A BRIEF HISTORY OF COLOMBIA
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FARC in 1966. Other guerrilla groups were already organizing: university
students inspired by the Cuban Revolution formed the Ejército de Liberación
Nacional (Army of National Liberation — ELN) in 1964; they received training
and funding from the Cuban government. Camilo Torres abandoned the civic
struggle against the National Front and joined the ELN in 1965, but was killed in
his first armed action. The ELN then took on a Christian-Marxist hue, and was led
by a former Spanish priest, the "Cura Pérez," from the 1970s through his death
in 1998 (by natural causes). Both the FARC and the ELN established themselves
in parts of rural Colombia where the government historically had little or no
presence, in particular in regions settled by refugees from La Violencia. These
two groups are still active today.
The guerrillas were initially supported to a degree by the Communist bloc (by
way of Cuba). However, since their beginnings, the guerrilla groups have mainly
funded themselves by "taxing" the residents and businesses in the regions they
control — and by kidnapping people for ransom. Sometimes people are
kidnapped from their homes, but they are also taken in temporary roadblocks
set up by the guerrillas. Kidnapping reached a peak around 2000, but has
decreased dramatically in recent years.
Of all of the guerrilla groups established in the 1960s and 1970s, the M-19 had
the most popular support. It came out of the left wing of ANAPO, the political
movement of the former dictator, Rojas Pinilla. The name "M-19" (Movimiento
del 19 de Abril — April 19th Movement) comes from the date of the last
National Front presidential election in 1970, which many Colombians still feel
was stolen from the ex-general. Led by middle-class university students, the M-
19 was an urban-based guerrilla movement known for creative actions —
stealing Bolívar's sword, tunneling under the military barracks in Bogotá and
taking arms, and holding a group of diplomats hostage at the Dominican
embassy.