US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA10448

UNCLAS BOGOTA 010448 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, SOCI, CO, EC 
SUBJECT: ELN RELIGIOUS CEREMONY IN ECUADOR PREACHES 
REVOLUTION 
 
 
1. (U) On October 30, News Channel One (NoticieroUno) 
reported that several National Liberation Army (ELN) 
guerrillas had crossed the border into Ecuador to offer a 
Catholic mass to fellow Ecuadorian guerrillas.  The footage 
showed ELN member alias "Diego Cristobal" preaching to 
roughly 30 people linked to the Ecuadorian Popular Liberation 
Front of Ecuador (FPLE) in an unidentified village in 
Ecuador.  (It is not clear whether he belonged to the Diego 
Cristobal Uribe Front, located in Norte de Santander 
Department, or was from another front but had assumed the 
name.) 
 
2. (U) Cristobal asked that the guerrillas follow in the 
footsteps of other Christian revolutionaries like Father 
Camilo Torres. Torres, an ordained Catholic priest, formed a 
group called the United Front in 1964 and merged with the ELN 
later that year.  Torres had called on Christians to fight 
inequality saying, "Revolution is not only permitted for 
Christians, but obligatory." 
 
3. (U) Cristobal also included religion in the revolutionary 
rhetoric.  He urged Ecuadorian participants to pray for their 
own safety and for fellow guerrillas during the conflict, and 
that "God illuminate our path."  He further pushed the group 
to swear they would remain dedicated to the revolution. The 
Ecuadorians present thanked the ELN members for their visit 
and their interest in fellow guerrillas. 
 
4. (U) NoticieroUno said the Colombian and Ecuadorian 
security forces that tracked guerrilla activities in the area 
had taken the footage. 
WOOD