[1] Catatumbo took command of several FARC fronts in Chocó and Valle del Cauca in the 1990s, after which they grew in size and became strong enough to fight the paramilitary group AUC in the region.

The organization invited him to take part in a course located in the outskirts of Moscow, in a Soviet Union institute dedicated to the teaching of Marxist–Leninist ideology.

His sister, Janeth Torres Victoria, was assassinated in 1997 by orders of paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño.

[4] He was a leading spokesman for the FARC in their peace negotiations with the Colombian government in Havana, Cuba.

After the group's demobilization, Catatumbo joined the newly created Common Alternative Revolutionary Force political party, becoming one of the five appointed senators of the party, following the terms of the Havana negotiations.