Julián Gallo Cubillos aka Carlos Antonio Lozada (born 24 March 1961 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) is a

n former guerrilla member of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

(FARC) and politician. During his early years, Lozada allegedly became a member of the

Colombian Communist Youth The Colombian Communist Youth ( Spanish: ''Juventud Comunista Colombiana, JUCO)'' is a Communist, Marxist-Leninist, and Bolivarian Colombian youth organization, connected to the Colombian Communist Party (PCC). It is a member of the World Feder ...

(JUCO), later joined the

Colombian Communist Party The Colombian Communist Party (, PCC) is a legal communist party in Colombia. It was founded in 1930 as the Communist Party of Colombia, at which point it was the Colombian section of the Comintern. The party is led by Jaime Caycedo and publi ...

and subsequently went into clandestineness as a member of the FARC guerrillas.

Biography

His parents lived as farmers in an area of central Colombia. During the civil war : “The state expropriated farms, cattle, pigs, and chickens from us, as they did with thousands of other compatriots”. In

, He joined the Communist Youth when he was fifteen. Soon afterward, he attended an anti-government demonstration, and was beaten by the police and jailed for a month. His parents warned him against joining the FARC: his mother objected on religious grounds, and his father told him that a city boy wasn’t suited to guerrilla life. Against their wishes, Lozada headed for the countryside to join the guerrillas in 1978.

FARC negotiator

Lozada was first identified as a member of the FARC during the 1999-2002 failed FARC-Government peace process in

San Vicente del Caguán San Vicente del Caguán () is a town and municipality in Amazonian Caquetá Department, southern Colombia. Religion Its Marian Catedral Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (dedicated to the Virgin of Mercy) is the cathedral episcopal see of the ...

. According to the military, Lozada reorganized the FARC structure in 2003 and promoted the

Clandestine Colombian Communist Party The Clandestine Colombian Communist Party (in Spanish: ''Partido Comunista Clandestino Colombiano'') was an underground communist party in Colombia. It was politically linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which founded th ...

, the clandestine political arm of the FARC in urban areas designed to infiltrate and recruit ideologues for the FARC.

Wanted by the United States

According to the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

Lozada is a member of the Higher Command of the FARC and participated in setting and then implementing FARC's cocaine policies directing and controlling the production, manufacture, and distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and the world; the "taxation" of the

illegal drug trade in Colombia The illegal drug trade in Colombia has, since the 1970s, centered successively on four major drug trafficking cartels: Medellín, Cali, Norte del Valle, and North Coast, as well as several ''bandas criminales'', or BACRIMs. The trade eventuall ...

to raise funds for the FARC; and, the murder of hundreds of people who violated or interfered with the FARC’s cocaine policies. The United States government is offering a reward of up to US$2.5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Lozada.US Department of State: Luis Antonio Lozada
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lozada, Carols Antonio Living people Politicians from Bogotá Military personnel from Bogotá Members of FARC 1961 births Members of the Senate of Colombia