Talk:FARC-EP chain of command

Please cite a source that Simon Trinidad is a leader in the Carribean Bloque, and Sonia is a leader in the South Bloque. From my reading of the USDOJ indictment, neither are mentioned as leaders. However the US government is trying to prove they are in order to convict them.

Numerous false stories have been circulating in the news media, including that Simon Trinidad and Sonia were cooperating with US authorities to capture other FARC members. This was disinformation put out by the Colombian Army. When this was pointed out to reporters, and became an issue in court, at least El Tiempo and RCN issued retractions.

Paul Wolf

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Mr. Wolf, though I'm not the one responsible for this particular article and its content...those are several separate issues. The thing is, for those of us outside the FARC, it's hard to distinguish what is and what isn't disinformation, whether it is Colombian Army or FARC disinformation.

Your example seems to clearly point out one evident case of disinformation. but not all cases are as clear cut.

FARC has indeed denied that Trinidad was "the" Commander of the Bloque Caribe, a member of the Secretariat/Central High Command or a financial chief. But they haven't denied that he may be one of the leaders or otherwise part of that Bloque in some other capacity.

Raul Reyes has said that "Simón es un guerrillero muy destacado y responsable", which implictly admits that he must have had a certain position within a group as organized as the FARC, even if they don't want to publicly confirm his real responsibilities. Obviously FARC doesn't want to reveal too much about its internal organization and staff movements.

According to the Colombian government, which has provided these details to several press outlets, this is the guy's record:

El siguiente es el prontuario de "Simón Trinidad" suministrado por el Gobierno nacional:

• Septiembre de 1981. En Valledupar integró el grupo "Los Independientes", de orientación marxista-leninista, junto con Jaime Sierra Tomás Agudelo y Federico Palacios Romaña.

• Agosto de 1987. Desde esta fecha las autoridades conocen de su vinculación con las Farc.

• Junio de 1990. Integró el frente 41 de las Farc, con influencia en la Serranía del Perijá.

• Junio de 1991. Fue comandante de una cuadrilla del frente 41 de las Farc Cacique Upar.

• Mayo de 1992. Junto con Abelardo Caicedo Colorado (alias "Solís Almeida"), ordenó el secuestro y posterior homicidio del Teniente de Navío Álvaro Fernando Morris Piedrahíta.

• Agosto 17 de 1994. Fue designado comandante del frente 19 de las Farc "José Prudencio Padilla", el cual delinque en la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

• Diciembre 11 de 1995. Por documentos incautados al frente 41 de las Farc, en el área rural del municipio de Codazzi (Cesar), las autoridades supieron que "Simón Trinidad" había asumido como sexto al mando del Bloque Caribe, responsable de proselitismo y propaganda.

• Noviembre de 1996. Desde esta fecha se conoce que hace parte del Estado Mayor del Bloque Caribe, como tercero al mando.

• Noviembre 5 de 1997. En esta fecha se supo que era el segundo comandante del frente 41 de las Farc y el primero al mando de la comisión Susana Téllez.

• Julio 4 de 2000. En San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá), las Farc, por intermedio de Simón Trinidad, vocero del grupo guerrillero, anunciaron que atacarían las aeronaves y tropas que realizaran fumigaciones de cultivos de coca y amapola en la zona selvática del sur del país.

• Octubre 2 de 2000. Ese día en la mañana, en San Vicente del Caguán, el vocero de las Farc, Simón Trinidad, aseguró que esta organización seguiría con el paro armado en el Putumayo.

• Octubre 12 de 2000. Alias "Simón Trinidad" manifestó que la situación de salud del teniente coronel Álvaro León Acosta, secuestrado por este grupo armado ilegal, era delicada y requería de atención médica básica de urgencia. A partir de esta fecha, las autoridades lo vinculan con diferentes actos terroristas, secuestros y otros actos delictivos como el plagio de la ex ministra Consuelo Araújo Noguera, asesinada en cautiverio el 30 de septiembre de 2001.

http://www.lapatria.com/php/ver_noticia.php?noticia=25889&seccion=5&fecha=2005-1-2

Parts of the above statements may well be disinformation or not. However, without conducting an extensive investigation on the ground or being actively part of the FARC, there's little that can be done to prove or disprove the above, much less outside of court that is. In the meanwhile, despite this, knowing that Trinidad and Sonia are two high profile (given their media coverage) guerrillas that have been accused of being members of their respective Bloques in some sort of capacity merits their inclusion on the list, at least until better information is available (which probably won't be the case for years, at least). Juancarlos2004 18:51, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

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I agree. It is not easy to find much information relating to the specifics of the insurgency in Colombia. Nonetheless, there is much information that can be found about the FARC by using the Internet and outside readings as reference tools. Much of the information I have compiled here has been found through several small projects I have done relating to the FARC, their origins, and their current status. It could be an idea to include a note on the page noting the incomplete factual reliability of this article. However, to a large extent, this article does contain accurate information and serves as a positive tool to help identify a large part of the FARC's chain of command. Colombiano21 1:34, 18 May 2006