Ejército de Liberación Nacional (usually abbreviated to ELN), or National Liberation Army, is a revolutionary, Marxist, insurgent guerrilla group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia since 1964. Less known than the FARC, it is estimated to be smaller, having between 3,500 to 5,000 men in arms. Look up Revolution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article is about revolution in the sense of a drastic change. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority, by any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. ... Distinguish from the type of ape called a gorilla. ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The FARC-EPs flag The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – Peoples Army, or FARC-EP) is a militant and revolutionary guerrilla group established in 1964-1966 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, and is Colombias...

Activities

The US State Department considers ELN to be a Foreign Terrorist Organization due to its notorious reputation for ransom kidnappings and armed attacks on Colombia's infrastructure. In April 2004, the European Union added the ELN to its list of terrorist organizations for those actions and its breaches of humanitarian law. Foreign Terrorist Organizations are foreign organizations that are designated as terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended. ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The ELN has also occasionally operated with the FARC-EP and it has also targetted civilians, according to a February 2005 report by the United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights: "During 2004, the FARC-EP and the ELN carried out a series of attacks against the civilian population, including several massacres of civilians and kidnappings by the FARC-EP. There were occasional joint actions by the FARC-EP and the ELN." [1] 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Ongoing events • Iraqi legislative election • Bill C-38 (Canada gay marriage) • Tsunami relief Upcoming events • March 11: Red Nose Day 2005 in the UK. Deaths in February • 26 – Jef Raskin • 25 – Hugh Nibley • 25 – Peter Benenson • 21... This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of UN see UN (disambiguation) Official languages English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic Secretary-General Kofi Annan (since 1997) Established October 24, 1945 Member states 191 Headquarters New York City, NY, USA Official site http://www. ... The purpose of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights involves the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide through direct contact with individual governments and the provision of technical assistance where appropriate. ...

Background

The group was originally founded by Cuban-trained Fabio Vásquez Castaño who along with his brother and other relatives initially held important positions within the organization. Fabio Vásquez Castaño is a Colombian rebel and revolutionary who was trained by Fidel Castro during the 60s. ...

The outspoken Father Camilo Torres (a well-known university professor of egalitarian and eventually Marxist leanings who was highly critical of Colombia's historically unfair income distribution, named after a revolutionary figure in Colombia's late colonial history), was attracted to the radical new ideas of liberation theology and joined the group with the intent of putting them into practice inside a revolutionary environment. Torres himself died shortly after joining the ELN during his first combat, but he remained as an important symbol both for the group as a whole and to other like-minded priests who gradually followed his example, most from relatively low positions in the Catholic Church's structure. Fr. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Liberation theology is an important and controversial school in the theology of the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. ... The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ...

After suffering both internal crisis and military defeat in the early 1970s, it was Father Manuel Pérez alias "El Cura Pérez" ("Pérez the Priest") from Spain, who eventually assumed joint-leadership of the group along with current leader Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, alias "Gabino", and presided over the ELN as one of its most recognized figures from the late 1970s until he died of hepatitis in 1998. Manuel Pérez was President of Nicaragua 1843-1844. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

It has been considered that Manuel Pérez had a large role in giving ultimate shape to the ELN's ideology, which has traditionally been considered as a mixture of Cuban revolutionary theory with extreme liberation theology, calling for a Christian and Communist solution to Colombia's problems of corruption, poverty and political exclusion, through the use of guerrilla activity, conventional warfare and also what has been termed as terrorist action. Observers have commented that, since the death of Manuel Pérez, the movement may arguably have begun to slowly lose focus regarding many of its earlier concerns, such as the necessary unity of revolutionary activity with Christian and social action, in order to win over the population to their cause. The ELN is considered a foreign terrorist organization by the USA and the European Union. Liberation theology is an important and controversial school in the theology of the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Poverty is the state of being without, often associated with need, hardship and lack of resources across a wide range of circumstances. ... Look up terrorist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Terrorist may refer to: Terrorism, violence (especially against civilians) that is militarily insignificant but aimed at undermining morale it also tends to reduce peoples love life dramatically by causing erectile disfunction The Terrorist, a 1998 film based on the life of a...

The ELN guerrillas were seriously crippled by the Anorí operation carried out by the Colombian military from 1973 to 1974, but managed to reconstitute themselves and escape destruction, in part due to the government of Alfonso López Michelsen allowing them to escape encirclement, hoping to initiate a peace process with the group. The ELN survived and managed to sustain itself through the extortion of private and foreign oil companies, including several of German origin, large-scale kidnapping and, to a lesser degree, with indirect profits from the drug trade. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Alfonso López Michelsen (b. ... These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the US Drug Enforcement Administration In jurisdictions where legislation restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it is common for an illegal drugs trade to develop. ...

The ELN did not participate in the peace process that the administration of Andrés Pastrana Arango attempted during 1998 to 2002 with the FARC, though it did engage in exploratory talks, kept contacts and discussed the possibility of eventually joining a peace initiative. Order: 42nd President Vice President: Gustavo Bell Lemus Term of office: August 7, 1998 – August 7, 2002 Preceded by: Ernesto Samper Succeeded by: Álvaro Uribe Date of birth: August 17, 1954 Place of birth: Bogotá First Lady: Nohra Puyana de Pastrana Political party: Conservative Andrés Pastrana Arango (born August... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Those contacts continued during the early days of the Álvaro Uribe Vélez government but eventually were severed, neither party being fully trusting of the other. Only recently, in mid-2004, have the ELN and the government began to make a small series of moves that, with the announced mediation of the Vicente Fox government of Mexico, may potentially lead to another round of at least exploratory talks. On July 24, 2004 the ELN apparently adbucted Misael Vacca Ramírez, the Catholic Bishop of Yopal, though their reasons were not clarified. The kidnappers said that Ramírez would be released with a message, but Francisco Galán, a senior jailed ELN commander who has often acted as an intermediary between the government and the ELN's high command, said he did not know whether the group was responsible. The Bishop was subsequently released by ELN members, in good health, on July 27th, after his kidnapping had been condemned by Amnesty International and Pope John Paul II, among others. It is not yet known if he has any message to announce or any other specifics about his situation. Order: 43rd President Vice President: Francisco Santos Calderón Term of office: August 7, 2002 – Present Preceded by: Andrés Pastrana Succeeded by: Incumbent Date of birth: July 4, 1952 Place of birth: Medellín First Lady: Lina Moreno de Uribe Political party: Independent Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born July... Term of office: December 1, 2000 – present Preceded by: Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León Succeeded by: incumbent Date of birth: July 2, 1942 Place of birth: Mexico City Profession: Industrialist First Lady: Marta Sahagún Political Party: National Action Party Vicente Fox Quesada (born July 2, 1942) is the... July 24 is the 205th day (206th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 160 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization with the stated purpose of promoting all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. ... Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), born Karol Józef WojtyÅ‚a (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005), reigned as pope of the Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from 16 October 1978 until his death, making his the third-longest reign in the history of the Papacy according to the...

Some sectors within the ELN have apparently been hit hard both by the AUC right wing paramilitaries and, more recently, the different military offensives initiated under the Uribe administration, which has been the basis for reductions in estimates of its currently available manpower. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) or AUC is a terrorist umbrella organization formed in April 1997 to consolidate most local and regional Colombia, each with the mission to protect economic interests and combat insurgents locally. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ...

External links

• ELN Homepage
• An ELN profile on BBC news
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - Colombia 2005 Report (Spanish and English)