National Liberation Army (Colombia)

National Liberation Army
Leaders
Dates of operation1964–present
Active regionsEspecially in the departments of Arauca, Cauca, Choco, Norte de Santander and Nariño. Bajo Cauca Antioquia. Venezuela.[1]
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
Size5,000[2]
Part ofSimón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board[3]
Allies Venezuela (from 2014) FARC-EP[5]
Opponents
Flag

The National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla insurgency group[6] involved in the continuing Colombian conflict,[7] which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocates 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.[8][9][10] According to former ELN national directorate member Felipe Torres, one fifth of ELN supporters have taken up arms.[11] The ELN has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia,[12] the United States,[13] Canada,[14] New Zealand,[15] and the European Union.[16]

  1. ^ "Estos son los departamentos donde hace presencia el Eln". eltiempo.com. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Terrorist Organizations". CIA. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Negociación y desmovilización con grupos armados (M-19, Epl, Prt, Maql y Crs)". 2012-11-18.
  4. ^ "Comunicado Del Movimiento Revolucionario Tupamaro". Colombian National Liberation Army (in European Spanish). 13 March 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2019.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ https://twitter.com/redstreamnet/status/1746949222757286040?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet [bare URL]
  6. ^ "Cómo es la guerrilla colombiana del ELN autora del atentado con carro bomba que dejó 21 muertos en Bogotá". BBC News Mundo.
  7. ^ Council Decision of 21 December 2005. Official Journal of the European Union. Accessed 2008-07-06
  8. ^ "Colombia's ELN rebels release oil workers after brief capture -police". Reuters. October 18, 2013.
  9. ^ "Desmovilización, principal arma contra las guerrillas" (in Spanish). eltiempo.com. 22 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Colombia army claims guerrillas have lost 5000 fighters in past 2 years". colombiareports.co. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Fear of missing out". The Economist. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  12. ^ Duque, Iván [@ivanduque] (January 20, 2020). "En sesión del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional del pasado viernes, adoptamos listas de EE.UU y UE de los grupos terroristas más peligrosos del mundo, actualizadas a enero de 2020, en las que figura el Eln al lado de organizaciones criminales del mundo. #LuchaContraElTerrorismo" [In a session of the National Security Council last Friday, we adopted US and EU lists of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, updated to January 2020, in which the ELN appears alongside criminal organizations in the world.#LuchaContraElTerrorismo] (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-03-12 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Currently listed entities". Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Designation of Six Terrorist Entities – 2022-go3560 – New Zealand Gazette". gazette.govt.nz. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  16. ^ "GROUPS AND ENTITIES". Retrieved 28 January 2018.