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Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
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| 19 October 2000 |
(Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).
FARC Profile
Diary of Events
1997
16 January
Three marines were killed and 10 captured by FARC at Jurado.
Early February
The Venezuelan government reported a cross-border attack by Colombian guerrillas in which three soldiers were wounded. A civilian was killed and three others were injured in the crossfire.
1/3 February
Forty soldiers were reported missing and at least 19 were killed in an outbreak of fighting with FARC units south of the capital, Bogota.
6 February
Helicopter gunships rescued a 16-man patrol of 1st Mobile Brigade which was ambushed by 400 FARC guerrillas in San Juanita, south of Bogota.
8 February
A Liberal Party member was taken hostage by FARC. He was released in early May.
10 February
Hernan Escobar Chaparro, the Cali government deputy housing secretary, was kidnapped by members of FARC. He was released in the Valle del Cauca department five days later.
14 February
A personnel manager, Gilberto Velasco Serrano, of the Palma Montererey firm located in the Puerto Wiches municipality, Santander department, was reported missing, believed kidnapped.
FARC kidnapped a Venezuelan pilot, Elias Barrando, and US citizen Gerald Shafer, an executive of the Oil Productions company in Apure state. Barrando was released on 22 February.
27 February
According to a report in a Panamanian newspaper, the Venezuelan ambassador Luis Ocha Teran confirmed that a `military shipment' seized in Balboa Port en route to Venezuela was destined for Colombian guerrillas.
A bomb, hidden in a dump truck, exploded in Apartado, in the Antioquia department's Uraba region, killing seven people and wounding 40 others. The target was believed to be the police command post; however, the nearby El Pescador hotel was demolished. FARC was believed to have been responsible.
A group of 200 FARC guerrillas took over the village of Labranzagranda, in Boyaca. Several people were killed, including two policemen.
A Colombian soldier kidnapped by FARC was turned over to the Red Cross in Huila.
9 March
Nine people were killed in the Currulao district in the municipality of Turbo (Antioquia) by a unit of the Fifth Front of FARC, headed by Yuberney Sanchez, alias El Manteco.
10 March
A 15 kg bomb exploded at a cafeteria in front of the Cordoba Police Department building, injuring among others three police agents. The target of the attack was the headquarters of the Cordoba Foundation for Peace, an organisation that promotes farming programmes for former EPL rebels. It was the third attack in Monteria in less than six months and part of a war between Cordoba and Antioquian self-defence groups andthe FARC.
11 March
Members of the 4th Infantry Brigade were reported to have captured Jose Peralta Cuesta, a member of the FARC's Fifth Front.
18 March
Three people were killed and 13 wounded when two individuals, thought to be members of the Twentieth Front of FARC, attacked a house in Sabana de Torres municipality, Santander department.
19 March
Four hostages were freed in Cesar, three of whom were rescued in Codazzi by the army. Two members of the Forty-first Front of FARC died in the clashes.
20 March
In a separate incident, 60 members of FARC's Forty-first Front arrived at Matos Lacutir's hacienda and burnt 14 houses, milking pens, tractors and bulldozers. The value of property destroyed or damaged amounted to approximately 1.5 billion pesos.
23 March
General Alfonso Manosalva claimed that eight members of the FARC were killed in a minefield in La Encarnacion Corregimiento.
The army seized a FARC camp which was being used as a laboratory in Tulua municipality. One member of FARC's Sixth Front was killed.
3 April
According to a Department of Administrative Security (DAS) source, 15 Japanese Red Army members were believed to be operating in Uraba, Colombia, training FARC members. The group comprised four women and 11 men and was believed to include Fusako Shigenobu, the JRA leader.
5 April
Liberal Party Congressman Jose Aristides Andrade was unhurt by a grenade attack, suspected to have been carried out by FARC, in Barrancabermeja.
7 April
FARC released engineer Luis Alfonso Manrique, director of Ecopetrol, after 17 months in captivity.
An air force Mirage jet was attacked by guerrillas near Tres Esquinas in the Caqueta department. The pilot ejected safely.
18 April
FARC warned that it would carry out armed attacks during the electoral campaigns due to begin in October.
23 April
The army arrested Darwin Lisimaco Betancour Munoz - `Camilo', a suspected senior member of FARC's Eastern Block, who was co-ordinating the kidnapping of a businessman in Bogota.
25 April
Venezuelan authorities confirmed that members of the ELN and FARC had been arrested near the Colombian border and transported to Caracas.
Early May
Thirteen guerrillas and four soldiers were killed in a clash near Medina, east of Bogota.
One policeman was killed and another injured when 11 people suspected of belonging to FARC were captured in a raid near the Venezuelan border.
10 May
Three people were killed and two banks robbed in Venecia, south of Bogota when it was attacked by 300 FARC guerrillas.
20 May
President Ernesto Samper ordered that the Caguan region in the Caquetta department be demilitarised and that all military operations be suspended for 32 days from the 23 May. This was intended as a goodwill gesture to FARC in an attempt to facilitate the release of the soldiers held hostage.
May
The body of the speaker of the lower house who was kidnapped two years previously was found drowned on a river bank with three FARC guerrillas.
29 May
Two soldiers, one guerrilla and six civilians were killed and one soldier and one civilian were reported missing in clashes with FARC in the Antioquia department.
2 June
FARC kidnapped the Mayor of Buritica, Jose Luis Velez Hincapie.
3 June
FARC and the government signed an agreement which stated that the kidnapped soldiers and marines would be freed in the town of Cartagena del Chaira on the 15 June and that troops would not be redeployed in the security zone until the 23 June.
4 June
A rebel commander was killed and another rebel and an army officer were injured in a clash between guerrillas of FARC's Tenth Front and the Venezuelan Army in the La Ceiba sector of the San Camilo municipality, Apure state, near Tachira.
6 June
Four policemen, one civilian and one prison inmate were killed and three policemen were injured when approximately 120 FARC guerrillas attacked the town of Barbacoas, located on the Pacific coast of Narino. The guerrillas occupied the town for 3 hours, releasing 12 inmates, before the security forces regained control.
June
The FARC released the kidnapped Buritica Mayor Jose Luis Velez Hincapie in the mountainous area of the Caicedo municipality, southwest of Medellin. At the same time, the organisation reiterated its determination to prevent the forthcoming elections from being held.
29 June
Five marines were killed when guerrillas attacked a patrol on the Orteguaza river in Catueta. This was the first incident in the area after its reoccupation by troops.
6 July
Guerrillas from FARC and/or ELN hit the oil pipeline from Occidental's Caño Limon field to Coveñas for the 36th time since January. When a military unit few in to secure the area while repair work was carried out, a helicopter was shot down killing 24 people.
10 July
A FARC attack on the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline left 10 soldiers dead and another 11 injured.
11 July
Ten soldiers and a unknown number of guerrillas were killed and a further 10 soldiers were wounded in three hours of fighting in a rural area of Arauquita.
12 July
Military reinforcements were despatched to the Arauca department.
13 July
The 38th attack against the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline was reported near Cucuta (Norte de Santander) by Ecopetrol. The dynamite charges did not break the pipeline.
19 July
At least four members of self-defence groups were killed in an attack by FARC guerrillas from the Fifth Front in the Caucheras area, between the municipalities of Mutata and Chigorodo in the Antioquia department.
21 July
Rodolfo Vargas, a member of the Tulio Baron column of FARC, was arrested in a pre-dawn operation by the police in the Tolima department.
2 August
Miguel Angel Pascuas, alias Humberto or Sergeant Pascuas, the leader of FARC's Sixth Front, was arrested.
There was a guerrilla attack on the Caño Limon-Coveñas pipeline at km 77 and km 900, at Fuerte Lleras, in the Arauca department.
3 August
The Caño Limon-Coveñas pipeline was damaged in a guerrilla attack at Cerro Madera, in the Tibu municipality, in the Norte Santander department.
4 August
The town of Junin in the Tolima department was attacked by guerrillas; there were no casualties.
One person was killed and one policeman injured in a guerrilla attack on Valparaiso in the Caqueta department. Eight policemen were reported as missing.
6 August
A bomb exploded outside the Cartagena de Indias mayor's office in the Bolivar department of northern Colombia. There were no reports of any casualties.
7 August
Two devices exploded in political offices belonging to Liberal Party leaders in Sante Fe de Bogota.
Luis Alfredo Ramos, the strongest candidate for governor of Antioquia, withdrew his candidacy because of death threats.
10 August
La Pantoja base in the Soacha municipality near Bogota was attacked by approximately 100 guerrillas. The 80-strong soldier garrison prevented the base from being occupied.
A car bomb exploded at the Simon Bolivar airport in Santa Marta.
Guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-first Front attacked and destroyed two farms which were situated between Valledupar and San Diego, in the north of the Cesar department.
Three gunmen shot and killed the Liberal Party's candidate for mayor of Obando Valle, in the Valle del Cauca department of Pereira.
12 August
Jorge Giraldo Osori, second in command of FARC's Sixth Front in the Uraba department, was arrested.
There were four separate ELN or FARC attacks on the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline in the departments of Santander and Putumayo.
14 August
Ten sawmill workers, accused of collaborating with guerrilla groups, were killed by a paramilitary group in an attack on El Retiro.
15 August
A Venezuelan naval lieutenant and one local resident were kidnapped by FARC's Tenth Front in Chorrosquero port, on the border with Arauca in Colombia. They were released 10 days later at El Milagro, 40 km inside Venezuelan territory.
Governor Leonor Serrano de Camargo was unhurt by a suspected FARC attack at a bridge located on the road between Bituima and Guayabal de Siquima, in the mountainous area of the Cundinamarca department.
All the candidates in the forthcoming municipal elections for Cabrera, south of Cundinamarca, withdrew their candidacies.
Two bombs exploded near campaign offices in Siete Bocas in Barranquilla.
A soldier was wounded in an attack by a group of armed men on the farm of Defence Minister Gilberto Echeverri Mejia in western Antioquia.
Two bombs destroyed the Fair and Exhibits Centre in Bucaramanga a few hours before the opening of Expo Commercial 97.
Ten people were killed in an armed commando attack on a group of people at La Argentina, in the El Retiro municipality, in the eastern Antioquia department. At least one person was also injured.
Several people were kidnapped and two public vehicles were burnt by FARC guerrillas in the southwestern Antioquia department.
Two public service buses, one in central Medellin and the other in the Anori municipality, were burnt by guerrillas.
16 August
FARC guerrillas kidnapped three councillors, a mayoral candidate and the treasurer from the municipality of Simiti, in the Bolivar department.
