Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
– 7 November 1985, in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
) was one of the commanders of the
19th of April Movement
The 19th of April Movement ( es, Movimiento 19 de Abril), or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla organisation movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19.
The M-19 traced its ori ...
(M-19) liberation group. He was a member of the
Colombian Communist Party
The Colombian Communist Party ( es, Partido Comunista Colombiano, PCC) is a legal communist party in Colombia. It was founded in 1930 as the Communist Party of Colombia, at which point it was the Colombian section of the Comintern, and changed i ...
. He worked with the socialist groups under Antonio Garcia and with the United People's Front with the priest,
Camilo Torres Camilo Torres may refer to:
*Camilo Torres Restrepo (1929–1966), liberation theologian, priest and guerrilla member in Colombia during the 1960s
*Camilo Torres Tenorio
José Camilo Clemente de Torres Tenorio (November 22, 1766 – October ...
. He received Haba guerrilla instruction in Cuba and communist countries of Europe.
Biography
Almarales was one of the founders of the M-19 and representative to the camera from the Socialist Anapo. He participated in stealing weaponry from the North Corner and in terrorist activities in the south of the country. His group recruited guerrillas and supporters in the union sector. Captured in the municipality of Bolivar (
Santander
Santander may refer to:
Places
* Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain
* Santander Department, a department of Colombia
* Santander State, former state of Colombia
* Santander de Quilichao, a m ...
) in 1979, Almares was put under house arrest and found guilty by Picota. When he rejoined civilian life, he wrote works on syndicalism and shortly thereafter helped plan the capture of the Dominican Republic. Later, his crimes were pardoned during the government of
Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur Cuartas (4 February 1923 – 7 December 2018) was a Colombian politician who served as the 26th President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. His presidency was noted for its at ...
.
When Carlos Toledo Plata was assassinated in 1984 in Bucaramanga, Almares organized the memorial service in Romero park, in front of the central cemetery of that city, as an insult to then-president Belisario Betancur and the Time newspaper. His group recruited young people for the armed resistance movement. Shortly thereafter, he moved to the Valley of the Cauca and collaborated with the M-19 to protect around Cali. In a popular action by the
Patriotic Union (Colombia)
The Patriotic Union or UP (in Spanish: ''Unión Patriótica'') is 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 ...
in the Plaza de Bolivar of Bogota, Almarales spoke rudely comparing the press to a "sewer", referring to President Betancur, minister of Government
Jaime Castro
Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...
and the Colombian conservative group.
On 24 August 1984, he arranged a ceasefire between his group and the government of President Betancur. In front of all the television networks, he declared: "As of today, not a drop of blood was spilled by the subversives."
A radical and capable participant in negotiations, Almarales participated in the peace process.
In November, 1985 he took part in the attack on the Palace of Justice in Bogota. Later he was buried alongside
Luis Otero Cifuentes Luis Otero Cifuentes (Cali September 25, 1943 – Bogotá November 7, 1985) was a Colombian politician and guerrilla fighter. He was killed in the Palace of Justice siege in Bogotá.
Biography
He studied in the Free University of Colombia School a ...