National Liberation Army (Colombia)

National Liberation Army
Logo of the ELN
Leaders	Camilo Torres Restrepo Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista [es] Antonio García Pablo Beltrán [es] Rafael Sierra Granados Gustavo Aníbal Giraldo
Dates of operation	1964–present
Active regions	Especially in the departments of Arauca, Cauca, Choco, Norte de Santander and Nariño. Bajo Cauca Antioquia. Venezuela.[1]
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Guevarism Foco theory Liberation theology Left-wing nationalism Revolutionary socialism
Political position	Far-left
Size	5,000[2]
Part of	Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board[3]
Allies	Venezuela (from 2014) Tupamaro[4] FARC-EP[5]
Opponents	Government of Colombia Right-wing paramilitary groups FARC dissidents Government of the United States
Flag

The National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla insurgency group^[6] involved in the continuing Colombian conflict,^[7] which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocates a composite communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism and liberation theology. In 2013, it was estimated that the ELN forces consisted of between 1,380 and 3,000 guerrillas.^[8][9][10] According to former ELN national directorate member Felipe Torres, one fifth of ELN supporters have taken up arms.^[11] The ELN has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia,^[12] the United States,^[13] Canada,^[14] New Zealand,^[15] and the European Union.^[16]