Manuel Marulanda

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Pedro Antonio Marín
May 13, 1930(1930-05-13) – March 26, 2008 (aged 77)
Nickname	"Manuel Marulanda Vélez" "Tirofijo"
Place of birth	Génova, Quindío Colombia
Place of death	Colombian jungle[1]
Allegiance	Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Communism
Rank	Secretariat member, Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

Pedro Antonio Marín Marín (May 13, 1930 [disputed]^[2] - March 26, 2008) known by his "nom de guerre," Manuel Marulanda Vélez, and nicknamed by his comrades "Tirofijo" (Spanish: Sureshot), apparently because of a reputed ability to accurately aim firearms was the main leader of the FARC-EP ("Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo"). He was born in a coffee-growing region of west-central Colombia in the Quindío Department, to a peasant family politically aligned with the Liberal Party during conflicts in the 1940s and 1950s.

Marulanda himself changed his political and ideological inclinations to the Communist Party (PCC) sometime during the period of "La Violencia" (roughly 1948 to 1958) that followed the assassination of the Liberal Party's leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.

In March 2006, Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General of the United States, announced in conjunction with DEA and Department of Justice officials that the State Department had placed a $5 million dollar reward on Tirofijo's head, or for information leading to his capture.^[3] But 'Marulanda' was never apprehended, and died of a heart attack on March 26, 2008. He was replaced as commander in chief by 'Alfonso Cano'.^[4]

[edit] Early armed activities

Main article: Marquetalia Republic

Marulanda and members of his family, like many Liberal peasants, rose up in arms not long after they heard the news about the death of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan. Initially they were defending themselves from members of the rival Conservative Party and of local police forces.

Eventually, Marulanda split with some of his relatives and became part of a column of guerrilla fighters that came under the influence of the Communist Party, which developed a more proactive role in the fighting, executing more raids and offensive operations. He took on the name "Manuel Marulanda" in honor of a murdered union leader. Marulanda eventually met and befriended Luis Morantes, also known as Jacobo Arenas, a PCC political cadre sent to the rural areas by the central party structure.

Members of this group later settled in an area known as Marquetalia towards the end of "La Violencia", keeping their weapons. They distrusted the Colombian Army and government even after a 1953 coup led by General Gustavo Rojas against Conservative president Laureano Gómez. Rojas had offered an amnesty that was accepted by most Liberal irregular fighters nationwide, but reputedly the murder of a few demobilized individuals made Marulanda, his rural comrades and his PCC superiors in the cities uneasy.

After the fall of Rojas in 1957 and the signing of the National Front agreement in 1958 between Colombia's two main parties, self-sufficient armed enclaves, such as the so-called "independent republics" and in particular a supposed "Marquetalia Republic", were considered as dangerous by the new government. Pressure from Conservative members of Congress and from the United States led to a Colombian Army attack on Marquetalia, which was eventually overrun during what was termed "Operation Marquetalia" in May 1964.

[edit] Formation of the FARC

The Colombian Army's attack was mostly ineffective, though it did scatter the guerrillas, and most of the survivors reunited elsewhere and later became part of the "Bloque Sur" (Southern Bloc) guerrilla group in 27th of May 1964, a precursor to the official foundation of the FARC in 1966. Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas soon established themselves as the main leaders of the new guerrilla group.

[edit] 1998-2002 Peace Process

Wanted card released by the government of Colombia depicting Manuel Marulanda.

Marulanda led the FARC's participation in the peace process between the guerrilla organization and Andrés Pastrana's Conservative government in 1999. Pastrana's government accepted the FARC's condition of a demilitarized zone consisting of five municipalities centered around San Vicente del Caguán to organize the peace talks. FARC had virtual control over the area, as most of the government's local representatives had to leave. When the guerrillas moved in they could now openly operate in the urban municipalities, establishing what some press observers called a de facto "FARC-land", because of the rebel group's high profile and degree of open influence in the zone's daily life, including in political, judicial, educational and security affairs. Critics accused the FARC of also equipping, training and organizing its troops for war within the zone, as well as using the available land for the purposes of the drug trade.

The negotiations were held without any form of permanent ceasefire implementation, but nevertheless open violence was reduced seasonally, including through the use of Christmas truces as temporary measures. Still, observers noted that the continuation of armed clashes and kidnappings caused problems and mutual criticisms between the negotiators. After surviving a previous crisis in January with the intervention of the international community, the process finally ended in February 2002 when the FARC hijacked an airplane in order to take a congressman hostage, an act which led to Pastrana's declaring the end of the negotiations and the return to a full state of war.

[edit] Death

Marulanda died of a heart attack on March 26, 2008. The news was first brought by Colombian magazine Revista Semana on May 24, 2008 that cited Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos saying Marulanda died. The minister claimed he had learned this from a reliable informant within FARC. He also told the magazine that three bombing raids had targeted the rebel chief around the date in question.^[5][6] A press statement released by the Colombian Ministry of Defense on May 24 stated that Marulanda died on March 26, 2008 at 18:30 hours (UTC 13:30).^[7] On May 25 in a video released to channel teleSUR, Timoleón Jiménez, aka Timochenko, another member of The Central High Command of the FARC, confirmed the death as heart failure.^[8][9]

[edit] References

• Diario de la resistencia de Marquetalia, Jacobo Arenas, Ediciones Abejón Mono, 1972 (Espanol)

[edit] External links

• Documentary: 50 years of Guerrilla