Raúl Reyes
Luis Edgar Devia Silva (30 September 1948 – 1 March 2008), better known by his nom de guerre Raúl Reyes, was a leader, Secretariat member, spokesperson, and advisor to the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC–EP). He died during an attack by the Colombian army within Ecuador, sparking the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis. Early years Reyes was born in the Colombian town of La Plata, Huila Department. Devia Silva joined the Colombian Communist Youth (JUCO) when he was 16 years old. He later joined a trade union movement while working for a Nestlé milk plant in the department of Caquetá. Devia Silva served as councilman for his home town representing the Colombian Communist Party (PCC), and was also a member of the party's Central Committee. After becoming a member of FARC and joining its secretariat, Reyes became a prominent figure and spokesperson for the FARC, number two man in the group's seven person ruling secretariat. Reyes was accused by the US Department of State and the Colombian government of expanding FARC's cocaine trafficking activities and setting related policies, including the production, manufacture, and distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and other countries. He was accused of promoting the "taxation" of the illegal drug trade in Colombia to raise funds for the FARC. He had been formally sentenced in absence for the deaths of 13 policemen and 18 soldiers, 18 kidnappings and the deaths of a judge, a physician, three judicial auxiliaries, the ex-minister of Culture Consuelo Araújo, the congressman Diego Turbay and his mother, Catholic monsignor Isaías Duarte, Governor of Antioquia Guillermo Gaviria, the Colombian ex-minister Gilberto Echeverri, 11 members of the Valle del Cauca Assembly and at least four other persons. Most of these persons were kidnapped before their deaths. Gaviria, Echeverri and Araújo were killed by shots in the head when Colombian military forces stormed the camps where they were held by guerrilla insurgents. He was also found responsible for bombing Club El Nogal in Bogotá where 36 people were killed. The Government of Paraguay had asked for his extradition for his participation in the kidnapping and death of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of the ex-president of Paraguay, who was kidnapped on 21 September 2004, and whose body was found in an abandoned house in February 2005. Before his death the United States Department of State was offering a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to his arrest. He was also included in Interpol's "red list". Colombian authorities believed that Raúl Reyes moved through the southern Colombian frontier, especially in Putumayo Department, along the border with Ecuador. In late 2006, his possible presence in Ecuadorian territory was denounced by Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, while Ecuador's authorities rejected the claim, admitting only temporary FARC "infiltrations". Colombian Army General German Galvis repeated this claim in October 2006. Negotiations with Wall Street In June 1999, during peace negotiations with the government of Andrés Pastrana, Reyes met in the Colombian