Noel Matta Matta-Guzmán, also known by his nom de guerre Efraín Guzmán (c. 1937 – 2002), was a Colombian guerrilla leader, founding member of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

(FARC). He died of natural causes in 2002.

Early years

According to FARC's official gazette Matta Matta-Guzmán was born in the village of La Lindosa, near the town of

Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

Tolima Department Tolima () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the west by the department of Caldas; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca; on the ...

. During his childhood he grew up working as a peasant in the Quindio Department as

Colombian coffee Coffee production in Colombia has a reputation for producing mild, well-balanced coffee beans. Colombia's average annual coffee production of 11.5 million bags is the third total highest in the world, after Brazil and Vietnam, though highe ...

collector.

La Violencia

At the age of 16 he moved to Villarrica, Tolima in 1953 where, during the dictatorship of General

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian National Army of Colombia, army general, civil engineer and politician who ruled as List of presidents of Colombia, 19th President of Colombia in a military dictatorship f ...

, joined the Alfonso Castañeda guerrilla group. After numerous firefights with the Colombian Army his guerrilla group was forced to retreat to El Guayabero jungle, there he met guerrilla leader Dúmar Aljure and became commander, dubbed as "Comandante Nariño". With the deescalation of the turmoil era of ''

La Violencia ''La Violencia'' (, The Violence) was a ten-year civil war in Colombia from 1948 to 1958, between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party, mainly fought in the countryside. ''La Violencia'' is considered to have begu ...

'' period Guzman dedicated again to agricultural activities.

Colombian armed conflict

In 1964, the government of President

Guillermo León Valencia Guillermo León Valencia Muñoz (27 April 1909 – 4 November 1971) was a Colombian politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the 21st President of Colombia from 1962 to 1966. Personal life Valencia was born in Popayán, Cauca on April 2 ...

ordered a military operation for the recovery of the Marquetalia region where the guerrillas had taken over the functions of the state, Guzman restarted his militant activities. In 1966, as "Comandante Nariño" Guzman participated in the second conference of the Southern Bloc which constituted the

(FARC) in which he also met Manuel Marulanda Velez (Tiro Fijo). In 1973, after the Conference of Guayabero, Guzman went with Marulanda to southern Tolima Department. The government of Colombia began a military offensive against the guerrillas in the region called Operation Sonora in which the Guzman participated in combats against the Colombian Army but the FARC was greatly crippled. After the Sixth Conference of the FARC "Comandante Nariño" was appointed commander of the 5th Front of the FARC replacing Alberto Martinez killed in combat by the Colombian Army. From this day on he changed his alias to "Efraín Guzmán". In the Eighth Conference of the FARC Guzman was officially incorporated into the FARC's Secretariat (Higher Command) and was assigned to the Caribbean Bloc of the FARC-EP.

Personal life

According to El Tiempo Guzman had a son named Élmer Caviedes who was also part of the FARC, with the alias of "Albeiro Córdoba

References

External links

FARC on Efraín Guzmán
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guzman, Efrain 1930s births 2002 deaths People from Tolima Department Members of FARC