Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri (born 22 January 1959), most known under the ''

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' Timoleón Jiménez and the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

Timochenko or Timochenco, is a Colombian politician, cardiologist and former commander-in-chief of the rebel group

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 ...

(Spanish: ''Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia'', FARC), currently serving as the president of its political successor

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

(Spanish: ''Comunes'') following the

Colombian peace process The Colombian peace process refers to the negotiations between the Government of Colombia under President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC–EP) aimed at ending the decades-long Colombian conflict. Th ...

Early life

Echeverri was born in 1959 shortly after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

to a poor

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

family in

Calarcá Calarcá is a municipality in the eastern part of the department of Quindío Department, Quindío, Colombia. It is located 4 km east of the departmental capital Armenia, Colombia, Armenia. Its nickname is ''La Villa del Cacique'' in homage o ...

, near the birthplace of FARC-EP founder

Manuel Marulanda Pedro Antonio Marín Marín (13 May 1930 – 26 March 2008), known by his "nom de guerre" Manuel Marulanda Vélez, was the founder and main leader of the Marxist–Leninist FARC-EP ("''Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército ...

. His father, an illiterate peasant, is a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

sympathiser. After finishing high school, Echeverri joined the youth wing of the Colombian Communist Party.Alias Timochenko
lasillavacia.com (1 November 2016) Colombian intelligence services had long believed that he had studied medicine in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and then undergone military training in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, but this has since been proven false.

FARC-EP

Echeverri joined the FARC-EP in 1976, at the age of 17. He explains, on his entry into the guerrilla: "Before I left, they gave me a talk in which they tried to discourage me, but I was determined: I admired the armed struggle and believed that it would only take a short time, as in Cuba". He received medical training within the guerrillas.

Commander-in-chief

Echeverri took over the FARC-EP leadership in November 2011 from Alfonso Cano after the leader was killed by the

Colombian army The National Army of Colombia () is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, and is the second largest army in the ...

. According to the

Colombian Air Force The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC, ) is the air force of the Republic of Colombia. The Colombian Aerospace Force is one of the three institutions of the Military Forces of Colombia charged, according to the 1991 Constitution, with working to exe ...

his alias is referring to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

Semyon Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (; ; – 31 March 1970) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War. Born to a Ukrainian family in Bessarabia, ...

. Before assuming the leadership of the guerrilla group, Echeverri was one of the commanders of the Middle Magdalena Bloc of the FARC-EP and was thought to have some 800 men under his command.

Peace process

According to ''

Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

'', " cheverriwas instrumental in keeping the FARC from abandoning" the Colombian peace process, announcing in November 2012 the beginning of dialogue with the Colombian government. During this time, Echeverri experienced health issues. In 2015, Jiménez suffered a heart attack. In November 2016, the Colombian government and FARC-EP reached a deal, with the FARC-EP transitioning from guerilla status to a political party.

Political career

Party foundation

In the morning of 2 July 2017, he checked himself into a hospital in

Villavicencio Villavicencio () is a city and municipality in Colombia. The capital of Meta Department, it was founded on April 6, 1840. The municipality had a population of 531,275 in 2018. The city is located at 4°08'N, 73°40'W, 75 km (about 45 ...

after feeling exhaustion and numbness in his arm. Doctors said that he was in intensive care and there was a temporary blockage of blood to his brain. Between 28 and 31 August 2017, a month after being hospitalized for a

cerebral embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...

, Echeverri led the founding congress of the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) party at the Bogota Convention Centre with the participation of one thousand delegates. In a speech on 1 September 2017, party leader Timochenko proposed a transitional government for the 2018–2022 term. On 31 October 2017, FARC was named a legal political party in Colombia.

2018 Colombian presidential election

On 1 November 2017, twenty-four hours after FARC was made a legal political party, Echeverri launched a presidential bid for the 2018 Colombian presidential election. During this time, he had the lowest polling figures among the Colombian public. In March 2018, he was hospitalized for

acute coronary syndrome Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a syndrome due to decreased blood flow in the coronary arteries such that part of the heart muscle is unable to function properly or dies. The most common symptom is centrally located pressure-like chest pain, ...

, underwent heart surgery and subsequently ended his presidential campaign.

Controversy

According to the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

, Timoleon Jimenez set the FARC-EP’s cocaine policies directing and controlling the production, manufacture, and distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and the world, including 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-EP.US Department of State: Rodrigo Londoño-Echeverry
'Accessed 15 November 2011'' According to the U.S. Department of State, in 2000, along with Pastor Alape, he ordered the Magdalena Medio Bloc to retake coca territory, shoot down fumigation aircraft, increase coca production, kidnap United States citizens and kill any farmer who sold cocaine paste to non-FARC-EP approved buyers. When Echeverri took over as leader, the U.S. Department of State offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

References

External links

Timochenko's Twitter page

'Timochenko'
profile on

InSight Crime InSight Crime is a non-profit think tank and media organization specializing in organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. The organization has offices in Washington, D.C., and Medellín, Colombia. InSight Crime receives funding from the ...

'Timochenko'
profile on Colombia Reports {{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, Timoleon 1959 births Living people Colombian communists People from Calarcá Members of FARC Peoples' Friendship University of Russia alumni Colombian people of Basque descent