Cali
Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
September 25, 1943 –
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 ...
November 7, 1985) was a Colombian politician and guerrilla fighter. He was killed in the
Palace of Justice siege
The Palace of Justice siege was a 1985 attack on the Supreme Court of Colombia, in which members of the leftist M-19 guerrilla group took over the Palace of Justice in Bogotá and held the Supreme Court hostage, intending to hold a trial agains ...
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 ...
.
Biography
He studied in the Free University of Colombia School and Anthropology in the National University of Colombia. He became a member of the Communist Youth (in Spanish ''Juventud Comunista, JuCo'') and fought in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
on the side of
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
in the Escambray. Back in Colombia, he was one of the founders 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), one of the "Second Wave" groups prioritising urban action with no specific ideological position.
He planned the capture of the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
embassy by a M-19 guerrilla squad in 1980, which lasted 61 days. In 1985 he was among the leaders of the Palace of Justice siege, where he died together with other guerrillas and hostages during the recapture of the building by the Army. His corpse was never found.