Pedro Antonio Marín Marín known by his "nom de guerre," Manuel Marulanda Vélez, and nicknamed by his comrades "Tirofijo" (Spanish: Sureshot), apparently because of a reputed ability to accurately aim firearms was the main leader of the FARC-EP ("Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo"). He was born in a coffee-growing region of west-central Colombia in the Quindío Department, to a peasant family politically aligned with the Liberal Party during conflicts in the 1940s and 1950s.

Marulanda himself changed his political and ideological inclinations to the Communist Party (PCC) sometime during the period of "La Violencia" (roughly 1948 to 1958) that followed the assassination of the Liberal Party's leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.

In March 2006, Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General of the United States, announced in conjunction with DEA and Department of Justice officials that the State Department had placed a $5 million dollar reward on Tirofijo's head, or for information leading to his capture. But 'Marulanda' was never apprehended, and died of a heart attack on March 26, 2008. He was replaced as commander in chief by 'Alfonso Cano'.