Andrés Almarales
Encyclopedia
Andrés Almarales Manga, (born 1935 in Cienaga, Magdalena
, Colombia
, died November 1985 in Bogotá
) was one of the commanders of the 19th of April Movement
(M-19) terrorist group. He was a member of the Colombian Communist Party
. He worked with the socialist groups under Antonio Garcia and with the United People's Front with the priest, Camilo Torres
. He received Haba guerrilla instruction in Cuba and communist countries of Europe.
(Santander
) in 1979, Almares was put under house arrest and found guilty by Picota. When he rejoined civilian life, he wrote works on syndicalism and shortly thereafter helped plan the capture of the Dominican Republic. Later, his crimes were pardoned during the government of Belisario Betancur
.
When Carlos Toledo Plata
was assassinated in 1984 in Bucaramanga, Almares organized the memorial service in Romero park, in front of the central cemetery of that city, as an insult to then-president Belisario Betancur and the Time newspaper. His group recruited young people for the armed resistance movement. Shortly thereafter, he moved to the Valley of the Cauca and collaborated with the M-19 to protect around Cali. In a popular action by the Patriotic Union (Colombia)
in the Plaza de Bolivar of Bogota, Almarales spoke rudely comparing the press to a “sewer”, referring to President Betancur, minister of Government Jaime Castro and the Columbian conservative group.
On August 24th, 1984 he arranged a ceasefire between his group and the government of President Betancur. In front of all the television networks, he declared: “As of today, not a drop of blood was spilled by the subversives."
A radical and capable participant in negotiations, Almarales participated in the peace process. Later he was buried alongside Luis Otero Cifuentes
and Alfonso Jacquin
. There are two versions of his death:
Magdalena
Magdalena is the original version of the name Magdalene , and is used in Czech, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovak, Georgian, Slovene among other languages.Magdalena may also refer to:...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, died November 1985 in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
) was one of the commanders of the 19th of April Movement
19th of April Movement
The 19th of April Movement or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance , or AD/M-19.The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of 19 April 1970...
(M-19) terrorist group. He was a member of the Colombian Communist Party
Colombian Communist Party
The Colombian Communist Party or PCC is the legal communist party of Colombia. It was founded in 1930, as the Colombian section of the Comintern...
. He worked with the socialist groups under Antonio Garcia and with the United People's Front with the priest, Camilo Torres
Camilo Torres
Camilo Torres may refer to:*Camilo Torres Restrepo, liberation theologian, priest and guerrilla member in Colombia during the 1960s*Camilo Torres Tenorio, political leader of Colombia's independence struggle against Spain in the 1810s...
. He received Haba guerrilla instruction in Cuba and communist countries of Europe.
Life
Almarales was one of the founders of the M-19 and representative to the camera from the Socialist Anapo. He participated in stealing weaponry from the North Corner and in terrorist activities in the south of the country. His group recruited guerrillas and supporters in the union sector. Captured in the municipality of BolivarBolívar, Santander
Bolívar is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia....
(Santander
Santander Department
Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
) in 1979, Almares was put under house arrest and found guilty by Picota. When he rejoined civilian life, he wrote works on syndicalism and shortly thereafter helped plan the capture of the Dominican Republic. Later, his crimes were pardoned during the government of Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur Cuartas is a Colombian statesman, who as a member of the Colombian Conservative Party was President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986.- Biographic data :...
.
When Carlos Toledo Plata
Carlos Toledo Plata
Carlos Francisco Toledo Plata was a Colombian doctor, politician, co-founder and early leader of the guerrilla movement known as M-19, who also laid the basis for the movement’s socialist platforms with his Marxist ideologies....
was assassinated in 1984 in Bucaramanga, Almares organized the memorial service in Romero park, in front of the central cemetery of that city, as an insult to then-president Belisario Betancur and the Time newspaper. His group recruited young people for the armed resistance movement. Shortly thereafter, he moved to the Valley of the Cauca and collaborated with the M-19 to protect around Cali. In a popular action by the Patriotic Union (Colombia)
Patriotic Union (Colombia)
The Patriotic Union or UP , was a leftist Colombian political party founded by the FARC and the Colombian Communist Party in 1985, as part of the peace negotiations that the guerrillas held with the Conservative Belisario Betancur administration...
in the Plaza de Bolivar of Bogota, Almarales spoke rudely comparing the press to a “sewer”, referring to President Betancur, minister of Government Jaime Castro and the Columbian conservative group.
On August 24th, 1984 he arranged a ceasefire between his group and the government of President Betancur. In front of all the television networks, he declared: “As of today, not a drop of blood was spilled by the subversives."
A radical and capable participant in negotiations, Almarales participated in the peace process. Later he was buried alongside Luis Otero Cifuentes
Luis Otero Cifuentes
Luis Otero Cifuentes was a politician and Colombian guerrilla.-Biography:He studied Anthropology in the National University...
and Alfonso Jacquin
Alfonso Jacquin
Alfonso Jacquin Gutierrez Colombian guerrilla, member of the National Direction of the M-19 and founder of this guerrilla. Lawyer of the University of the Atlantic, evolved like professor of Right in the Free University of Barranquilla. It was a brilliant orator...
. There are two versions of his death:
- Most well-known: he committed suicide in the Palace with the hostages.
- He was escorted by the military to the Florero House in Bogota where he was tortured and assassinated in the Usaquén Escuela de Caballeria and secretly buried in the Palace with the others similarly killed.