19 August
A bomb exploded in the registrar's office in the Cienaga municipality, in the Magdalena department.
20/21 August
Two policemen were killed and at least two others wounded in an attack by approximately 300 FARC guerrillas in the Cabrera municipality, Cundinamarca department.
22 August
One hundred and fifty FARC guerrillas stormed Cabrera, in the Cundinamarca department. Two soldiers were killed and five patrolmen were injured.
27 August
The military base at Pueblo Viejo, in the municipality of La Estrella in the Antioquia department, was attacked by suspected FARC guerrillas. Three government soldiers were wounded.
One policeman was killed in a firefight with units from FARC's Sixth Front near El Cerrito, on the border between the Valle and Tolima departments. One soldier was killed and another injured in an ambush of an army patrol shortly afterwards.
30 August
A total of 298 councillors from the Cesar department resigned, following the murder of two councillors; three councillor-hopefuls, a candidate for mayor and a former La Gloria mayor were kidnapped.
The Medina Council president and a Cundinamarca and Medina mayoral candidate were taken hostage by FARC's Fifty-third Front.
Late August
Thirty Venezuelan farmers claimed that their land on the border had been seized by Colombian rebels.
1 September
Three policemen, one soldier and approximately 16 guerrillas were killed and a further seven soldiers were injured in the Putumayo department.
Four mayors were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas during separate incidents in the eastern Antioquia department.
3 September
A powerful car bomb, parked in the Los Colores neighbourhood of Medellin, was deactivated.
4 September
Guerrillas from the FARC Ninth and Forty-seventh fronts occupied and then dynamited the Guatape hydroelectric plant in the east of the Antioquia department.
Four kidnapped Antioquia mayors were released at an undisclosed location in the east of the Antioquia department.
6 September
The Colombian Army captured and destroyed 12 FARC camps during operations in the Monfort municipality, in the east of the country.
7 September
The mayoral candidate for El Doncello, 60 km north of Florencia (the capital of the Caqueta department), was shot dead.
A mayoral candidate in the El Penol municipality of eastern Antioquia was killed.
8 September
The mayor of the Yondo municipality in the Antioquia department was kidnapped by FARC.
FARC and the ELN kidnapped the mayors of Mateo, John Jairo Giraldo Restrepo and Yolombo, Isaias Palacios Laborda, in the Antioquia department.
9 September
Three bombs exploded in the Teusaquillo neighbourhood in Santa Fe de Bogota. No casualties were reported.
One of the two liberal candidates who had been kidnapped while running for the position of councillor in the El Copey municipality was found dead.
One guard was injured when a bomb exploded at a lottery office in western Medellin.
A security agent was injured by a letter bomb in the Ipiales municipality of the Narino department.
One person was slightly wounded when a bomb exploded in the office of Chamber Representative William Velez Meza, in the centre of Medellin city.
10 September
Two soldiers and at least one guerrilla were wounded when the Colombian Army reportedly destroyed two aircraft, several clandestine airstrips and guerrilla camps in the Llanos del Yari region in the Meta, Caqueta and Guaviare border triangle. There were also military operations in the middle and lower Caguan in Caqueta and in Miraflores and other areas of the Guaviare department.
12 September
One soldier was injured when troops from the Heroes de Barbacoas Battalion defeated a guerrilla attempt to seize the Playas hydroelectric plant in the San Carlos municipality, in the Antioquia department.
A prospective councillor was shot dead by armed men near Quinchia Risaralda, in El Tabor, in an attempt by the guerrillas to prevent the elections scheduled for 26 October from taking place. This action followed the resignation of 14 prospective councillors and two mayoral candidates in response to guerrilla threats.
13 September
A total of 42 people were reportedly being held hostage by the Twenty-ninth Front of FARC in the Andean area of Narino.
Four council candidates in the La Paz municipality were released by the Forty-first Front of FARC.
15 September
It was reported that helicopter gunships were despatched to reinforce counter-insurgency operations.
Colombian military sources stated that at least six guerrillas were killed and another guerrilla and two soldiers were wounded during fierce fighting in a jungle area between Llanos del Yari and the Macarena mountain range.
Seventeen presumed guerrillas were arrested in the municipality of Tibu, in the Norte de Santander department, near the Venezuelan border.
It was reported that following a series of guerrilla threats, political parties and movements in the Caqueta department had decided to withdraw their support for any more candidates, to close their political headquarters and to suspend all campaign and publicity activities.
Mining operations at the El Cerrejon coal mine in Norte were disrupted when FARC's Twenty-ninth Front attacked and destroyed 300 m of the 15 km of railway track which was used to transport coal to Puerto Bolivar in La Guajira.
16 September
One police officer was wounded when suspected FARC guerrillas attacked turboprop aircraft in the southern Vegalarga municipality, in the Huila department.
Colombian military intelligence reported that FARC had set up an operational centre in Llanos del Yari. It was estimated that 3,500 men were employed by FARC in the eastern and southern parts of the country.
17 September
One security guard was seriously injured when a bomb exploded in front of a political office in Barranquilla.
Five candidates for mayor and seven candidates for the council for Balboa, south of Cauca, resigned after receiving death threats from FARC's Sixth and Eighth fronts, which operate in the region.
Three candidates for mayor and 20 candidates for the council resigned in the Pinillos municipality, in the southern Bolixar department.
It was announced that the election planned for Gachala on 26 October had been cancelled because all candidates had withdrawn following threats made by the rebels.
At least 25 candidates for mayor were killed and hundreds of others were taken hostage, forcing them to withdraw from elections.
18 September
Anti-narcotic police, supported by members of a jungle commando unit, were reported to have captured and destroyed a huge FARC cocaine-processing lab in the Cauca mountain region. It was thought to be capable of producing 100 kg of cocaine a week.
19 September
Gilberto Gomez, the mayor of Codazzi in the Cesar department, was kidnapped and murdered by guerrillas in Los Brasiles corregimiento. There were no reports of what happened to the two bodyguards who were with him at the time of the kidnapping.
Marco Antonio Vargas Galvis and Orlando Caicedo Barrera, two municipal councillors, were killed by guerrillas in Cristales, Payoa 5 corregimiento, Sabana de Torres town jurisdiction. Barrera was also chairman of the community centre in Cristales.
Guerrillas attacked a police garrison in Puerto Inirida and also damaged the local electric power plant.
20 September
FARC positions 300 km from Bogota were bombed in attempt by the government to trap rebel leaders.
A mayoral candidate, the municipal council president, a town council candidate and two youths were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in the Caracoli municipality, in the western Antioquia department.
21 September
A FARC spokesman denied reports that 50 guerrillas had been killed in Llanos del Yari.
Two mayoral candidates, six council candidates and six members of a political delegation were kidnapped by guerrillas from the FARC's Enrique Villamizar Front. This incident occurred in Altamira town on the El Amparo Road, in Betulia Corregimiento of the Suarez municipality. One of the councillors, Henry Torres, was released the following day for health reasons.
22 September
Javier Gomez Restrepo, the former president of the Colombian Industrial Bank (BIC), and two Medellin garment factory businessmen were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas from the Ninth and Forty-seventh fronts in La Rapida. The hostages were kidnapped from their homes and taken to mountain hideouts between the municipalities of San Rafael and San Carlos in the central-east region of the Antioquia department.
The San Jose municipal police successfully defused a 3 kg bomb laid by FARC and the ELN on a bridge on the Medellin-Puerto Berrio Road.
Two government soldiers were killed and a further nine wounded by FARC guerrillas during the army's anti-FARC offensive in the Yari region.
23 September
At least four policemen were wounded when a FARC car bomb exploded in front of the garrison they were protecting in Sitio Canteras, in La Sierra. This bomb attack was thought to have been the work of the Ninth Front of the FARC.
24 September
One policeman and one soldier were killed and 13 civilians, including four children, were wounded by FARC guerrillas in the Uribe municipality in the Meta department.
29 September
FARC and ELN guerrilla spokesmen denied that the army had succeeded in its offensive in the Yari plains codenamed Operation `Destroyer II'. The CNGSB claimed that drug laboratories which the military had claimed to have destroyed were already non-operational.
30 September
Luis Guillermo Reyes Diaz, the leader of FARC's Nineteenth Front, was arrested in Barranquilla.
2 October
Rafael Isidro Zuniga Vives was killed in a suspected guerrilla attack on the road which leads from El Rodadero to Santa Marta. The car had been part of a military convoy when the attack occurred.
Edward Fragozo Mendoza, the Conservative candidate for mayor, and seven town council candidates of the Villanueva municipality in Guajira department, reportedly disappeared en route to a political event in Arabia.
3 October
At least seven members of a legal commission and three guerrillas were killed in an ambush set by guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-third Front at Casa de Teja, Meta department.
4 October
Seventeen Colombian policemen were killed by either guerrillas or drug traffickers in San Juan de Arama, in the Meta department. The policemen had been part of a patrol that had been ambushed at a bend in the road.
7 October
There were no reports of casualties when a bomb exploded at the campaign office in Bolivar of Senen Arias, candidate for mayor of Carmen de Bolivar, in northern Colombia. FARC was suspected of involvement in the incident, which destroyed the buildings.
8 October
Two political headquarters were partially destroyed, but there were no reports of casualties, when two bombs exploded in crowded areas of Bogota.
9 October
Two powerful bombs exploded at the political headquarters of Ciro Rincon Quintero and Eltsin Cuartas Cabeza, candidates for the Aguachica council in southern Cesar department. Both headquarters suffered partial damage during the attack but there were no casualties.
13 October
Two Embera Indian leaders of the Agua Clara community of Mutata were killed by FARC after they urged their people to vote for peace. The 60 Indian communities that live in the Uraba have attempted to distance themselves from both sides in the country's civil war.
16 October
FARC was reported to be planning an attack on the members of the National Police and the armed forces and their relatives if they served as voting officers in the forthcoming 26 October elections.
17 OctoberFARC Southern Bloc was reported to have issued a communiqué which stated that it would discontinue its attacks on candidates for the positions of mayors, councillors and governors in the Putumayo and Caqueta departments.
At least six police officers were killed when guerrillas from FARC's Thirty-fourth Front attacked the centre of Caicedo municipality, in the western Antioquia department.
18 October
Colombian marines discovered a FARC plot to bomb strategic points on the Occidente highway, the main road connecting the Bolivar department to the interior of the country.
In addition to FARC's Southern Bloc, another FARC front stated that it would also end its attacks against candidates who were standing for election in areas of the central Tolima department.
Pablo Antonio Hernandez, the Liberal Party candidate for the Arauca mayor's office, was killed in Arauca.
