unrelated criminal gangs. Origins The Black Eagles first appeared in the Norte de S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
