FARC dissident group Segunda Marquetalia commander Iván Márquez (center, in olive uniform), with legendary FARC guerrilla leader Jesús Santrich (wearing a kuffiyeh) to his left, from a video published in August 2019. Photo: YouTube.
The government of Colombia has announced that it cannot confirm at the moment the rumors of the death of Iván Márquez, commander of the Second Marquetalia, one of the dissident groups of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
On Thursday, July 6, Colombian media reported the presumed death of Luciano Martin Arango, alias Iván Márquez, one of the most well-known guerrilla leaders of Colombia.
#Atención Muere Iván Márquez como consecuencia de las heridas que recibió en un atentado en agosto del año pasado. Márquez fungía como líder de las disidencias llamadas ‘Segunda Marquetalia’. pic.twitter.com/liqnQ5Ve4H
— Noticentro 1 CM& (@CMILANOTICIA) July 6, 2023
According to a report presented by journalist William Parra in the Colombian news channel Noticentro 1 CM&, 68 years old Márquez died in Venezuela as a result of the wounds he suffered last year, during an ambush by a Colombian paramilitary group that illegally entered Venezuelan territory with the purpose of killing the leader.
Total Peace in Colombia: President Petro Meets With FARC Leaders
Colombian government is trying to verify the information
As the press report started circulating, the Colombian government clarified that it is trying to verify the information.
“Regarding what has been said about Iván Márquez, we have no confirmation,” Colombian Defense Minister Iván Velásquez told reporters shortly after the news broke. “We are in the process of verification, we are focusing on receiving confirmation on the matter. We have no information at this moment; let us wait for verification, so that we can provide proper news on the issue.”
Iván Márquez seriously injured last year
According to Colombian journalist Parra’s report, the FARC dissidents leader suffered severe damage to his left leg, head, and arm as a result of the attack on him last year. A piece of shrapnel embedded in his brain.
Although Márquez’s health condition was grave, he eventually “had a few moments of great lucidity,” in which he was even able to meet with the high commissioner for peace of President Gustavo Petro’s government, Danilo Rueda, “to initiate peace talks,” indicated by the journalist while presenting his report.
Colombia’s Government Suspends Ceasefire With FARC Dissidents
According to him, the paramilitary group that attacked Iván Márquez had the sole objective of “killing several strategic objectives of the Second Marquetalia” and was responsible for the murders of three other FARC leaders, namely, Jesús Santrich, Edison Romaña, and Darío Velásquez.
Márquez gained considerable respect in the international public opinion in 2012, when he, together with legendary FARC commander Santrich, headed the FARC delegation in the peace talks with the government of former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, in Havana, Cuba.
Both Márquez and Santrich signed the 2016 Peace Accords, but abandoned the pact and took up arms again in 2019, alleging the Colombian state’s non-compliance with the agreement and the persecution against several former leaders of the FARC, undertaken by the Iván Duque government.
(RT)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
