323:(ACC) (Farmer Self-Defense Forces of Casanare), the paramilitary group with which Arroyave had been involved in a protracted and bloody feud for more than a year in the eastern plains region. He had been in conflict, too, with other paramilitary chiefs over control of territory, drug-trafficking routes and protection rackets, which continued even while the peace talks were going on. Another possibility, favored by army intelligence, is that Arroyave was assassinated by a hit squad from the main left-wing guerrilla organization, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (
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the AUC split over the conduct of negotiations with the government of
President Álvaro Uribe, whose crackdown on the left-wing guerrillas had impressed some paramilitary commanders. In April, 2004, Castaño disappeared before the talks could begin, following an assault on his headquarters by gunmen apparently dispatched by rival commanders. He has not been seen since, and some human remains were recently discovered,
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268:(aka Martín Llanos) operating on the same territory. Following this bloody feud, which left about 3,000 fatalities, Arroyave became paranoid and suspicious of everyone and began spying on his own men and even ordered some killed, which brought fear and hatred among his troops and has been mentioned as the reason why he was later murdered.
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and exerted a degree of influence over most of the 20,000 or so paramilitaries operating in
Colombia. However, Castaño's influence and power had been waning within the organization in his last few years, particularly as many paramilitary groups became involved in drug trafficking, and earlier in 2004
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paramilitary organization, which allowed him to exert control over a large extension of lands in the
Eastern Plains. Arroyave apparently acquired the leadership of the Centaurs Bloc by paying a fee of U$ 6 million, although some of his men have questioned the veracity of this claim. The Centaurs Bloc
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around 1990 where he became a trafficker of chemical products necessary for the processing of cocaine. Arroyave was arrested in 1999, and spent two years in detention, while he tried to convince the authorities that his wealth had not come from illegal activities. He appears to have been involved in
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from all over the country. He was well known for being a ruthless fighter against guerrilla groups, and for being able to evict these rebel groups and take control of their territories. The
Centaurs bloc was one of the largest and most powerful groups within the AUC, and was very well organized, to
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of the AUC was mostly a gang of thugs involved in crime and blackmailing, which collected money from traders and farm owners in the
Eastern Plains in Colombia. It has been said that at some point he managed to rule over 6.000 men in the departments of
204:. He was very close to the Castaño family, small landowners from northern Colombia who founded the first paramilitary group in the early 1980s. Miguel Arroyave was from a humble rural background, and claims to have been a childhood friend of
334:(aka "Cuchillo") as the killer, and described him and his associates as "enemies of peace and opponents of the demobilization process in the eastern plains". It has been recently uncovered that Guerrero was working under the orders of
212:, with whom he went to school in a small village near Amalfi, in the 1960s. He said that he completed his education at one of Bogotá's leading schools, and later became involved in a gold-mining venture, from which he made some money.
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Following Castaño's disappearance, the remaining AUC leaders subsequently appointed a panel of negotiators, including
Arroyave, who now appears to have suffered the same fate as Castaño. Arroyave was killed on September 19, 2004 near
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were created first to fight against the left-wing guerrilla armies which controlled large parts of rural
Colombia since the 1960s. Arroyave was very close to the Castaño family, founders of different
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257:, which he founded and commanded, he controlled a portion of the trade occurring in the traditional “sanandresitos” (old shopping malls where smuggled items and appliances can be bought).
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the processing and shipping of cocaine to the United States, though he always denied it, as well as in cattle-rustling and in smuggling rackets, but nothing was ever proved against him.
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While he was from the
Antioquia department, it was in the Eastern Plains regions where he made a name as a criminal. Apparently, he moved to the department of
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There are plenty of possible candidates for the murder of
Arroyave, who had a great deal of blood on his hands. Perhaps the most likely culprit is "
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It was after he was released from prison that he supposedly contacted the Castaño brothers so that he could "buy a franchise" from the powerful
164:(AUC), a 5,000-strong private militia active in the sparsely populated grasslands of eastern Colombia. He was also a powerful figure within the
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in the heart of his home territory, during a break in the talks with the government, which had been going on since May in a safe haven in
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The AUC leadership, however, laid the blame on a rival within
Arroyave's very own Centauros organization: they named
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the point that they even had a running web page that is no longer in service (www.bloquecentauros.org).
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El Universal (Bogota) Fiscalía confirmó asesinato de importante jefe de las Auc
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talks began with the government on demobilizing the paramilitary organizations
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remains one of the most powerful and important assassinated members of the
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338:(aka "El loco"), a notorious drug lord in Colombia who is in jail in the
524:"Auc piden castigo para alias El cuchillo por asesinato Miguel Arroyave"
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leaders and commander of the Centaurs bloc ("Bloque Centauros") of the
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432:"'El Primo' contó cómo Miguel Arroyave asumió el Bloque Centauros"
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Arroyave also started at some point a bloody war against the
168:(AUC), an umbrella organization bringing together right-wing
550:"Miguel Arroyave habría sido asesinado por alias 'cuchillo'"
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Arroyave was a member of the AUC's team of negotiators when
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government on charges of drug smuggling into this country.
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Miguel Arroyave habría sido asesinado por alias cuchillo
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which had proliferated over the previous decades. These
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Members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
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apparently proving that he was in fact assassinated
46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
264:(ACC), a powerful paramilitary group commanded by
130: and the second or maternal family name is
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460:"La fortuna del gestor del bloque Capital"
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
404:Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (2004-09-21).
485:"La herencia impune del Bloque Capital"
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351:United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
166:United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
162:United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
406:"HABRÍAN ASESINADO A MIGUEL ARROYAVE"
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321:Autodefensas Campesinas de Casanare
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576:""Así matamos a Miguel Arroyave""
200:José Miguel Arroyave was born in
332:Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo
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31:needs additional citations for
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617:People from Amalfi, Antioquia
382:"'Arcángel', Miguel Arroyave"
548:Semana (19 September 2004).
310:Luis Carlos Restrepo Ramírez
122:, the first or paternal
632:People murdered in Colombia
307:High Commissioner for Peace
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186:paramilitary organizations
182:paramilitary organizations
152:– September 19, 2004 near
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138:José Miguel Arroyave Ruiz
627:Colombian murder victims
530:(in Spanish). 2004-09-22
491:(in Spanish). 2018-12-09
466:(in Spanish). 2015-06-13
271:Arroyave was close to
266:Héctor Germán Buitrago
148:" (August 10, 1954 in
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216:Paramilitary leader
170:paramilitary groups
299:Department of Meta
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580:VerdadAbierta.com
574:IR (2012-04-02).
528:www.wradio.com.co
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612:2004 deaths
607:1954 births
196:Early years
146:the Chemist
144:" or also "
601:Categories
586:2019-08-04
560:2019-08-04
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357:References
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410:El Tiempo
251:Guaviare
239:Casanare
142:Arcángel
128:Arroyave
118:In this
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303:Córdoba
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243:Boyacá
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