Pedro Oliverio Guerrero

Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo (February 28, 1970 in San Martín, Meta, – December 24, 2010 in Mapiripán, Meta), also known as Cuchillo (The Knife), and as Didier, was a Colombian drug lord and the former leader of the Colombian Popular Revolutionary Anti-communist Army (Spanish: Ejército Revolucionario Anticomunista de Colombia – ERPAC), a drug trafficking, right wing paramilitary organization. These paramilitary groups grew in number and influence and came to be called the Bloque Centauros of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) under the command of Miguel Arroyave. Guerrero had ascended through the ranks and by the end of the 1990s he was the commander of the Bloque in the Guaviare department. As such, he got involved in drug trafficking and soon got involved in many violent vendettas over the control of territory and drug trafficking routes.

He survived the war for the control of the department of Casanare between the Bloque Centauros and the paramilitary group of Héctor Germán Buitrago (aka Martín Llanos), and then was blamed as the author of the death of his own boss, Miguel Arroyave by Salvatore Mancuso, who declared Guerrero a military target. Following the death of Arroyave, Guerrero became one of the leaders of the divided factions of Bloque Centauros.

As the government of Alvaro Uribe started a peace process with the paramilitary organizations, Guerrero demobilized on April 6, 2006, turning a 1.024 weapons arsenal that included grenades, guns, and rifles, He started personally assassinating former Centauros members as he accused them of treason. He also misappropriated many farms that he considered strategic for his drug trafficking routes, leaving many fatalities and forced displaced victims. He also started a war against Colombian emerald tsar Víctor Carranza, and has been blamed as the main author of an attempt on Carranza's life.

Death The Colombian government had started a number of operations to capture Guerrero. In December 2010, as the police received information about his presence in the area of Mapiripán, Meta, to celebrate Christmas they launched a strong operation that captured various close members of his group. It has been suggested that Carranza had been offering rewards for information about Guerrero's whereabouts. Guerrero managed to escape through the jungle, dragged by two bodyguards, which made the authorities assume he had been hurt.