The National Liberation Army was founded in 1964 by Fabio Vasquez Castano who was trained by Fidel Castro in Cuba during the 60's. Father Camilo Torres Restrepo, a priest, joined ELN to incorporate the philosophies of liberation theology into an existing revolutionary group. Restrepo was killed in his first combat action with the group.

Unlike FARC, who predominately use drug trafficking to finance their guerrilla war efforts, the National Liberation Army leans on the kidnapping of Colombian (and US) citizens to acquire ransoms for their victims.

During 1973 and 1974 the ELN was crippled by military operations carried out by the Colombian Military. The ELN was able to escape and rebuild the group based in part by Alfonso Lopez Michelsen government's inability to fully suppress ELN militarily, instead hoping that he could establish a peace process with the group. Government peace talks with the ELN have been going on since 2002 but no lasting peace has been achieved.

1. Founded: 1964
2. Founder: Fabio Vasquez Castano
3. Headquarters: in the Colombia mountains

General Information

1. Listed as Terrorist Organization by the U.S. and EU
2. ELN's numbers dropped from 5,000 in the 1990's to around 3,500 today
3. Drop in numbers due to active aggression by Colombian military and right-wing paramilitary
4. ELN has sought peace since June 1998

1973-1974 Action

1. 1973: Colombian military encircled ELN - all but 17 of the ELN were killed
2. Survivors included: Manuel Vasquez Castano, Manuel Perez and Nicolas Rodriguez Baustista

Key Personal

1. Fabio Vasquez Castano (founder)
2. Nicholas Rodriguez Bautista (current leader)
3. Francisco Galan
4. Ramiro Vargas
5. Father Camilo Torres Restrepo (deceased)
6. Antonio Garcia

Kidnapping

1. ELN: kidnapping for ransom one of it's main ways of raising money
2. 2001: Took over 800 hostages
3. 1999: hijacked a domestic airliner landing it on a deserted runway
4. Shortly after the airliner hijacking the ELN took an entire church hostage - 150 people
5. Colombian government believe ELN switched focus from kidnapping to drug trafficking