Joaquín Gómez
Encyclopedia
Barrancas, La Guajira
Barrancas is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of La Guajira. The municipality of Barrancas is located to the left margin of the Ranchería River in a valley formed between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains and the Serrania del Perija. Barrancas has a total area of 742 km²...
, La Guajira), is a Colombia
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 leader, member 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...
(FARC) commanding presumably the Central Bloc of the FARC-EP or the Southern Bloc of the FARC-EP and since March 2008 an official member of the Secretariat as a replacement for Raúl Reyes
Raúl Reyes
Luis Edgar Devia Silva , better known by his nom de guerre Raúl Reyes, was a Secretariat member, spokesperson, and advisor to the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-EP...
. Joaquín Gómez is in charge of collecting revenues for the organization generated by illicit drugs and narcotrafficking
Illegal drug trade in Colombia
Illegal drug trade in Colombia refers to the practice of producing and distributing illegal drugs with psychoactive effects in Colombia. Colombia has had four major drug trafficking cartels which eventually created a new social class and influenced several aspects of Colombian culture...
.
Wanted by authorities
According to the US Department of State Toncel has participated in setting and implementing the FARC’s cocaine policies directing and controlling the production, manufacture, and distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the world; the "taxation" of the drug trade in Colombia to raise funds for the FARC; and the murder of hundreds of people who violated or interfered with the FARC’s cocaine policies. Toncel is also responsible for overseeing the Southern Bloc’s production of thousands of tons of cocaine. The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $2.5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction.
Member of the Secretariat
After the death of Raul ReyesRaúl Reyes
Luis Edgar Devia Silva , better known by his nom de guerre Raúl Reyes, was a Secretariat member, spokesperson, and advisor to the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-EP...
on March 1, 2008 a website affiliated to the FARC called Agencia Bolivariana de Prensa announced on March 4, 2008 that "Joaquín Gómez" was to replace Reyes as member of the Secretariat or higher command of the FARC.
Reports of Hospitalization in Venezuela
On March 8, 2008 GlobovisionGlobovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
reported that Gómez, along with one other FARC member, had been hospitalized at a clinic in Rubio, Venezuela after being shot in the face near the Colombian border. However, these reports were denied by military sources.