Iván Márquez appears again on video to talk about President Petro’s policies

For the first time, Iván Márquez, commander of the FARC dissident known as Segunda Marquetalia, appeared in a video after he was presumed dead. The piece was published by the newspaper El País and broadcast live through the Facebook account of the former governor of Vichada, Luis Carlos Álvarez.

Although there were indications that he was still alive and even in Colombia, there was no evidence of his survival until now. Until next Saturday, May 11, Máquez spoke for almost 17 minutes about the policies of President Gustavo Petro. He even showed support for the Constituent Assembly.

“We defend the right of ordinary people to health, employment and housing. No more privatization of public services, which today have become the despicable business of national and foreign companies. We are going to save the majesty of the main component, namely the people. He is the legitimate authority. His will must be followed by all state institutions. We must never forget that the sovereign is the people, and that the rights of the people take precedence over the ambition for wealth of the oligarchies and transnational corporations,” says Iván Márquez.

The video was played during the Binational Forum for Life, Peace and Biodiversity of the Amazon and Orinoquia, an event held in Puerto Carreño, an initiative of the Departmental Assembly. The event took place in the Colosseum of that municipality. Former Vichada Governor Luis Carlos Álvarez described the meeting as “a momentous event that brings together leaders and experts from Colombia and Venezuela to discuss peace, sustainable development and the natural wealth of our Amazon.”

In the audiovisual piece, Márquez reads a statement while images of the area are superimposed. Furthermore, Márquez can be seen in the background during the speech with an image of Simón Bolívar and commander Manuel Marulanda. “We are still here, with living hope,” says the commander of the Second Marquetalia.

The event featured three panel discussions on cross-border challenges and opportunities and the positive momentum in the region. Also participating was Cumaribo Mayor Armel Caracas, the only former FARC fighter to achieve a popularly elected position in the October 29 elections.

The former peace commissioner, Danilo Rueda, denied news of Márquez’s death in the middle of an attack, saying on October 12, 2022 that he had met the commander, who was “alive and lucid.” Precisely, at that meeting they were in the exploratory phase so that the Second Marquetalia could rise to the total peace that President Gustavo Petro had proposed.

Subsequently, no one knew where Márquez was until General William Salamanca assured on March 27 of this year that he was in the country. According to the uniformed man, intelligence work made it possible to locate the dissident commander in Colombia. However, at that time no reliable evidence of Márquez’s survival was provided.

What is the Second Marquetalia?

The Second Marquetalia is present in at least five regions of Colombia and was founded on August 29, 2019, when ‘Iván Márquez’, ‘Jesús Santrich’, ‘Romaña’ and ‘El Paisa’ announced that, despite the signing of the peace agreement with the government, they would take up arms again. In a book he released from hiding, called Second Marquetalia, Márquez acknowledged that he disagreed with what had been agreed in Havana, but signed the agreement anyway.

The rearmament of this group of former commanders of the extinct guerrilla was preceded by the attempt to create a single dissident that would include those who did not sign the Final Agreement, including Iván Mordisco and Gentil Duarte, who later announced the creation of another faction. , today known as the Central General Staff of the FARC.

How are the negotiations going with the Second Marquetalia?

Last August, then-High Peace Commissioner Rueda told Colombia+20 that the government was in contact with Máquez to resume dialogue. One of the most important advances is that the government recognized the nine deputies on February 29, 2024, so that the Public Prosecution Service could lift the arrest warrants. And on April 25, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo suspended the arrest warrants, which would be an important step towards starting negotiations with that armed group.

The document lists José Aldinever Sierra, José Vicente Lesmes, William Danilo Malaver, Alberto Cruz Lobo, Geovanny Andrés Rojas, Luis André Figueroa, Allende Perilla Sandoval, José Darley Malagón Jiménez and Henry Quiñones Angulo. However, it is notable that the suspended arrest warrants do not include that of Iván Márquez. On the other hand, the list does include José Aldinever Sierra, alias Zarco Aldinever, second in command of the criminal organization, who would be the man closest to the leader of the structure.

The Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, recently announced during a security council in Fusagasugá (Cundinamarca) that the negotiations would be a reality.

“The dialogues will happen. They are in the process of forming delegations and suspending arrest warrants. That is the process carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and the Office of the Attorney General,” said Secretary Velásquez.

Related