After two years in hiding, it is not ruled out that he has died: this is known by alias ‘Pablito’, one of the most wanted of the ELN

According to information from the Investigative Unit of the newspaper El Tiempo, a source indicates that for two years it has not been known about the actions of Gustavo Aníbal Giraldo, alias ‘Pablito’, one of the ELN chiefs most wanted by the Colombian authorities, so it is not ruled out that this feared leader may have died.

“A source who is aware of the maneuvers of that criminal group told this newspaper that there are indications to indicate that the guerrilla leader had recently died on Venezuelan soil. His version does not give details of how that event would have occurred, but rules out that it was as a consequence of some military-type action ”, reports the newspaper El Tiempo.

Likewise, the newspaper indicates that two years ago, after the Eastern War Front of that guerrilla, commanded by this leader, carried out an atempted to the Santander General Police Cadet School, on January 17, 2019, which took the lives of 22 people, the Colombian government has denounced that it moves in Venezuela.

This information, which has been provided by that source, has not been confirmed by the Colombian authorities, since relations with the current Venezuelan regime are canceled due to the ignorance of Maduro’s authority.

Who is alias ‘Pablito’?

According to the investigation portal InSight Crime, he is the son of a peasant family that migrated to Sarare, Arauca, and had a close relationship with the ELN since its inception. For its part, the television program Witness Directo indicates that the insurgent was born in San Luis, Antioquia, on February 17, 1968. At that time, Giraldo would be close to his 53rd birthday. According to the same media, the offender only got to be educated until elementary school.

In 1982, he was recruited by the ELN by Jaime Quiroz, in Arauquita, a municipality in the department of Arauca, a settlement of his family, to join the Domingo Laín front. Taking advantage of the favorable moment of Caño Limón, an oil field operated by Ecopetrol in the territory, he extorted oil companies, acquiring power in the area and establishing himself early as one of the leaders of the criminal group.

According to the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office, at least 1,317 attacks were perpetrated on the pipeline in 28 years, that is, one weekly. In addition, this produced environmental damage that economically and socially affected the territories through which the oil project passes. According to the accusing body, it is the greatest environmental catastrophe produced by an oil spill in the world.

Monsignor Jesús Emilio Jaramillo, bishop of Arauca, was the first target of ‘Pablito’; According to the authorities, he ordered his death for denouncing the acts of the guerrilla group in the department. On October 2, 1989, by order of Giraldo, the priest was kidnapped, tortured, and killed with several rifle shots.

According to the 2015 balance of the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation before the Inter-American Dialogue on war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the armed group, there would be five members of the Central Command of the ELN (Coce), among them, ‘ Pablito ‘.

Nevertheless, One of the events that made the feared leader stand out as a visible face of the organization was the tragic attack perpetrated by Giraldo on January 17, 2019 in Bogotá. José Aldemar Rojas Rodríguez, alias ‘El Mocho’, detonated a truck at the General Santander Cadet School full of explosives that killed 22 cadets and left 81 more people injured.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, ‘Pablito’ would have proposed to the Coce to carry out an attack of national and international magnitude. At the time, peace talks were taking place between the government of Iván Duque and the ELN in Cuba, which were suspended due to the bloody attack.

According to the Investigative Unit of El Tiempo, the formerly anonymous leader is considered by the Colombian authorities as the ELN’s greatest murderer, with more than 200 dead on top. Among its economic activities are drug trafficking, extortion and kidnappings.

At the moment, ‘Pablito’ is requested in extradition by the United States for the crimes of arms trafficking and for the kidnapping of American journalists. In addition, he is accused of attacking the oil infrastructure of multinationals in Colombia.

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