Mono Jojoy
| Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas |
| Nickname(s) | "Mono Jojoy" "Jorge Briceño Suárez" |
| Born |
2 January 1953 Icononzo, Tolima, Colombia |
| Died | 22 September 2010 (aged 57) La Macarena, Meta, Colombia |
| Allegiance | Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia |
| Rank | Secretariat member, Bloc commander |
| Commands held | Eastern Bloc |
| Battles/wars | Colombian armed conflict |
Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas (2 January 1953 – 22 September 2010) — a.k.a. Jorge Briceño Suárez a.k.a. Mono Jojoy — was a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Colombian guerrilla organization. He was second-in-command to Alfonso Cano and top military commander. Suárez Rojas commanded the Eastern Bloc of the FARC and was a member of the FARC Secretariat. His nom de guerre was Jorge Briceño Suárez; to the Colombian army he was known as Mono Jojoy (mono is the word for monkey in Spanish, but it also means cute/pretty in Spain, and blond in Colombia).
Suárez Rojas was born in Cabrera, Cundinamarca and joined the FARC in 1975 at age 22. He grew up without a father and received little education.
Suárez Rojas was under indictment in the United States for killing three US citizens, terrorism and narcotics trafficking activities. The Colombian government also indicted Suárez Rojas on charges of rebellion, narcotrafficking, terrorism, kidnapping and extortion, among other crimes.
Suárez Rojas was implicated in a bombing in Bogotá that killed 36 and injured more than 100 civilians in February 2003. He was indicted by the United States in 2002 for killing three US citizens in 1999. He also may have been involved in the kidnapping and murder of three US missionaries in 1993. He was wanted on drug-trafficking charges in both Colombia and the United States. More recently, he was charged in early 2006 for forcibly recruiting children for the FARC. Suárez Rojas was one of the most important Colombian guerrilla leaders. The U.S. Attorney General requested his extradition if he were to have been captured.
Suárez Rojas was considered to be one of the most radical rebels in the FARC; he issued the order to demand the resignation of the town mayors and hundreds of civil employees of Colombian municipalities, and to kidnap or execute them if they did not resign from their posts. He has been accused by Colombian authorities of participating in the kidnapping of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and the massacre of a member from the Turbay Cote family close to the former demilitarized area of El Caguan.
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