19 October
At least two counter-narcotics police officers were killed and six police helicopters were shot down during anti-drug operations in Puerto Toledo in the Meta department. Meanwhile, the authorities destroyed two large FARC drug-processing laboratories.
There was an element of confusion concerning the group's position with regard to the 26 October elections, when a FARC communiqué contradicted two earlier communiqués. This latest communiqué was reportedly signed by the group's Southern Bloc.
21 October
Orlando Duarte Camacho, a Bucaramanga council candidate, was kidnapped.
The registrar, Henry Cano Estrada, was kidnapped by the ELN in Cantagallos, Bolivar department.
22 October
At least 1,200 people in the southern Bolivar department refused to be voting officers for the elections on the 26 October, citing concerns over FARC activities.
A small bomb exploded at the Development Consultants building in Barranquilla 's northern commercial district. This explosion reportedly caused considerable damage to the first floor, from where Via Al Mar Consortium operates. No-one was injured when a second bomb exploded in the area between 84 and 43 streets close to midnight.
A bomb was thrown at a police inspection post in the La Floresta neighbourhood of Medellin. The explosion succeeded in damaging the roof of the building.
Several shops and a radio station were damaged when a bomb exploded at the prosecutor's office in Puerto Rico, Caqueta department.
Police discovered 52 sacks of dynamite at the Residencias Confort Hotel in Bordo, Cauca.
24 October
A small aircraft carrying electoral officials between Villavicencio and Vaupes was hijacked by guerrillas.
Fernando Gonzalez Montano, a candidate for the Valle del Cauca assembly, was killed by guerrillas in southern Colombia.
Henry Caro Estrada, the municipal registrar of Cantagallo, was reported to have been kidnapped by guerrillas.
There were no reports of casualties when a bomb exploded in Cucuta in northeastern Colombia.
One policeman was killed and another two were injured when they attempted to defuse a bomb at the Superestrella store in the centre of Barrancabermeja city.
26 October
Four bombs exploded in Cucuta, near the Venezuelan border, and seven electrical towers were knocked down in the Antioquia and Valle del Cauca departments.
The military was forced to provide transportation for certain voting officers in a number of areas. Sixty thousand soldiers were deployed throughout the country on either election process duty or to provide protection for the country's oil and highway infrastructure.
6 November
The authorities succeeded in defusing a 50 kg car bomb which had been parked in front of the Colombo-American Institute in the centre of Medellin City.
Carlos Quiroz, mayor-elect of the San Jacinto municipality, was fatally injured when he was shot in front of his house.
The government secretary of the Meta department was injured when the DC-3 he was travelling in was shot at by FARC guerrillas.
15 November
A non-commissioned officer and six soldiers were killed by FARC guerrillas in an armed clash in the Uribe municipality of the Meta department.
21 November
Three Colombians, including two brothers, were reportedly kidnapped by approximately 40 Venezuelan National Guardsmen when the soldiers, supported by two helicopters, crossed the national border into Cerro Pintao, near the Manaure municipality in Colombia.
22 November
Myles Frechette, the US ambassador to Colombia, accused the Colombian military of supporting the paramilitary groups, a claim that was denied by the armed forces' commander, Major General Manuel Jose Bonett Locarno.
28 November
Three marine infantrymen were injured when a car bomb exploded opposite installations of Military District Number Fourteen in Cartagena. Pamphlets were found at the scene which rejected the extradition of `Colombians by birth'.
There were no casualties when a bomb exploded at the Gildardo Echeverry betting agency.
29 November
Seven people were reportedly killed by FARC guerrillas in Vitalito.
2 December
The Colombian government was reported to have launched a new offensive against paramilitary groups and to have drawn up a wanted list of paramilitary leaders for whom it will offer financial rewards. The first name on this list is Fidel Castano, followed by his brother Carlos Castano, who has assumed the leadership of the Colombian United Self-Defence Groups in the past few months. The Colombian government was reportedly prepared to offer rewards of between 500 million and one billion pesos for information which would result in their arrest. Other names on the list include Ramon Isaza, chief of the Magdaleno Media Self-Defence Groups, Hernan Giraldo, Luis Cifuentes and Rafael Triana. The last three individuals are suspected of responsibility for the expansion of the group beyond Uraba to other regions.
4 December
The reporter William Parra, the press secretary of the Narino Palace, and the RCN reporter Luis Eduardo Maldonado, were kidnapped by a group calling itself the `Extraditables'.
11 December
Eduard Eli Urrea Alzate, the mayor of San Rafael in Antioquia, was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas. There were reports of further FARC kidnappings in the eastern Antioquia departments with the disappearances of the mayors-elect for San Francisco, San Luis, San Carlos, Granada and Cocorna.
15 December
Two civilians, including a young girl, were killed and three policemen were wounded when 250 FARC guerrillas attacked and occupied Mesetas in the Meta department.
19 December
A clash between FARC guerrillas and members of a self-defence paramilitary organisation left at least 30 people dead. The incident occurred when the self-defence group raided a FARC camp in Remacho hamlet, Puerto Lleras.
21 December
Ten government soldiers were killed, four were wounded and 18 were captured during a FARC attack against a communications base in Cerro Patascoy, Narino.
30 December
There were no reports of casualties when a bomb exploded in northwestern Bogota's 7 de Agosto business sector; the blast destroyed windows within a 50 m area around the explosion.
1998
24 January
At least one person was injured when three FARC low-intensity bombs exploded in Cali near a bank, the offices of Jose Renan Trujillo (a congressional candidate from the ruling Liberal Party) and at a small radio station.
28 January
Most of the council of the municipality of Florida were kidnapped by FARC's Sixth Front. Twelve of the 14 were released the following day.
6 February
Seven policemen, including a captain, were killed and at least one policeman was wounded when guerrillas ambushed the district patrol in the Sardinata municipality, in the Norte de Santander department.
There were no reports of casualties when guerrillas detonated an explosive device in the fifth tunnel of the Cali-Buenaventura highway. This attack was reportedly made in an attempt to block one of the country's main roads, along which 70 per cent of the country's freight travels.
One person was killed and 10 more were injured when a car bomb exploded near a police station in the Viota municipality of the Cundinamarca department.
16 February
Two policemen were killed when FARC guerrillas attacked the Nocaima municipality in the northwestern Cundinamarca department.
24 February
Juan Bautista Canas Rua (`Walter'), a senior figure in FARC's Twenty-fourth Front, was reportedly captured.
1 March
At least 80 people, including 55 soldiers, were killed in fighting between the army and FARC in the lower and mid-Caguan jungle regions of the Caqueta department.
Jorge Lorenzo Escandon, the mayor of Neiva, was kidnapped by guerrillas. He was released to the Red Cross after 10 days.
3 March
FARC guerrillas reportedly released three mayors, a former mayor and a political activist in the eastern mountain region area of the border between the departments of Cundinamarca and Meta. They were released after 12 days.
Five people - the former deputy Esther Cristina Canales, her husband Marco Tulio Monte, Rafael Moron, Jorge Murillo and Galvis Bolano - were reportedly kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-ninth Front in Guatapuri, Atanquez Corregimiento.
5 March
Twenty-seven soldiers from the 52nd Counter-guerrilla Battalion were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Southern Bloc in the town of Penas Coloradas, in El Caguan.
6 March
There were violent clashes between the army and FARC's Fifty-third Front at the entrance to Villavicencio, in the Meta department.
8 March
There was fierce fighting between the security forces and FARC guerrillas in the Puerto Rico municipality, located in the northern part of the Caqueta department of southern Colombia.
One government soldier was killed and another was injured in fighting with FARC guerrillas in El Castillo department, in the Meta department of central Colombia.
Elections were not held in seven municipalities (El Castillo, Meseta, San Juanito, Lejania, Mapiripan, El Calvario and Vista Hermosa) in the Meta department because of armed clashes.
9 March
There were reports of fighting between policemen and FARC guerrillas in the Algecira municipality of the eastern Huila department.
The army was reported to have recaptured the towns of Las Animas, El Billar and Penas Coloradas in the area of El Caguan.
12 March
FARC guerrillas from the Thirty-ninth Front were reported to have stolen a Cessna 182 light aircraft in Palmerito, in the Vichada jungle.
23 March
Thirty people, including four (some reports said five) Americans, an Italian and a Mexican, were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas on the road between Villavicencio and Santa de Bogota in the Meta department. Nine Colombians were released within four days and another two were released on 3 April; another, Sergio Castro, was released on 9 April. The US hostages were subsequently named as Thomas Fiori, Todd Mark, Peter Shell (Shen) and Louise Augustine. Fiori was reported to have escaped in early April. FARC announced that after making inquiries it was satisfied that none of the Americans were connected with US intelligence or federal agencies but it nevertheless reportedly demanded US$5 million for their release. Among the Colombian hostages was Jose Ivan Matallana, the son of the retired general Jose Joaquin Matallana. Louise Augustine was released on 24 April and the remaining two were freed two days later.
Two policemen were wounded, five more were captured (including a counter-narcotics police captain) and a government helicopter was shot down when guerrillas from FARC's Southern Bloc attacked a police Jungle Commando Unit. The captured policemen were reported to have joined the 18 government soldiers kidnapped in December 1997 near Patascoy hill in the Narino department and the 42 captured in early March in the Caguan area of the Caqueta department.
31 March
Three people kidnapped during the October 1997 election period were released by FARC's Twenty-fourth Front in southern Bolivar.
2 April
At least 16 guerrillas and one civilian were reportedly killed in fighting which began when FARC established a roadblock along the Bogota-Villavicencio highway.
4 April
Joaquin Carrillo, the mayor of Pandi, and his municipal secretary were released by the FARC's Fifty-fifth Front.
Saul Garcia, the driver of several kidnapped TV news reporters and cameramen, was released by his FARC kidnappers in the Bolivar department. The driver, together with the reporters and cameramen, were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Twenty-fourth Front in a rural area of the San Pablo municipality.
5 April
The spokesman for FARC's Fifty-third Front announced that his organisation had decided to postpone indefinitely the release of the hostages that it was holding, including the remaining US hostages.
6 April
Sixteen officials from the Solita municipality, including the mayor Norberto Valencia, were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in the Caqueta department.
11 April
Sixteen officials, including Norberto Valencia (the mayor of the southern municipality of Solita), were released by their FARC kidnappers in Florenica, the capital of the Caqueta department.
11/12 April
More than 30 people were killed in clashes between the military and guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-third Front in the mountains of Restrepo, San Juanito and El Calvario.
