Carlos Pizarro
| Carlos Pizarro Leongómez | |
|---|---|
Carlos Pizarro Leongomez in 1990
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| Born |
June 6, 1951 Cartagena de Indias, Colombia |
| Died | April 26, 1990 (aged 38) Bogotá, Colombia |
| Occupation | Politician, Commander of the M-19, candidate for the presidency of Colombia 1990-1994 |
| Successor | Antonio Navarro Wolff |
| Political party | AD/M-19 |
Carlos Pizarro Leongómez (6 June 1951 – 26 April 1990) was the fourth commander of the Colombian guerrilla group 19th of April Movement (Movimiento 19 de Abril) (M-19). Pizarro later ran for president of Colombia after the demobilization of M-19 that transformed the group into the political party, M-19 Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática M-19) (AD/M-19). Pizarro was assassinated on 26 April 1990.
He was the son of navy admiral Juan Antonio Pizarro. He studied in several high schools and a boarding school in Bogota where he graduated as Bachelor.
He was admitted later in the faculty of Law of the Pontifical Xavierian University where he participated in the only student strike of the institution, and was expelled as a result. Later Pizarro-Leongomez entered the National University of Colombia, where he completed his studies in Law and participated in political left-wing activism. He joined the Communist Youth Party (Juventud Comunista, JUCO). He was sent to violent areas to undertake social work.
He enlisted in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC)) at the age of 18. Because of disagreements with the group's leaders, he left FARC and with Jaime Bateman, Alvaro Fayad “the Turk”, Luis Otero Cifuentes, Vera Grabe and others, founded the April 19 Movement (M-19), at the end of 1973.
The M-19 was an urban, nationalistic and social democratic guerrilla group. On 20 January 1974 the M-19 stole Simón Bolívar's sword from the Quinta de Bolivar. The sword became the symbol of the guerrillas' fight under the slogan of “Bolivar your sword returns to the fight".
In 1979 Pizarro was detected in Santander, after a crude attack of the army. He and several companions were taken to a military base where they were tortured.
Soon they transferred to the jail of La Picota of Bogota, where other guerrillas were being held. He remained in jail three years. He and his companions were freed in 1982 at the beginning of the government of Belisario Betancur after being approved by absolute majority in the Congress under an amnesty law.
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