Abstract

ACEVEDO TARAZONA, Álvaro; BUENDIA ACEVEDO, William  and  LAGOS CORTES, Emilio. Political and armed militancy of university students in the origins and first stage of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), 1962-1973. Estud. Polit. [online]. 2023, n.67, pp.56-79.  Epub Oct 05, 2023. ISSN 0121-5167.  https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.espo.n67a03.

This article analyzes the political and militant role of some university students in the creation and first stage of existence of the Ejército Nacional de Liberación (ELN) of Colombia. A qualitative methodology of interpretive approach is used that tracks memories, biographies, historiography and the press. The writing focuses attention on the university component, one that has been treated only briefly in historiography. It shows how the greatest participation of students in the guerrilla organization came from three public universities in the country, although cases of students from private universities are also identified. It is concluded that, although some of these students managed to survive, the search for the anti-systemic utopia ended tragically for most of them: most of them died quickly in combat, several of them contradicted the way the guerrilla organization was oriented and were shot, others failed to adapt to the dynamics of guerrilla life and ended up abandoning the ranks of the ELN.

Keywords : Armed Conflict; Guerrillas; Militancy; University; Students; Colombia.

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