12 April
Eight Colombians were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-third Front along the Guatape-El Penol-Medellin highway, in the Antioquia department. Four were released on 22 April in the San Luis municipality.
Four men were killed by guerrillas from FARC's Twenty-first Front in the Villahermosa and Risaldo communities.
13 April
Alvaro Mojica, a former Meta magistrate, and one FARC guerrilla were killed and 10 policemen were wounded when guerrillas from FARC's Tenth and Forty-fifth fronts simultaneously attacked four towns in the Arauca department.
The Free Country foundation reported that between 1 January and 31 March 1998, at least 451 kidnappings had taken place in Colombia.
15 April
Vito Candela, the Italian hostage of FARC's Fifty-third Front, was released by his kidnappers.
18 April
There were no reports of casualties when a bomb exploded in the pre-dawn hours at the Palace of Justice in Barrancabermeja. FARC was suspected of involvement.
20/21 AprilVictor Giraldo, a FARC hostage, was reportedly released by his kidnappers near the San Carlos municipality.
25 April
Jaime Salen, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) representative in Colombia, was reportedly kidnapped by a commando unit from FARC's Fifty-third Front while in southern Bogota.
8 May
Five FARC guerrillas, including `Pizarro', a local FARC leader, were killed in an encounter with government soldiers in El Robal village in Sonson, Antioquia department.
21 May
FARC and ELN guerrillas exploded a 50 kg home-made scooter bomb in Mesopotamia, Antioquia department. Despite extensive property damage, there were no deaths.
21/22 May
One person was injured when a suspected FARC bomb exploded around midnight outside the political headquarters of presidential candidate Harold Bedoya in Bucaramanga.
22 May
There were no reports of deaths or injuries when six suspected FARC bombs exploded at various banks in Santa Fe de Bogota.
24 May
Fifteen people were reportedly kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in the Buga municipality of the Valle del Cauca department.
26 May
Jairo Alfredo Gonzalez, an engineer, was reportedly kidnapped by three FARC guerrillas in La Victoria, Apure.
28 May
Ten municipal delegates from the National Civil Registry Office were released by their FARC kidnappers in the north of the Narino department. They had been held for eight days.
Election material was prevented from reaching towns in the Narino and Cauca departments when guerrillas from FARC's Twenty-ninth Front established roadblocks.
29 May
`El Rojo', the guerrilla leader who organised the escape of more than 300 inmates from the San Isidro Prison in Popayan, was among three FARC members who were arrested by the security forces in a municipality near Popayan.
1 June
Thirty people were freed by FARC in the Buga municipality, Valle del Cauca department. Among the 30 people released were National Civic Registry Office officials, municipal public workers, peace adviser Jose Ivan Ospina and two journalists and their staff.
18 June
FARC guerrillas were reported to have freed the kidnapped engineer Jairo Alfredo Gonzalez in the Arauca department.
19 June
Maria Ortega and Carmen Oliva, two registrar officers, were reportedly kidnapped in order to prevent the beginning of the election process in the Orito municipality, Putumayo department.
20 June
Police sources claim that the leader of FARC's `Bolsheviks Unit', which has conducted operations in Quindio, Tolima, Risaralda and Caldas, was arrested.
21 June
Attacks by ELN and FARC guerrillas against public transport and electoral materials were reported to have resulted in the suspension of elections in three electoral sub-divisions and at least two villages in the Antioquia department. In addition, the elections in Porso, in the Santo Domingo municipality, were suspended when guerrillas destroyed ballot boxes and polling booths. Voting was also suspended in Cabuyal after ELN guerrillas burnt an official vehicle.
9 July
Jesus Arias, the second in command of FARC's Fifty-first Front, was arrested by the Cundinamarca police in the Caqueta municipality.
17 July
Jaime Salem, a member of the Palestine National Council, was released by FARC on the border between the departments of Cundinamarca and Meta.
21 July
FARC's Tenth Front exploded a bomb on the Caño Limon-Coveñas pipeline, in the Arauca department.
29 July
One hundred and sixty guerrillas from the Independent Revolutionary Commando Movement (MICR) surrendered themselves and their weapons to the authorities in Medellin.
1 August
At least 15 FARC and ELN guerrillas were killed and a policeman was injured during firefights with the security forces in San Martin de Loba.
3 August
At least four people, including two soldiers, were wounded when a car bomb exploded in Medellin.
Two policemen and a civilian were killed when FARC guerrillas attacked the town of Cordoba, in the Bolivar department.
FARC guerrillas attacked oil-drilling installations in the area of Orito, Putumayo department.
3/4 August
FARC guerrillas were reported to have attacked the Pacific port of Buenaventura.
3-5 August
At least 66 people were killed when FARC guerrillas attacked the Miraflores counter-narcotics base in the Guaviare department. The attack was led by Jorge Briceno Suarez, alias `El Mono Jojoy', and supported by rockets and mortars.
4 August
A soldier was killed when a car bomb exploded near the 4th Brigade headquarters in Medellin.
Six policemen and two guerrillas were killed when FARC attacked the San Antonio del Chami corregimiento.
Seven policemen were wounded when FARC guerrillas entered the town of Natagaima in the Tolima department.
5 August
Two military bases were destroyed during FARC military operations in Uribe, in the Meta department. During these operations, the guerrillas reportedly captured eight soldiers, 22 rifles, two M60 machine guns, two 60 mm mortars and other materiel.
During FARC operations in Miraflores the guerrillas were reported to have captured at least 100 soldiers and national policemen and 160 weapons, including M60 machine guns, 60 mm mortars and 16 M79 grenade launchers.
Twenty-six FARC guerrillas were killed in an attempt to occupy towns in the Pavarando municipality of Mutata.
14-16 August
At least 42 soldiers were killed when government troops attempted to halt the advance of approximately 1,000 FARC guerrillas on the border between the Antioquia and Choco departments.
18 August
Panamanian authorities were reportedly concerned about increased fighting between the security forces and FARC in the Uraba region, on the border with Panama.
20 August
The Colombian armed forces bombed several FARC posts near the border between the departments of Antioquia and Choco.
4 September
Four FARC guerrillas were arrested in Guasdualito, Venezuela, for their alleged involvement in the attack on a Venezuelan military patrol on 1 September in the state of Apure.
9 September
FARC was linked to the bombings in Barrancabermeja of 8 September, one of the most powerful attacks against oil infrastructure this year. Three buses were also set alight in the town.
12 September
Twenty national police officers were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in Sardinata. A Galil SAR rifle, an AK rifle and a fragmentation grenade were among weapons seized from guerrilla groups in Sardinata and Barrancabermeja.
13 September
The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that Brazilian Army special forces had mobilised in May to meet FARC incursions into the Amazonas region.
19 September
Radio Cadena Nacional reported that a US citizen, an army instructor, was wounded in clashes with FARC guerrillas which took place during early August in Uraba.
25 September
A joint attack launched by FARC and ELN forces against paramilitaries of Carlos Castano was reported in San Pablo and Simiti.
The FARC, ELN, and EPL together mounted an attack on Dabeiba, where the prison, three banks and several stores were blown up.
28 September
The FARC-ELN offensive against Carlos Castano paramilitaries in the San Lucas mountains intensified.
1 October
The pumping of oil through the Trans-Andean pipeline was halted after nine dynamite attacks by FARC guerrillas in the lower Putumayo region.
9 October
Colombian Army officers reportedly sent a list to the Attorney General's Office claiming that FARC was holding 289 security force members and the ELN was holding 10.
10 October
At least two people were killed when a 50 kg bomb exploded in Pueblo Nuevo, in Barrancabermeja.
11 October
Two policemen were killed, a further five were wounded and three more were reported missing following a FARC attack in the Albania municipality, Santander department.
14 October
The Colombian Army was reported to have been given orders to withdraw for 90 days, from 7 November, from the municipalities of Mesetas, La Uribe, Vista Hermosa, San Vicente del Caguan and La Macarena, in the departments of Meta and Caqueta in the southeast of the country.
16 October
The security forces were reported to have begun their withdrawal from San Vicente del Caguan in the Caqueta department.
22 October
There were no reports of casualties when either ELN or FARC guerrillas attacked the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline.
25 October
Eleven people were killed when nearly 100 paramilitaries attacked the police post and the Agrarian Fund in the San Carlos municipality.
27 October
An unreported number of people were killed or wounded when FARC guerrillas downed a helicopter near the town of Orito during clashes with government troops in the rural area of San Miguel village, southern Putumayo department.
At least one policeman was wounded when 200 guerrillas from FARC's Thirty-third Front attacked and captured Acari, in the northeastern Norte de Santander department.
28 October
An unidentified group of guerrillas was reported to have attacked the Calderas hydroelectric plant in San Carlos, Antioquia.
1 November
At least 80 people, including 20 soldiers, 10 civilians and eight policemen were killed and three civilians were injured when 700 FARC guerrillas attacked the eastern town of Mitu, the capital of Vaupes department.
9 November
General Fernando Tapias, a military forces commander, reportedly claimed that a total of 152 people (100 FARC guerrillas, 20 police agents, 16 soldiers and 16 civilians) were killed following the capture of Mitu and the subsequent three-day occupation. The Colombian Red Cross disputed the figures, claiming that 60 policemen and 10 civilians were killed and an additional 43 policemen were kidnapped.
17 November
At least 30 people were killed in clashes between paramilitaries and FARC guerrillas at La Secreta estate, 15 minutes from Pavarando; the estate was reported to be one of the most important bases of the paramilitary leader, Carlos Castano Gil.
18 November
At least 30 paramilitary members were killed during clashes between paramilitaries and FARC's Thirty-fourth and Thirty-seventh fronts near Mutata, Antioquia department.
Colombian security forces were reported to have withdrawn from a 42,000 km2 area which was expected to be the stage for peace talks between FARC and the government.
19 November
Approximately 30 people were reported to have died during several days of fighting between the guerrillas and paramilitary groups in the Uraba region, Antioquia department.
22 November
Francisco Arnoldo Moreno, a US DEA agent, was killed in the Zona Rosa sector, in northern Bogota.
25 November
At least 45 soldiers were killed and an additional 30 were injured during fighting between security forces and guerrillas in the village of Santa Barbara de Retorno, Guaviare.
26 NovemberThe army was reported to have killed 250 FARC guerrillas at the beginning of the month during an offensive in the Amazon jungle, in the southern Mitu locality.
27 November
At least 40 FARC guerrillas and 11 government soldiers were killed during fighting between the security forces and about 800 guerrillas from three fronts near El Retorno.
28 November
Six policemen were killed and a further four were injured when guerrillas from FARC's Forty-eighth Front ambushed a patrol near the southern town of Puerto Asis, in the Putumayo department.
