No reports of activities attributed to the Movimiento 19 de Abril (M-19) movement could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Further to information provided in previous Responses, one source describes the evolution of the M-19 as follows:

After the 1991 conversion to a political party, Alianza Democratica (AD-M19), some 'Rejectionists' formed offshoots which continued to operate on a small scale: Total Democracy or Radical Democracy, Colombia Viva, Comando Jaime Bateman Cayon and Frente Jaime Bateman (JWIT 21 May 1999).

The most recent references to one of the related offshoots refer to the Jaime Bateman Cayon group. This group was reported in 1998 to have "infiltrated a number of its members into the self-defence groups which are operating in the Tolima, Meta, Caldas, Boyaca and Cundinamarca departments, in the regions of Magdalena Medio and Los Llanos" (ibid. 22 Sept. 2000). Later in the year, some of its "leading members...were arrested following an operation against kidnappers in the Tolima department by the National Police"; while in 1999 the group claimed responsibility for a bomb outside a bank in Bogota, and at the end of the year, "nearly 100 guerrillas...engaged the police in urban combat for four hours in the city of Tulua, central Valle del Cauca Department" (ibid.). On 10 April 2000 "four policemen were reportedly being held hostage by FARC [Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia] guerrillas and members of the Jaime Bateman Cayon group in a mountainous area in the northeaster part of the Valle del Cauca Department, on the Tolima Department border," and on 14 April 2000 "fourteen Jaime Bateman Cayon guerrillas were killed during a fire fight with the Colombian army in...Quindio Department" (ibid.).

In October 2000 a "front" of the Jaime Bateman Cayon group was reportedly operating in the Valle region, along with ten fronts of the FARC, eight of the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) and four of the paramilitary "self-defence" groups (Procesodepaz 8 Oct. 2000).

More recent references to former members of the M-19 include reports citing two former leaders of the group now holding political office: congressmen Gustavo Petro, and "independent congress member" Antonio Navarro Wolf (Weekly News Update 31 Dec. 2000; IPS 15 Jan. 2001). Both sources refer to the M-19 as a guerrilla or insurgent group which "turned political party" and "disbanded a decade ago" (ibid.; Weekly News Update 31 Dec. 2000).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Inter Press Service (IPS). 15 January 2001. Yadira Ferrer. "Rights-Colombia: Rebels and Paramilitaries Clash in Oil Town." (NEXIS)

Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism (JWIT) [London]. 22 September 2000. "Movimiento 19 de Abril (M-19)."

_____. 21 May 1999. "Movimiento 19 de Abril (April 19 Movement)."

Procesodepaz.com [Cali]. 8 October 2000. "Los grupos al margen de la Ley tratan de expandir sus dominios en el Suroccidente." http://www.procesodepaz.com/notas/Octubre082000/B408N1.html [Accessed 7 May 2001]

Weekly News Update on the Americas [New York]. 31 December 2000. No. 570. "Colombia: Congress Member Killed." (wnu@igc.apc.org) [Accessed 31 Dec. 2000]

County Reports 2000. February 2001.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 2000-Apr. 2001.

Latin American Regional Reports: Andean Group Report [London]. 2000-Apr. 2001.

NEXIS.

Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000. April 2001.

REFWORLD.

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Subject and Country-Specific publications in the Resource Centre are not included.