SUMMARY
The FARC-EMC was the most prominent dissident network of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), formed in parallel with the 2016 peace process by commanders who rejected or later abandoned the agreement. It developed into a national federation of dissident fronts claiming to be the legitimate heirs of the FARC. In 2023, the Government of Colombia initiated formal peace talks with the group under the “Total Peace” policy. By the end of 2024, the group had split into two factions: FARC-EMC - Calarcá, which remained in peace talks with the Colombian government, and FARC-EMC, which returned to armed confrontation following the collapse of a partial ceasefire in March.
The origins of the FARC-EMC trace back to late 2016, when the “First Front”, led by alias Iván Mordisco, refused to demobilize and rejected the peace agreement signed in Havana, Cuba. He was soon joined by Miguel Botache Santillana, alias Gentil Duarte, a senior commander initially sent by the FARC leadership to bring the dissident front back into the peace process, but who also chose to abandon the agreement. Together, they began building a national network by reaching out to other dissident commanders, disenchanted militiamen, and recruits. In 2017, the FARC-EMC issued its first national statement declaring itself the continuation of the FARC. While rhetorically grounded in the FARC’s historical discourse, the FARC-EMC operated as a decentralized federation with each faction shaped by local interests and dynamics. The group’s funding relies heavily on drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion.
The FARC-EMC operated in over a dozen departments across southern, eastern, and western Colombia, including regions bordering Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru. Its presence was particularly strong in Guaviare, Caquetá, Meta, and Cauca. The group’s territorial expansion generated multiple conflict dynamics. It has clashed with the ELN in areas such as Cauca, Arauca, and Apure, while maintaining coexistence or tactical pacts with ELN fronts in Norte de Santander and Vichada. In Antioquia, the FARC-EMC and the ELN have formed a local alliance to confront their common rival, the EGC. The FARC-EMC also engaged in violent disputes with the FARC - Segunda Marquetalia, another FARC dissident group, particularly in southern Colombia, though the groups implemented non-confrontation arrangements in other territories.
Peace negotiations with the FARC-EMC began in 2023 under President Gustavo Petro, who granted the group political recognition. Talks initially included the entire network of FARC-EMC fronts, but internal divisions soon surfaced, exposing the group's fragmented structure. A bilateral ceasefire was signed, but collapsed in March 2024 after an FARC-EMC attack in Cauca killed an indigenous leader. In response, the government lifted the ceasefire in three departments and publicly questioned the group's political legitimacy, accusing it of acting as a criminal structure. This triggered a split within the organization: while FARC-EMC withdrew from the process, a new faction, FARC-EMC - Calarcá, emerged, which chose to remain at the negotiating table. By the end of 2024, FARC-EMC - Calarcá continued dialogue, while FARC-EMC escalated armed actions and reasserted territorial control.
FARC-EMC has been involved in the intrastate, non-state, and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
The ELN, (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, the National Liberation Army) is Colombia’s oldest active guerrilla group and the last insurgency with a national political agenda. Since its founding in 1964, it has evolved from a Marxist-Leninist and liberation theology-inspired movement into a decentralized armed organization deeply involved in criminal economies. Over the decades, the ELN has survived military defeats, internal divisions, and territorial disputes with other armed groups. It consolidated a cross-border presence in Venezuela, strengthening its influence and expanding its illicit activities. Despite participating in several peace negotiations over the years, the most substantive process began in 2022 under President Gustavo Petro. However, this process faced severe internal tensions, particularly following the government's separate dialogue with the ELN’s Comuneros del Sur faction in Nariño department. Talks formally broke down in September 2024 after a deadly ELN attack on a military base in Arauca department, leaving the future of the process uncertain.
The ELN was founded in the department of Santander by a group of students, intellectuals, and Catholic priests inspired by the Cuban revolution and Latin American liberation theology. Initially focused on attacking state institutions and oil infrastructure, the ELN financed its operations through kidnappings and extortion. During the 1980s and 1990s, it expanded into the oil-producing regions of Arauca and Casanare, where it systematically extorted multinational companies. Over time, the ELN began taxing coca growers and eventually became directly involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and cross-border smuggling, particularly along the Colombia-Venezuela frontier. Its decentralized, federated structure granted autonomy to its regional fronts, making the group difficult to control and presenting challenges for any unified negotiation. As of 2024, the ELN was led by Eliécer Chamorro, alias Antonio García, supported by Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias Pablo Beltrán, the group’s political leader and chief negotiator.
Operating on both sides of the Colombia-Venezuela border, the ELN has expanded its influence in multiple regions across both countries. This expansion brought the group into conflict with the Colombian government, the EGC, and various FARC dissident factions. It clashed with FARC-EMC in Arauca and Apure, while maintaining non-aggression pacts and a tactical alliance with FARC-EMC Calarcá in Norte de Santander and Antioquia to confront the EGC. In Venezuela, the ELN reportedly acted as an informal ally of the government of Nicolás Maduro, benefiting from territorial control and access to illicit economies such as mining, drug trafficking, and contraband.
Several Colombian governments have attempted to negotiate peace with the ELN, with talks taking place intermittently since the 1970s. While all previous processes failed to produce lasting agreements, the negotiations initiated in 2022 under President Gustavo Petro represented the most significant progress to date. These talks included multiple rounds in Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba and achieved a bilateral ceasefire that lasted from August 2023 to August 2024. However, the process faced growing internal tensions, particularly after the government opened parallel talks with the ELN’s breakaway Comuneros del Sur faction in Nariño. Disagreements over the group’s internal cohesion, the government’s engagement with splinter factions, and continued ELN kidnappings eventually led to the suspension of the ceasefire and the official breakdown of negotiations in September 2024, following a lethal ELN attack on a military base in Arauca.
ELN has been involved in the intrastate, non-state, and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
