National Liberation Army (Colombia)

The Camilista Union - National Liberation Army (Spanish: Unión Camilista Ejército de Liberación Nacional, UC-ELN), also known as the National Liberation Army - Camilista Union (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional - Unión Camilista, ELN-UC), and originally called the National Liberation Army (ELN), is a Colombian far-left guerrilla organization involved in the continuing Colombian conflict, which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocates a composite Catholic communist ideology of Marxism–Leninism, Camilism and Latin American liberation theology. In 2013, it was estimated that the ELN forces consisted of between 1,380 and 3,000 guerrillas. Later, in 2026, its size grew to approximately 5,000 fighters in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela. According to former ELN national directorate member Felipe Torres, one-fifth of ELN supporters have taken up arms. The ELN has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the European Union.