29 November
The security forces were reported to have inflicted a serious defeat on FARC during fighting in the Calamar-El Retorno-San Jose del Guaviare triangle, in the south of the country.
1 DecemberFour soldiers were killed and at least 20 civilians and several soldiers were injured during joint FARC-ELN attacks on Cocorna and San Francisco, in the Antioquia department.
2 December
A FARC war bulletin confirmed that the organisation had captured, and was still holding, 61 policemen, including a colonel, two captains and two lieutenants, during the November fighting in Mitu, southern Colombia.
3 December
A US citizen and two Colombians were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Eighth Front during an attack on a toll booth at El Mango, Rosas municipality, in the southern part of the Cauca department.
6 December
Hector Javier Meza, the FARC chief of the Bolivarian militias in Santa Fe de Bogota, was arrested by the army in Santa Fe de Bogota.
8 December
A Spanish citizen and three Colombians were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Forty-seventh Front, in the Narino municipality, Antioquia department.
14 December
At least 16 people were killed and 26 civilians were injured during fighting between security forces and FARC guerrillas in Cano Verde, Tame municipality, Arauca department.
At least two policemen and five assailants were killed when 200 FARC guerrillas captured the town of San Pablo, Marino department.
19 December
Two people were injured when four suspected FARC bombs exploded in the city of Cali.
21 December
The army was reported to have captured three FARC leaders, including a member of the personal guard of the organisation's top leader, Manuel Marula, alias `Tirofijo'.
25 December
Forty FARC guerrillas reportedly launched a rocket attack on the police station in Saladoblanco, Huila department.
26 December
A local resident was killed and four police agents were wounded when 300 guerrillas from FARC's Forty-first Front attacked the police quarters in Becerril, northern Cesar department. Five agents were also kidnapped during this attack.
28 December
At least 13 people were injured following a grenade explosion in the city of Medellin, Antioquia department.
One policeman was killed, a further three were injured and nine were kidnapped during a FARC attack on the police station of the Nutibara Corregimiento, Frontino municipality, Antioquia department.
28/29 December
At least 11 people, including eight members of the United Self-Defence Groups of Cordoba and Uraba, were killed during a FARC attack on Cerro de Paramillo, Tierra Alta municipality, Cordoba department. FARC claimed that one of the dead was Carlos Castano Gil, a senior paramilitary.
December
Anti-government guerrillas were accused of killing 168 police officers between the months of January and November.
1999
5 January
Guerrillas from FARC's Forty-first and Fifty-ninth fronts successfully occupied a town in the Pueblo Bello municipality, Cesar department.
Two people were arrested and a large number of FARC weapons were seized by Marines on board a boat at Boca Nueva, in the Jurabo municipality, Choco department. The weapons were intended for FARC's Thirtieth Front.
10 January
Camino Villanueva Rodriguez, a Spanish aid worker who had been kidnapped on 8 December 1998, was freed by her FARC captors in Pamplona.
A Canadian mining executive, working for Terramundo Drilling in Colombia, was reportedly released by his captors.
13 January
Approximately 1,600 FARC guerrillas were reported to have begun withdrawing from San Vicente del Caguan, en route to Uribe.
11 February
A FARC spokesman claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on Medellin's public university.
18 February
At least 12 government soldiers were killed by FARC guerrillas during fighting in Arauquita.
Seven people, including two Spaniards and an Algerian, were kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in the Chinchina Caldas department. Two of the victims were subsequently released. Another two Spanish nationals were reported to have been kidnapped a few days later.
21 February
The leader of FARC's Fifty-fourth Front, Jaime Nael Lombana, was killed during fighting with a paramilitary group in the Guavio region, Cundinamarca.
At least four people were wounded by an explosion on 45th Street and Carrera 24, Bogota.
22 February
Maria del Pilar Rojo Hernandez, a Spanish national, was released by the FARC kidnappers in Medellin.
24 February
FARC guerrillas were reportedly demanding 300 million pesetas for the release of their remaining Spanish hostage, Santiago Cabanas.
25 February
Three US citizens were kidnapped and subsequently killed by FARC guerrillas in Royota, Saravena municipality, Arauca department.
There were no casualties following the explosion of a bomb at the headquarters of the Cicolac (Colombian Dairy Company) in Valledupar. The company is a subsidiary of Nestlé International.
28 February
A kidnapped Spaniard was released by FARC in Sonson, western Antioquia.
2 March
A judge from Cartagena del Chaira, in the southern Caqueta department, was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas.
A total of 17 foreigners and almost 850 Colombians was reported to be in the custody of Colombian guerrillas. Among the 17 foreigners were three US citizens, three Venezuelans, two Spaniards, two French nationals, an Italian and a Briton.
FARC guerrillas forced a judge to leave the town of Carura, Vaupes department.
3 March
The Antioquia United Action Groups to Rescue Kidnap Victims (Gaula) reported that a total of 35 people was kidnapped in the first two
months of 1999.
Sixty FARC and ELN guerrillas were killed, together with 12 government soldiers, during fighting in February in the Aruca department.
8 March
The bodies of three US missionaries were found in Apure state.
10 March
Three people were kidnapped during a Colombian guerrilla attack on a Venezuelan Army patrol in Guasdualito municipality, near the Colombian border.
Five people were killed, including two guerrillas, during FARC attacks on Piendamo and Santander de Quilichao, in the southern Cauca department.
11 March
FARC members, including two commanders, were killed by security forces during an operation in western Cali.
12 March
Two FARC guerrillas, including the leader of the Fifty-fourth Front, were killed and an additional two captured by the army in the rural area of Fusagasuga.
At least 16 people were killed during military operations against FARC and self-defence groups in the Paramillo region.
13 March
A FARC communiqué reported that the 61 servicemen and policemen captured in the Antioquia and Cesar departments in 1998 were safe.
8-14 March
Defence Minister Rodrigo Lloreda Caicedo denied reports that as many as 70 people had been killed in fighting between self-defence groups and guerrillas in Montes de Maria, Bolivar department.
16-17 March
An estimated 50 FARC guerrillas and three soldiers were killed during military operations in the Canon de la Llorona area, between the municipalities of Mutata and Dabeiba, Antioquia department.
20 March
Over 60 people were reported to have been kidnapped during the previous 24 hours by FARC guerrillas in four departments.
A FARC defector claimed that the guerrilla organisation was receiving assistance from the Panamanian police and was able to move freely around the border Province of Darien.
31 March
At least one FARC guerrilla was killed and four people, including a soldier, were injured following a skirmish in La Raya, along the Bucaramanga-La Costa Highway.
There were no casualties when a suspected ELN bomb exploded before dawn in the centre of Bucaramanga.
5 April
Four FARC members, including Edison Rueda, alias `Mencho' (the suspected finance chief of the organisation's Sixth Front), were arrested in the Valle del Cauca department. A sub-machine gun, a carbine, two revolvers and several grenades were also recovered.
At least five people, including three soldiers, were killed and six were injured when 200 FARC and ELN guerrillas attacked the town of San Francisco, in the Antioquia department.
12 April
ELN guerrillas forced an Avianca Fokker 50 aeroplane and its 46 occupants to land at the Los Zabalos secret runway in the Simiti municipality. Eleven hostages were released within three days and another three were freed two weeks later. Seven more were released on 7 May.
Nineteen government soldiers were killed and an additional five were injured during fighting in Canon de la Llorona, in the northwest of the country.
14 April
Twenty FARC and 12 government troops were killed during fighting in northwestern Colombia, possibly in the Mutata municipality, Antioquia department.
There were no human casualties even though four suspected FARC bombs exploded in the city of Arauca, on the Venezuelan border.
16 April
There were no reports of injuries when three bombs exploded outside two military installations in Bogota.
16-17 April
At least 10 ELN guerrillas and three government soldiers were killed in two days of fighting in the Pozo Azul rural area, San Pablo municipality, Bolivar state.
21 April
A corporal was killed and 15 police officers kidnapped during a FARC attack on the town of Sapzurro, Choco department, near the border with Panama.
24 April
The Colombian Army announced that since 1 January, 149 people had been killed by FARC, 22 by the ELN, 179 by self-defence groups and 21 at the hands of unknown assailants.
26 April
There were no casualties when a bomb exploded in front of the Colombian-American Institute, Santa Fe de Bogota.
The leader of the Colombian United Self-Defence Groups announced that his organisation intended to transfer its headquarters to the southern demilitarised zone of Caqueta by May.
27 April
A total of 139 municipalities was reported to be without a military or police presence.
30 April
There were reports of fighting between the army and the ELN near the zone of the Bolivar department in which the Avianca hostages were being held.
5/6 May
At least 10 counter-narcotics police officers were killed during a FARC ambush in the rural area of Pensilvania, 155 km to the southeast of Manizales, Caldas department.
7 May
Four foreigners, two Swiss, one Israeli and one Briton, were kidnapped by ELN guerrillas in the San Sebastian municipality, southern Cauca department. The British hostage subsequently escaped from a camp in the Valle del Cauca department.
13 May
Government troops clashed with FARC guerrillas in El Cerrito, El Banco municipality, Magdalena department.
14 May
FARC guerrillas killed two hostages but released six after the payment of a 1 billion pesos ransom. These hostages were part of a group of 13 which had been transported to the Balsillas-El Pato area, San Vicente del Caguan, Caqueta department.
15 May
A policeman was killed, three of his colleagues injured and the state bank, Caja Agraria, was robbed during a FARC attack on the town of Pore, Casanare department.
FARC guerrillas kidnapped a US citizen en route to Yopal airport, Casanare department. This kidnapping brought to 14 the number of foreigners being held by FARC.
19 May
Four government officials from the Technical Investigation Corps, kidnapped in October 1998, were released by their ELN kidnappers in Santa Marta.
19/20 May
FARC guerrillas were reported to have captured and destroyed the town of Silvia, Cauca department.
20 May
There were reports of fighting on the Popayan-Cali stretch of the Pan-American Highway.
20/21 May
Three people were killed and a further 21 were injured when two bombs exploded in Florencia, Caqueta department.
22-23 May
At least six paramilitaries were killed in fighting with FARC guerrillas in the Antioquia department.
Two FARC guerrillas were killed by government troops in the Antioquia department.
26 May
Aline Oganesoff, a Frenchwoman kidnapped by FARC in early August 1998, was released in Bogota.
28 May
Josue Prieto, the FARC's financial supremo, and two of his colleagues were killed by the army in the jungle area of Puerto Carreno, on the Venezuelan border.
