Timoleón Jiménez

Who is Timoleón Jiménez?

Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, also known under the nom de guerre Timoleón Jiménez or Timochenko is the highest in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

'Timochenko' took over the FARC leadership in November 2011 from Alfonso Cano after the latter was killed by the Colombian army.

With more than 30 years of experience and a reputation of being a military commander he "has widespread respect among the rank-and-file, particularly the hardliners that form the core of the rural fighters". According to the Colombian Air Force his alias is referring to Soviet Marshal Semyon Timoshenko.

Before also assuming the leadership of the guerrilla group, Timochenko was one of the commanders of the Middle Magdalena Bloc of the FARC-EP and was thought to have some 800 men under his command.

Timochenko has been a member of the seven-member ruling guerrilla secretariat since the early 1990s. He is believed to operate in the Norte de Santander province on the border with Venezuela. Colombian authorities have frequently said that the FARC leader was hiding in Venezuela, but in April 2010, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos stated that the Colombian government's most recent intelligence said that Timochenko was on the Colombian side of the border. According to Colombian intelligence sources Timochenko is currently located in the Serranía del Perijá, northeastern Colombia.