Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas Víctor Julio Suárez Rojas ( 5 February 1953 – 22 September 2010 ) — aka Jorge Briceño Suárez aka Mono Jojoy was a high - ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC ) , a Colombian guerrilla organization . He was Second in command to Alfonso Cano and top military commander . Suárez Rojas commanded the Eastern Bloc of the FARC and was a member of the FARC Secretariat . His " nom de guerre " was Jorge Briceño Suárez ; to the Colombian army he was known as Mono Jojoy ( mono is the word for monkey in Spanish , but it also means cute / pretty in Spain , and blond in Colombia ) . Biography . Suárez Rojas was born in Cabrera , Cundinamarca and joined the FARC in 1975 at age 22 . He grew up without a father and received little education . Suárez Rojas was under indictment in the United States for killing three US citizens , terrorism and narcotics trafficking activities . The Colombian government also indicted Suárez Rojas on charges of rebellion , narcotrafficking , terrorism , kidnapping , and extortion , among other crimes . Suárez Rojas was implicated in a bombing in Bogotá that killed 36 and injured more than 100 civilians in February 2003 . He was indicted by the United States in 2002 for killing three US citizens in 1999 . He also may have been involved in the kidnapping and murder of three US missionaries in 1993 . He was wanted on drug - trafficking charges in both Colombia and the United States . More recently , he was charged in early 2006 for forcibly recruiting children for the FARC . Suárez Rojas was one of the most important Colombian guerrilla leaders . The U . S . Attorney General requested his extradition if he were to have been captured . Suárez Rojas was considered to be one of the most radical rebels in the FARC ; he issued the order to demand the resignation of the town mayors and hundreds of civil employees of Colombian municipalities , and to kidnap or execute them if they did not resign their posts . He has been accused by Colombian authorities of participating in the kidnapping of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and the massacre of a member from the Turbay Cote family just a few miles from the former demilitarized area of El Caguan . He was also accused of participating in the kidnapping of three US contractors . A proof of life video of the three released by the FARC in 2003 showed Mono Jojoy telling them that they were " prisoners . . . in the power of the FARC , " and that the governments of the United States and Colombia have " abandoned and forgotten you . " The three were rescued in July 2008 . Alleged assassination plot . On May 11 , 2008 a Colombian military commander told the press several rogue bodyguards of " Mono Jojoy " had been plotting to murder the FARC commander to collect the US $ 5 million reward on his head . Three bodyguards were executed after " Mono Jojoy " found out about the plot , and another three of them are known to have escaped . One turned himself in to the authorities . Chase . On May 24 , 2008 the Colombian President Álvaro Uribe announced national forces were pursuing him : " The man called ' Mono Jojoy ' - - we are after him . He is the picture of health : fat , puffy , wrinkle - free , smartly dressed . But the heroic soldiers and policemen of this country are on to him . Generals , soldiers , policemen of the fatherland : let ' s get this man on a diet . Make him feed on roots so that this country may rid itself of this 40 year - old headache . " Operation Sodoma . Colombian authorities announced the death of Mono Jojoy on September 23 , 2010 . According to President Juan Manuel Santos the FARC commander was killed in an operation that began in the early hours of September 21 in the department of Meta , 120 miles south of the capital Bogotá . According to the GPS of one of the soldiers that took part on the military operation , the exact location of the FARC camp where Mono Jojoy was killed is N02° 48 ' 14 . 0 " , W073° 58 ' 19 . 4 " , as can be seen in the minute 02 : 54 of the Colombian army video released by Noticias Uno the United States refused to pay the reward to the informant . Aftermath . On September 25 , 2010 , experts in Colombia are trying to crack the codes to 15 computers and almost 100 USB memories belonging to Colombia ' s largest rebel group . One of the laptops is believed to have belonged to its military leader , Mono Jojoy , who was killed in the attack . Its screen was reportedly shattered by bullets , but its hard disc was still intact . The computers are being examined by 40 experts from the police criminal investigation unit in the capital , Bogota . About 10 , 000 extra police officers have been deployed to Colombia ' s main cities to prevent retaliatory attacks by the Farc . In the FARC ' s first public statement since the death of military leader " Mono Jojoy , " the guerrilla group says it is " calling for a chance at peace , not for surrender , " reports EFE . A Santos approval ratings and reaction . The urban approval rating of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos surged to 88 percent following the military operation that killed ' Mono Jojoy , " military commander of the country ' s largest guerrilla group FARC . Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday compared the death of FARC leader " Mono Jojoy " to killing Osama bin Laden , and announced that the army found fourteen computers and 60 USB cards in the camp where the guerrilla was killed . On September 24 , 2010 President Obama Praised the Killing of # 2 Leader of FARC in Colombia . " Vida y muerte del Mono Jojoy " . In November 2010 , " El Tiempo " reporter Jineth Bedoya Lima released her book " Vida y muerte del Mono Jojoy " ( English : " Life and Death of Mono Jojoy " ) . The book alleged that Mono Jojoy had ordered the assassination of Caracol Radio journalist Néstor Morales . In response , the FARC - aligned news agency Noticias Nueva Colombia posted a headline on its website accusing her of being a military intelligence agent , causing the Columbian - based Foundation for Press Freedom and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression to issue statements of concern for her safety .