31 May
A FARC spokesman claimed that his organisation was holding 350 policemen and soldiers prisoner.
1 June
Approximately 60 people from Cali were reportedly being held hostage in a mountainous area of the Jamundi municipality, Valle del Cauca department.
4 June
Senator Piedad Cordoba was reportedly released by her kidnappers.
9 June
About 100 FARC guerrillas reportedly captured the Contratacion municipality, north of Bogota.
There were reports of clashes between FARC guerrillas and soldiers near the village of Angostura, northwest of Bogota.
Four FARC guerrillas were killed during a clash with security forces in the Caldas municipality, near Medellin.
11 June
Four people were wounded when a suspected FARC bomb exploded in the town of Tame, Arauca department, on the Venezuelan border.
Seventeen hostages were rescued from their FARC captors by security forces during a raid east of Yopal, Casanare.
16 June
FARC guerrillas were reported to have killed 11 of the 16 hostages who had been kidnapped in Perla Alta, Puerto Rico jurisdiction, Caqueta.
19-21 June
At least 19 people were killed in clashes between FARC guerrillas and self-defence militias in Nudo de Paramillo, an area on the border of the Antioquia and Cordoba departments. These clashes were followed by another 71 fatalities when the armed forces attempted to intervene to stop the fighting.
22 June
Thirty-five soldiers were killed during clashes with FARC guerrillas near the town of Juan Jose, in northwestern Colombia.
24 June
The military was reported to have regained control of Nudo de Paramillo after clashes with ELN and FARC guerrillas.
26 June
A judge, Carlos Bautista, was kidnapped by a new group, the Human Rights Cartel, outside his hotel in Cucuta, Norte de Santander department. He was found unharmed by police in a taxi on the outskirts of Cucuta four days later.
26-27 June
Four people, including a FARC commander and two policemen, were killed during a clash with security forces at a highway checkpoint near the Samaniego municipality, Narino department.
Five civilians were killed by FARC guerrillas in Turbo, Antioquia department.
Six people, including three policemen, were injured when suspected FARC guerrillas threw a bomb at a police car in Arenales, Barrancabermeja.
29 June
Jorge Arnoldo Parra Duque, a member of parliament from the Valle department, was killed in the Jamundi municipality, south of Cali.
1 July
FARC guerrillas were suspected of having attacked and looted the Prosecutor-General's Office in the Mesetas community, Meta department.
2 July
Luis Eduardo Galvis (alias `Joselito'), one of the ELN's most important leaders, was arrested by security forces in southern Bogota.
3 July
Ruth Grisales Loaiza, one of FARC's senior leaders in Meta, was arrested by security forces in Villavicencio.
6 July
Bernardo de Jesus Higuita, the mayor of the Canasgordas municipality, was kidnapped by suspected FARC guerrillas near Canasgordas, Antioquia department. He was found dead two days later.
7 July
At least 15 FARC guerrillas were freed when their comrades attacked a federal prison near the provincial capital of Neiva.
8-9 July
At least 30 people were killed in 12 hours of fighting between FARC guerrillas and security forces in the Gutierrez municipality, Cundinamarca department, southeast of Bogota.
9 July
At least two policemen were killed when FARC guerrillas attacked the police stations in the town of Hato Corozal, Casanare department; in El Boqueron, Cundinamarca department; and in Lavateca, Norte de Santander department.
10 July
There were reports of fighting between security forces and FARC guerrillas at the military base in San Jose del Guaviare, Guaviare department; in Puerto Lleras and Puerto Rico, Meta department; in Doncello, Paujil and Puerto Rico, Caqueta department; and in the Algeciras municipality, Huila department.
The government introduced a curfew for municipalities in the departments of Arauca, Casanare, Caqueta, Guaviare, Meta, Putumayo, Vaupes, Vichada and Cundinamarca.
More than 300 people were kidnapped by FARC at a roadblock at El Carano, on the Caqueta-Huila highway, southern Colombia.
11 July
Three children were killed during a guerrilla attack on Valparaiso, Caqueta department.
There were reports of fighting between the police and FARC guerrillas in the Doncello municipality, possibly in the Caqueta department.
Government troops defeated FARC attempts to establish roadblocks on the highways between Mocoa and Villalobosis and between Santa Ana and Puerto Asis, Putumayo department.
FARC succeeded in establishing a roadblock between Mocoa and Villalobosis, Putumayo department.
There was fighting between the security forces and FARC guerrillas in Puerto Rico, Caqueta department.
At least 37 policemen were reported to have been kidnapped during a FARC attack on the police station in Puerto Rico, Meta department.
12 July
The inhabitants of Mocoa in Putumayo department were effectively placed under siege following the establishment of FARC roadblocks which severed ties with the Narino and Huila departments. FARC kidnapped an estimated 250 people during the operation. The roadblocks were dismantled the following day.
FARC released 150 hostages in the municipalities of Puerto Concordia and Puerto Rico, Meta department.
17 July
There were no reports of injuries when a bomb exploded at a police station, in the San Salvador neighbourhood of Barranquilla.
A number of FARC guerrillas were wounded during an unsuccessful attack on a police station in Concepcion, Santander department. FARC was also reported to have withdrawn from the entrances of San Vicente del Caguan.
20 July
Colombian TV reported that more than 500 FARC gas tanks were being stored at Villa Nora Farm, San Vicente del Caguan.
A marine was killed and 22 were injured in clashes with FARC guerrillas near El Carmen, Bolivar department.
23 July
FARC guerrillas were reported to be occupying the Caicedonia municipality.
28 July
FARC was reported to be holding approximately 400 soldiers and policemen who had been kidnapped over the previous 18 months.
30 July
At least six people were killed and a further 31 injured when a suspected FARC car bomb exploded outside an army garrison in Medellin.
FARC guerrillas were reported to be battling with security forces for control of the gold mining town of Narino, northwestern Colombia.
31 July
Ten people were killed when a bomb exploded at the entrance of a bank in central Manizales.
1 August
Members of the security forces confiscated 23 surface-to-air rockets, 67 bars of pentolite and 4,500 rounds of small arms ammunition in
Medellin.
Security forces seized 81 rifle grenades and some small arms ammunition in Marsella.
At least 40 FARC guerrillas and a government soldier were killed during fighting in Arenas Altas, near Turbo, in the Uraba region of Antioquia department.
2 August
Thirty FARC guerrillas, nine policemen and eight civilians were killed when the military regained control of Narino.
Formal talks between FARC and the government failed to produce an agreement. The most significant problem was reported differences about the role that the International Verification Commission would play in the final committee for peace talks.
There were reports of fighting between FARC guerrillas and the paramilitary AUC group in Monteloro, Valle del Cauca, Cali region.
5 August
A senior anti-narcotics officer, Asbelco Goyo Hernandez, was killed and three soldiers were injured during a suspected guerrilla attack at Santa
Marta.
7 August
Two people were kidnapped in the state of Apure. They were released on 20 August.
10 August
A Spanish national and his son were kidnapped by FARC in Mosquera, southeast Cali. They escaped on 2 September.
15 August
FARC guerrillas were reported to be taking hostages to bases in Panama.
18 August
Two people were wounded when a bomb exploded in a commercial zone of Cucuta, on the Venezuelan border.
21 August
FARC requested Brazilian approval to establish diplomatic offices.
23 August
The Colombian foreign minister dismissed a report that Washington would provide more assistance to the administration if it made no more concessions to FARC during the negotiations process.
According to both Colombian and US security agencies, there were 120,000 hectares of coca crops being grown in Colombia at the time.
25 August
The Brazilian police intercepted a FARC aircraft over the country's northern jungle. Its shipment included missiles, rockets and ammunition which were stored in boxes bearing the markings `Libyan Armed Forces'.
Both the Colombian government and FARC were reported to have agreed that Brazil would be an acceptable mediator in any future discussions between them.
The windows of four banks were damaged when four bombs exploded in Bogota.
27 August
There were no reports of casualties when seven bombs exploded simultaneously at various savings and loans institutions throughout Bogota.
28 August
President Pastrana claimed that a letter from Manuel Marulanda Velez, FARC's leader, proved that the country's peace process `is alive'.
29 August
The offices of two organisations, the People's Training Institute and the Miscellaneous Enterprise Association, were damaged when two bombs exploded in Medellin.
The offices of the National Association of Rural Land Users were destroyed when a bomb exploded in Sincelejo, Sucre department.
30 August
Nobody was injured when a bomb exploded in Manizalez, western Colombia.
31 August
There were no reports of casualties when a bomb exploded in Sincelejo, in northern Colombia.
A bomb was successfully defused by the police in Cal, northeastern Colombia.
31 August/1 September
At least 30 FARC guerrillas were killed when government troops defeated an attempt to capture the Hato Corozal municipality, Casanare department.
1 September
The Brazilian authorities claimed that they were taking renewed action to cut off FARC's Amazon supply routes in Brazil.
2 September
An army commander accused FARC of holding over 100 hostages, including journalists and cameramen, hostage for 48 hours at Alto Anchicaya, in the Dagua jurisdiction of Valle department.
Two engineers were kidnapped by FARC. They were released on 10 September.
5 September
The last of 168 people who had been kidnapped five days previously were released by FARC. They had been taken hostage when FARC had occupied a hydroelectric plant near Anchicaya, Valle del Cauca department, in the southwest of the country.
7 September
At least five soldiers and 25 FARC guerrillas were reported to have died in clashes near the Dagua Mountains in the Valle department.
10 September
FARC threatened that it would target Ecopetrol if the company refused to hand over 10 per cent of its installations.
FARC was reported to have established a facility for repairing weapons in San Vicente Del Caguan.
11 September
The president's private secretary arrived at the demilitarised zone in the Caqueta jungle area to urge a renewal of the peace talks with FARC.
Twelve foreign citizens (seven Canadians, three Spaniards, an American and a Belgian) were kidnapped in Sucumbios, an Ecuadorean Province which borders Colombia. FARC was suspected, although it denied responsibility.
13 September
Pedro Antonio Marin (alias `Manuel Marulanda' or `Tirofijo'), the founder of FARC, proposed that the government call a referendum to decide whether the nearly 450 incarcerated guerrillas should be exchanged for more then 400 soldiers and policemen held prisoner by FARC.
15 September
At least six security force personnel, who were kidnapped on 3 August 1998, successfully escaped from a FARC prison camp in eastern
Colombia.
Six people were killed during a paramilitary attack in the town of Salazar de las Palmas, Norte de Santander department.
16 September
FARC was reported to have opened an informal diplomatic office in Brazil, with Hernan Ramirez as the group's `shadow' ambassador.
