K J Wetherholt

Eln: A Profile of Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional K J Wetherholt

ELN is a history of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, including its primary influences, from its inception as a Marxist/Maoist group inspired by the Cuban Revolution, its leaders trained in Cuba by Fidel and Raul Castro and Che Guevara; the combination of Marxist philosophy with liberation theology; its status as a non-state actor and combatant, including its background and strategic use of guerrilla methodology to conduct its operations; and last but not least, its current trajectory and inherent interests as not just the last remaining major non-state Colombian combatant/guerrilla group, but increasingly something much more dangerous: a force that in actuality has become, under the proverbial radar during the FARC peace process and the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis, what InsightCrime called a "Colombo-Venezuelan rebel army" that complicates not just Venezuelan-Colombian relations, but overall security across the northern half of South America.