ELN, National Liberation Army - a Marxist terrorist group formed in 1963 by Colombian intellectuals who were inspired by the Cuban Revolution; responsible for a campaign of mass kidnappings and resistance to the government's efforts to stop the drug trade; "ELN kidnappers target foreign employees of laarge corporations"

FARC, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - a powerful and wealthy terrorist organization formed in 1957 as the guerilla arm of the Colombian communist party; opposed to the United States; has strong ties to drug traffikers

AUC, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, United Self-Defense Force of Colombia, United Self-Defense Group of Colombia - a terrorist organization in Colombia formed in 1997 as an umbrella for local and regional paramilitary groups; is financed by earnings from narcotics and serves to protect the economic interests of its members; "the AUC conducted over 800 assassinations in one year"

OAS, Organization of American States - an association of countries in the western hemisphere; created in 1948 to promote military and economic and social and cultural cooperation

Medellin cartel - a drug cartel in Colombia; controlled the production of cocaine from the 1970s until 1993 when the leader was killed

Cali cartel - a drug cartel that seized control of cocaine production in Colombia in 1993; adopted techniques used by terrorist organizations (small cells and sophisticated communications equipment and close ties with politicians etc.)

South American country, South American nation - countries occupying the South American continent

Barranquilla - a port city of northern Colombia near the Caribbean on the Magdalena River

Bogota, capital of Colombia - capital and largest city of Colombia; located in central Colombia on a high fertile plain

Cali - city in southwestern Colombia in a rich agricultural area

Medellin - city in western Colombia; important coffee center

Cartagena - a port city in northwestern Colombia on the Caribbean

Soledad - a city in northern Colombia; a suburb of Barranquilla

Galeras, Pasto - an active volcano in southeastern Colombia in the Andes

Purace - an inactive volcano in the Andes in southern Colombia; last erupted in 1950

Andes - a mountain range in South America running 5000 miles along the Pacific coast

Arauca - a river that rises in northern Colombia and flows generally eastward to the Orinoco in central Venezuela

Magdalena, Magdalena River - a river that rises in the Andes mountains in southwestern Colombia and flows generally northward to empty into the Caribbean Sea at Barranquilla

Orinoco, Orinoco River - a South American river 1,500 miles long; flows into the South Atlantic

South America - a continent in the western hemisphere connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama

Colombian - a native or inhabitant of Colombia