20 September
Omar Garcia, the mayor of San Vicente del Caguan municipality, was reported to have left the country a few days previously after receiving threats. San Vicente was reported to be the site of FARC-government peace talks and the threats stated the mayor would be held `accountable' for any FARC abuses in the area. His flight coincided with the death of another mayor of a municipality in the demilitarised zone.
21 September
FARC guerrillas were reported to have occupied the San Juan municipality.
25 September
The Colombian government and FARC reportedly agreed to resume the peace talks which had been stalled since July.
26 September
Ander Mimenza, the Spaniard who was kidnapped on 11 September in Ecuador, together with at least 10 other people, was released. At a press conference, Mimenza claimed that the kidnappers had made a mistake and had wanted to kidnap employees of an oil company.
28 September
Peace talks were due to resume between the government and FARC.
30 September
During a visit to Argentina, a FARC representative held several meetings with senior government officials, as well as with former President Raul Alfonsin.
2 October
Peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC were said to be due to start on 7 October in La Uribe municipality, Meta department, southern Colombia.
11 October
FARC was reported to have accepted the suggestion from the country's former President, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen that the government should recognise the `belligerence' of the guerrilla organisation in order to facilitate the exchange of prisoners.
16 October
FARC was suspected of kidnapping 14 people in the area between the port of Buenaventura and Juanchaco. Seven of the hostages were released five days later.
20 October
Four engineers from Ecopetrol were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Twenty-third Front in the northwest Bolivar department. They were freed on 14 November.
29 October
Four reporters and three cameramen were `detained' by FARC near Barrancabermeja. They were released four days later in the jungle region near the San Lucas mountains, in the Bolivar department.
31 October
It was announced that representatives of FARC and the government would discuss procedural issues during the second formal session of peace talks to be held on 2 November.
2 November
FARC was reported to have released one Algerian and two Spanish hostages whom they had kidnapped in February in Supia, Caldas department.
4 November
Two Panamanian helicopters which were hijacked on 2 November were reportedly sighted by the residents of the town of San Pedro de Uraba, on the border between the departments of Antioquia and Cordoba. FARC denied that it was responsible for the hijacking.
10 November
Six reporters and photographers were kidnapped by guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-ninth Front near Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in the Atanquez municipality, Cesar department, northern Colombia. They were released two days later.
11 November
Ten power pylons, two buses and a truck were destroyed during guerrilla attacks in the northwestern department of Antioquia.
Several vehicles were burnt by guerrillas along the Medellin-Bogota Highway, near the municipality of Cocorna.
14 November
Guerrillas from FARC's Fifty-ninth Front reportedly released a British Red Cross worker and two Colombian journalists in northern Colombia.
17 November
Oil pumping in Arauca, on the Venezuelan border, had to be suspended following a FARC attack on the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline near Arauquita, 400 km northeast of Bogota.
A total of 20 electricity pylons was destroyed by FARC during operations in seven departments across the country. The damaged lines were responsible for transporting power from the San Carlos hydroelectric plant, east of Medellin, Antioquia department. Four of these lines carried electricity to the northern coast and the country's northwest.
18 November
At least 60 people were killed during a FARC offensive across nine departments.
22 November
The Colombian Army accused FARC of using the 42,000 km2 demilitarised zone, in the south of the country, as a military headquarters.
30 November
Several grenades exploded near the Panamanian town of La Miel during fighting on the Colombian side of the border between FARC and the
AUC.
3 December
FARC was reported to have asked the government to sanction a meeting between its leader, Manuel Marulanda Velez, and the Venezuelan President.
Seven people were killed and a number of banks were looted during a FARC attack on the town of Gigante, on the border of San Vicente del Caguan, part of the DMZ.
4 December
The government announced a six month extension of the DMZ, covering five municipalities in the departments of Meta and Cacqueta, in the south.
4-5 December
At least two security force personnel were killed when FARC guerrillas attempted to capture Mondomo, Cauca Department. This attack was reportedly only one of series of escalating ELN and FARC attacks on five fronts in this department.
9 December
The government officially unveiled a new counter-insurgency rapid reaction force.
9-10 December
At least 20 people, including policemen, were killed during a FARC attack on the town of Curillo, Caqueta Department.
9 -12 December
At least 29 people, including 23 marines and three guerrillas, were killed during a FARC attack on a naval base in Jurado. The guerrillas were reported to have seized 152 rifles, five machine guns, six grenade launchers, seven revolvers, two pistols, 25 mortar and hand grenades, six Claymore mines and other combat equipment. Subsequent reports indicated that 42 of the assailants were killed when counterinsurgency troops
were airlifted to the base.
Five FARC guerrillas were killed when the organisation captured a number of towns in the departments of Cundinamarca, Huila and Cauca.
Three policemen were killed when FARC attacked Arauquita, on the Venezuelan border.
12 December
A government minster accused FARC burning captured policemen after they had occupied Curillo and San Jose del Fragua, Caqueta Department.
Sixty five soldiers and policemen were believed to have been killed when FARC briefly occupied Jurado, Choco Department, 40 km from the Panamanian border.
13 December
The Colombian Senate rejected a proposal to exchange military and police prisoners for incarcerated guerrillas.
14 December
FARC guerrillas were reported to have attacked El Hobo, Huila Department, and Piendamo, Cauca municipality. A few hours before these attacks, another FARC group fired at a civilian cargo aircraft which was trying to land at Mitu's airstrip, Vaupes Department.
Several vehicles were evacuated and then burnt at a guerrilla roadblock between Bogota and Medellin.
7 January
Three people, including the second in command of a FARC front, were arrested by the authorities in a house in Sevilla, 149 km north of Cali, Valle del Cauca Department.
10 January
A FARC spokesman announced that the group was ending its 20-day Christmas truce despite anticipated talks with the government.
12 January
In a series of simultaneous attacks on Puerres, Cordoba, Potosi and Las Lajas, Narino department near the Ecuadorean border, FARC killed at least 24 people and a wounded another 17.
13 January
The government and FARC reportedly resumed peace negotiations.
14 January
FARC destroyed the Banco Agrario in Buenos Aires municipality, in southwest Colombia.
16 January
At least 12 FARC/ELN guerrillas and two government soldiers died in clashes in the northern department of Bolivar.
15-16 January
At least 24 people, including 15 FARC guerrillas and four policemen, died in a FARC attack on the Los Llamos highway, on the outskirts of Bogota.
At least 60 FARC guerrillas reportedly perished in fighting with Colombian security forces in Cundinamarca, Santander, Bolivar, Cesar, Arauca and Vichada departments, as well as on the highways between Villavicencio and Bogota.
18 January
The finance minister announced he would visit the demilitarised zone on 20 January to hold talks with FARC concerning the national economy.
19 January
The commander of the armed forces warned that FARC had succeeded in acquiring a new surface-to-air missile system. This claim followed an unsuccessful FARC attempt to down a helicopter flying at nearly 3,000 feet.
Two senior guerrillas from FARC and the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) died in an encounter with Colombian security forces in Norosi Corregimiento, Bolivar department in northern Colombia.
20 January
FARC reportedly claimed that employment was its main priority during a meeting with the finance minister in Villa Nueva Colombia, a settlement in Los Pozos village, San Vicente del Caguan department in the demilitarised zone.
22 January
Reports stated that FARC had acquired a number of Redeye and SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles from Syria, and that the rebels were attempting to form an air force by arming Cessna aircraft with 40 mm multiple round grenade launchers, 0.50 calibre machine guns and rockets. The organisation reportedly also acquired parts for the G-3, Galil, AK-47 and A-3 rifles.
26 January
Police killed a suspected guerrilla and arrested three more shortly after a grenade attack on a police post in southern Bogota.
27 January
At least seven people, including two policemen and a hostage, died in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a kidnapped child in the Anzoategui municipality, 300 km east of Bogota in Tolima department. Reports stated that rebels kidnapped the child in December.
Eight FARC guerrillas and four soldiers died in clashes with security forces in a rural area between the municipalities of Lejanias and El Castillo, eastern Colombia, close to the demilitarised zone.
A newspaper marketing manager died in a drive-by shooting in Normandia neighbourhood, northwestern Bogota.
28 January
The Free Country Foundation reported that a total of 2,945 people were kidnapped in Colombia in 1999, an increase of 33 per cent. The number of foreigners kidnapped remained the same at 52 individuals. The worst hit departments were Antioquia with 53 reported cases; Valle with 312; Santander with 229; Norte de Santander with 215; Cesar with 181; Meta and Cundinamarca each with 128 and Bolivar with 120 cases.
31 January
An armed forces investigation concluded that the country's paramilitaries were equipped with eight helicopters and had also received an M-16 rifle shipment in December.
1 February
Neither the soldiers nor the crew of a C-130 sustained injuries when unidentified attackers fired on their aircraft as it was approaching the airport in Mitu.
3 February
Oil pumping was temporarily halted after FARC attacked sections of the Transandean oil pipeline in the jungle area in Valle de Guames, in the Putumayo region.
At least 12 towns in Arauca and Norte de Santander departments lost electricity following two separate guerrilla attacks on power pylons in Monserrate, near Bucaramanga in Santander department.
4 February
Peace talks between the private sector, the government and FARC continued in Stockholm.
A FARC car bomb exploded in front of the Hotel Quirama in Puerto Asis, Putumayo department, killing at least two people and wounding another four.
9 February
Unidentified attackers killed a journalist in his home in the Palmor Corregimiento, Cienaga municipality in Magdalene department.
12 February
FARC returned a small Venezuelan aircraft to Venezuelan authorities. The aircraft, hijacked in January in Ciudad Bolivar, was transported to the Cacique Aramare airport in Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas State.
12-13 February
Two policemen died and four more were injured in a FARC attack on a police patrol near Valledupur, Cesar department.
13 February
Three people died and another six sustained injuries when guerrillas ambushed a Transit Police patrol 1 km from Caqueza, on the El Llano Highway in Cundinamarca department.
One person died and two others suffered injuries when a bomb exploded near a police station in the San Rafael neighbourhood, in the oil port of Barrancabermeja.
Three FARC deserters claimed that the organisation had hired foreign military instructors to operate its training camps in the demilitarised zone.
14 February
Government soldiers reportedly defused a truck bomb on the La Union-Sonson Highway in northwestern Colombia.
Three FARC guerrillas died in clashes with the army in Nutria, Caqueta department.
Colombian security forces killed a FARC guerrilla in a rural area of the Yondo municipality, in Antioquia department.
