Colombia’s second largest guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) expressed solidarity with the FARC over the death of leader “Mono Jojoy.”
In a statement released on its website, the ELN said, “Fighters of the National Liberation Army express our solidarity and revolutionary sentiment for the death in combat of commander “Jorge Briceño” [Mono Jojoy’s other alias] and the other FARC members who accompanied him and fought beside him.”
Mono Jojoy was killed in a government air strike called “Operation Sodom,” which hit his camp in La Macarena, a region 120 miles south of Bogota. The veteran rebel was considered a hardliner, and was the top military commander within the FARC.
The statement went on to say that “these difficult moments are part of our decision to stand up in arms to the oppressors and Yankee imperialism.”
Two of the oldest guerrilla groups in Colombia, the ELN and the FARC, recently agreed to a truce in the east of Colombia. They said that their conflict was “absurd” considering they were “sister organizations.” According to the Colombian military, they have acted together in attacking government forces.