An ELN guerrilla commander escaped from a prison in the Colombian department of Arauca at around 11.30AM on Wednesday.
According to news station Caracol, the escaped guerrilla is Gustavo Anibal Giraldo, alias ‘Pablito’, and was aided by a significant number of members from the guerrilla organization ELN when they arrived on motorcyles and opened fire on guards who were watching the prisoner.
Pablito was arrested near Bogota in January 2008 and is considered one of the key opponents to peace talks between the ELN Central Command and the Colombian Government.
According to newspaper El Tiempo there are four arrest warrants against Pablito for crimes of rebellion and terrorism and he allagedly orchestrated the attack on a Venezuelan military base in 1995 in which eight infants were killed as well as conducting the murder of a former Bishop of Arauca in 1992.