15 February
Colombian police arrested at least three people and seized more than 20,000 Chinese-, Peruvian- and Yugoslav-made rounds for rifles and machine guns, as well as 6,000 Venezuelan-made bullets during an operation in the Narino department on the border with Ecuador.
The Colombian security forces arrested three people in Villavicencio, Meta department in central Colombia.
17 February
One person died and another suffered injuries when a 50-kg bomb exploded in front of a police station under construction in Dagua, western Valle del Cauca department.
17 February
Reports indicated that there were almost 100 guerrilla attacks on police stations throughout Colombia in 1999. In the first 45 days of 2000, guerrilla targeting and attacks were so effective that local police forces had to abandon their stations and buildings in seven municipalities in Antioquia and Meta departments.
18 February
At least four people died in clashes between paramilitaries and guerrillas in El Salado, El Carmen de Bolivar Corregimiento.
Two policemen died and a further three suffered injuries in a FARC attack on their police station in the Cumbarco Corregimiento, Sevilla, Valle del Cauca department.
17-19 February
About 47 guerrillas and two paramilitary members died in clashes in El Salado, near Carmen de Bolivar, Bolivar department.
18-19 February
FARC guerrillas reportedly destroyed a number of propane gas tanks near the urban centre of Mitu, Vaupes department.
19 February
Five people died and another two sustained injuries in an incursion by five uniformed men into the `peace' community of San Jose de Apartado in the Uraba region of Antioquia department. The attackers were armed with AK, Galil and R-15 rifles.
20 February
There were reports of fighting between Colombian security forces and FARC guerrillas in La Garza, Tulua municipality.
21 February
Representatives from the Colombian government, FARC and the private sector attended a peace ceremony at a hotel in eastern Spain.
16-22 February
At least 70 people died in clashes between the AUC and FARC in an area between the Sucre and Bolivar departments. Among the dead were 28 people executed in the village of El Salado, Bolivar department.
22-23 February
In an attack on the Caqueta department town of El Doncello, near the demilitarised zone, established to further peace negotiations between FARC and the government, FARC killed three people and kidnapped another seven.
There were no injuries after guerrillas set at least three buses alight in Bogota.
23 February
Jorge Rojas, the director of the NGO Human Rights and Displacement Office, reported that the Colombian civil war had displaced a total of 1.9 million people. In 1999, an estimated 288,127 people left their homes as a result of the war.
1 March
Panamanian police reportedly planted land mines along the Colombian border.
6 March
Two patrols in El Oro, Caldas department killed a total of six guerrillas.
7 March
Clashes between Colombian military forces on one side, and combined FARC and ELN guerrilla forces on the other, for control of the Bogota Medellin Highway left two soldiers and five guerrillas dead.
A child died during a firefight between Colombian Army and FARC guerrillas on the road from Bucaramanga to Cesar department.
10 March
Approximately 300 FARC guerrillas were reported to have blocked the Medellin-Cartagena Highway in the Yamural Municipality, northern Antioquia Department.
There were no reports of casualties despite clashes between soldiers and guerrillas in a mountainous zone, between the Yamural and Santa Rosa de los Osos Municipalities, Antioquia Department.
The bodies of two guerrillas and the journalist Maria Elena Salinas Gallego were discovered in the San Carlos municipal cemetery, eastern Antioquia Department. The journalist was reported to have vanished in northeastern Colombia.
11 March
FARC guerrillas, operating off the coasts of Acandi and Capurgana, reportedly used four stolen motor boats to capture the ship `Nuevo Tauro'.
14 March
At least two people were killed and a further 10 were wounded when guerrillas used cooking gas cylinders for an attack on the 4th Brigade's quarters in Medellin.
15 March
FARC guerrillas wounded General Carlos Mendez, commander of the 3rd Division, during the general's inspection of the Alto Anchicaya Dam.
One person was killed and 14 tourists were kidnapped during a FARC attack on the beaches of El Rufino and Aguacate. A police patrol near Capurgana beach subsequently freed these hostages.
16 March
FARC used gas tanks during their attacks on the Cacom Tres Air Force Base in Malambo, near the Barranquilla city airport. Authorities in Barranquilla subsequently arrested four guerrillas.
17 March
A number of senior businessmen reportedly held a meeting with members of FARC's high command. Among the subjects discussed were the pace of the peace process, the question of land reforms, monitoring of tax spending and FARC's opposition to government proposals.
Two soldiers were killed and a further four were injured during a FARC attack on a military convoy on the Bogota-Melgar road, in Silvania.
Government troops reportedly captured a FARC camp in Manzanares near the eastern plains, commanded by Henry Castellanos Garzon, alias `Romana'; he is alleged to be the group's main kidnap organiser.
Police Director General Rosso Jose Serrano claimed that kidnapping had replaced drug trafficking as the main crime in Colombia. He added that the country had experienced 2,900 kidnappings during 1999.
19 March
Reports written by the Ecuadorian police and military revealed that FARC guerrillas were regularly crossing the joint border and that the group maintained a presence in at least 24 towns in Carchi and Sucumbios Provinces.
FARC guerrillas occupied Alpujarra, in southeastern Tolima Department.
FARC established positions along the Prado Dolores-Alpujarra highway, isolating Prado Dolers.
19/20 March
A Panamanian official claimed that a hijacked Aeroperlas aircraft HP-1267 had been forced to land in El Llano, in the Valle de Payita, Colombia.
20 March
The Colombian armed forces accused FARC of adopting a new strategy to counter the government's social and economic development proposals, Plan Colombia. As part of this strategy FARC decided to rely more heavily on extortion and kidnapping for finance and was planning to target Colombia's urban centres, especially the capital.
25 March
A police aide was killed and 30 civilians were wounded when FARC guerrillas detonated a car bomb in Girardot, central Cundinamarca, 120 km from Bogota.
At least 22 policemen and seven civilians, including the mayor, died during a FARC attack on Vigia del Fuerte, Antioquia Deparment, northwestern Colombia.
25-26 March
A number of people were killed during a series of FARC attacks on the towns of Bojaya, northwestern Colombia and Leyva, Narino and Florencia, Cauca Department.
26-27 March
At least five FARC guerrillas and three marines were killed during clashes in Montes de Maria, Sucre Department.
At least one policeman was killed and a further two were injured during a FARC attack on a police highway patrol between Valledupar and Curumani.
Eight civilians and 26 paramilitary members were killed when FARC guerillas attacked the towns of Vigia del Fuerte, Antioquia, Bojaya and Choco.
30 March
At least two people were killed and several more wounded when a car bomb exploded in front of city hall and the police garrison in Cachipay Municipality, 55 km west of Bogota.
At least three government soldiers and seven FARC guerrillas were killed when the army's Rapid Deployment Force launched an offensive against FARC's five fronts in Cundinamarca and Meta Departments.
5 April
At least 10,000 workers were expected to lose their jobs after FARC forced Coca-Cola to close its plant in Neiva, Huila Department.
Three people were killed and the remaining four were captured by FARC guerrillas after the insurgents downed a police helicopter over a mountainous area in the Tulua Municipality, Valle del Cauca Department.
8-9 April
A pylon and an oil pipeline were subjected to guerrilla attacks in Barrancabermeja, Santander Department.
Seven vehicles were destroyed when a bomb damaged a bridge which connected Bogota to the Caribbean near Aguachica, Cesar.
11 April
Two guerrillas and a policeman were killed during an encounter at Barrancabermeja's river port, on the Magdalena River, Santander Department.
Police sources confirmed that two bridges had been destroyed along the Lejia Saravena and Tibu-Campos Dos highways, eastern Colombia.
Three vehicles were burnt after guerrillas destroyed a bridge over La Guinea Stream, northeast Antioquia Department.
Five bombs exploded at several Mormon churches in Cali.
The guerrilla blockade along the Medellin-Bogota Freeway and the La Union-Sonson highway, combined with the death or abductions of a number of public officials, reportedly brought commercial and industrial activity in Eastern Antioquia to a standstill.
13 April
Ceasefire negotiations between FARC and the government were reportedly continuing.
Ecopetrol was forced to shut down the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline after it was damaged by a bomb. The pipeline was further damaged during attacks on 15 and 16 April.
15 April
A Spaniard and four Venezuelans were released by FARC.
Moscow denied that the Russian Mafia was supplying weapons to Colombian guerrillas in exchange for cocaine.
16 April
The Colombian Air Force downed two Brazil-registered, light aircraft over the jungles in the Guainia Department, on the Brazilian-Venezuelan border. These aircraft were reportedly involved in the importation of weapons and the export of drugs.
21 April
The High Commissioner for Peace, Victor G Ricardo, announced that FARC-government ceasefire talks would take place on 27 April.
25 April
The Venezuelan president denied that his government had any links to the Bolivarian Movement for the New Colombia, the new political party which FARC planned to launch.
FARC guerrilla chief Jorge Briceno, ``Mono Jojoy", announced that FARC was charging a ``peace tax" for individuals who owned assets in excess of $1 million; those refusing to pay would be kidnapped.
26 April
The Colombian Army Command estimated that FARC and ELN had, during the course of 1999, received 587.121 billion pesos (FARC's share was 352.161 billion) from drug trafficking, extortions and kidnapping.
28 April
FARC's military leader Jorge Suarez Bricenco ordered his followers to intensify their kidnapping efforts and to increase their attacks on the country's infrastructure. FARC was reportedly planning to double their number of fighters.
1 May
FARC denied that it had any plans to sabotage the planned October regional elections.
5 May
The Colombian military claimed to have uncovered parts of FARC's ``strategic plan" which seeks to acquire permission from the Peruvian and Ecuadorian governments to enable guerrillas to enter these countries when pursued by the security forces.
8 May
Three people were killed when a bomb exploded in Cerrito, Valle del Cauca Department, southwestern Colombia.
Six people were killed when FARC attacked a bus in Gigante, southern Huila Department.
18 April-10 May
The Tolima state governor claimed that three weeks of ongoing fighting between FARC and AUC paramilitaries, in southern Tolima, was sufficient justification for the declaration of a state of emergency.
14 May
Four people, including three Colombians and an Australian missionary, were kidnapped from a coastal village in northern Colombia. The three Colombians were subsequently released.
Government troops reportedly overran FARC's kidnapping and extortion ``headquarters" when they captured Alto La Punta, in a remote part of Caparrapi, Cundinamarca.
20 May
FARC admitted that it was still holding 400 soldiers and policemen hostage and added that their release was subject to the approval of ``the permanent exchange law".
27 May
The security forces, in cooperation with their US and Israeli counterparts, successfully disbanded a gun running network whose members had hoped to smuggle approximately 50,000 rifles, rockets and launchers into the country.