Jacobo Arenas
Encyclopedia
Jacobo Arenas was a Colombia
n guerrilla and ideological leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). He was also one of the FARC figures involved in the organization and creation of the Patriotic Union
political party in 1985. He was fluent in several languages other than his native Spanish, including English and Russian.
Born at Bucaramanga
in Santander Department
, Arenas spent most of his life involving himself in the activities of Marxist revolution in Colombia since the 1960s. During this time, he mostly lived in the mountains, jungles and remote villages. Arenas sometimes had to hide from those who wanted to capture him, including Colombian security forces, the Central Intelligence Agency
(which Arenas believed responsible for numerous alleged plots against him) and eventually paramilitary fighters as well. Arenas is thought to have followed the example of Che Guevara
, who changed his way of life when he saw that the people of Latin America
were facing hardships during a regionwide motorcycle trip (partially included in the film Diarios de Motocicleta - The Motorcycle Diaries
) when he was a senior year medical student. Arenas admired Che Guevara and started his life as a revolutionary due to similar realizations, first through his experiences in the Colombian Communist Party
(PCC) and finally in the FARC.
Arenas is credited for helping to lay the foundation for the FARC's organizational structure and promoting its later development into what is usually considered as one of the strongest and longest lasting Marxist guerrilla movements in the world. To implement the policy of "standing steadily", he taught FARC members in several subjects, such as anthropology, international military law and counter techniques for any changing situation.
Arenas' son, known as Francisco Arenas, continued to serve in the FARC after his father's death.
Alfonso Cano
subsequently became Arenas' replacement as ideological leader of the group throughout the 1990s, and served as the leader of the FARC-EP from May 2008 to November 2011, when he was killed.
, died in combat in August 2004 http://www.lukor.com/not-por/0408/03053140.htm.
Since February 2005, the Jacobo Arenas Front has played a significant role in the renewed series of FARC military operations in the southwest of the country against the security forces of president Álvaro Uribe's government, coming after a period of what was considered as either a temporary halt in operations or as a necessary strategic retreat on the part of the guerrillas, in part as a response to a massive U.S. government-backed military offensive known as "Plan Patriota" taking place in the southeast of Colombia .
The Front was involved in the widely criticized attack on the municipality of Toribio in the Cauca department on 14 April 2005. Four people were killed (three police and one civilian) and 23 injured. Many of the villagers were displaced as fighting in the general area continued intermittently for about a month. The attack was notable as Toribio is known as the epicenter of a nonviolent indigenous resistance movement arising in 2004, opposed to many the same policies the FARC claims to fight against. While the FARC attack was aimed at the town's police station, the level of collateral damage and the lack of concern for civilian suffering even among a population clearly not on the side of the government earned the guerrillas condemnation from many on the left. http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/6446
commander Antonio García once stated Jacobo Arenas was a hero to him, just as he considered Simón Bolívar
, José Martí
and Che Guevara
as heroes, in an interview with a Latin American journalist.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n guerrilla and ideological leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
(Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). He was also one of the FARC figures involved in the organization and creation of the Patriotic Union
Patriotic Union (Colombia)
The Patriotic Union or UP , was a leftist Colombian political party founded by the FARC and the Colombian Communist Party in 1985, as part of the peace negotiations that the guerrillas held with the Conservative Belisario Betancur administration...
political party in 1985. He was fluent in several languages other than his native Spanish, including English and Russian.
Born at Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
in Santander Department
Santander Department
Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
, Arenas spent most of his life involving himself in the activities of Marxist revolution in Colombia since the 1960s. During this time, he mostly lived in the mountains, jungles and remote villages. Arenas sometimes had to hide from those who wanted to capture him, including Colombian security forces, the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(which Arenas believed responsible for numerous alleged plots against him) and eventually paramilitary fighters as well. Arenas is thought to have followed the example of Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
, who changed his way of life when he saw that the people of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
were facing hardships during a regionwide motorcycle trip (partially included in the film Diarios de Motocicleta - The Motorcycle Diaries
The Motorcycle Diaries (film)
At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, anti-authority impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it he evokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends both the arbitrary boundaries of...
) when he was a senior year medical student. Arenas admired Che Guevara and started his life as a revolutionary due to similar realizations, first through his experiences in the Colombian Communist Party
Colombian Communist Party
The Colombian Communist Party or PCC is the legal communist party of Colombia. It was founded in 1930, as the Colombian section of the Comintern...
(PCC) and finally in the FARC.
Arenas is credited for helping to lay the foundation for the FARC's organizational structure and promoting its later development into what is usually considered as one of the strongest and longest lasting Marxist guerrilla movements in the world. To implement the policy of "standing steadily", he taught FARC members in several subjects, such as anthropology, international military law and counter techniques for any changing situation.
Importance to FARC
Jacobo Arenas died on August 10, 1990, possibly due to cancer, but perhaps also due to diabetes or an ulcer, or even assassinated by a vindictive comrade (according to different versions). His death was considered a major blow to the FARC, as he was one of the persons responsible for transforming the FARC from a small guerilla force to a belligerent rebel army.Arenas' son, known as Francisco Arenas, continued to serve in the FARC after his father's death.
Alfonso Cano
Alfonso Cano
Guillermo León Sáenz Vargas , more commonly known by his nom de guerre Alfonso Cano was the commander of the militant group known as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia...
subsequently became Arenas' replacement as ideological leader of the group throughout the 1990s, and served as the leader of the FARC-EP from May 2008 to November 2011, when he was killed.
FARC's Jacobo Arenas Front
His son Francisco Arenas eventually led the Jacobo Arenas Front mobile column, named in honor of his father, and, according to the Colombian ArmyColombian Army
The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...
, died in combat in August 2004 http://www.lukor.com/not-por/0408/03053140.htm.
Since February 2005, the Jacobo Arenas Front has played a significant role in the renewed series of FARC military operations in the southwest of the country against the security forces of president Álvaro Uribe's government, coming after a period of what was considered as either a temporary halt in operations or as a necessary strategic retreat on the part of the guerrillas, in part as a response to a massive U.S. government-backed military offensive known as "Plan Patriota" taking place in the southeast of Colombia .
The Front was involved in the widely criticized attack on the municipality of Toribio in the Cauca department on 14 April 2005. Four people were killed (three police and one civilian) and 23 injured. Many of the villagers were displaced as fighting in the general area continued intermittently for about a month. The attack was notable as Toribio is known as the epicenter of a nonviolent indigenous resistance movement arising in 2004, opposed to many the same policies the FARC claims to fight against. While the FARC attack was aimed at the town's police station, the level of collateral damage and the lack of concern for civilian suffering even among a population clearly not on the side of the government earned the guerrillas condemnation from many on the left. http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/6446
Impression on other revolutionaries
Jacobo Arenas was seen as a hero among other Latin American Communist revolutionaries both inside and outside Colombia. For example, the ELNNational Liberation Army (Colombia)
National Liberation Army is a revolutionary, avowed Marxist guerrilla group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia since 1964....
commander Antonio García once stated Jacobo Arenas was a hero to him, just as he considered Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, José Martí
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
and Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
as heroes, in an interview with a Latin American journalist.