The doubt dissipates. The former number two of the former Colombian guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Ivan Marquez, presumed dead by some media, reappeared on Saturday May 11 in a video, expressing his support for the proposals of the Colombian president’s government, Gustavo Petro.
Mr. Marquez, who took up arms again after signing the historic 2016 peace deal, leads a faction known as Segunda Marquetalia, which has more than 1,600 fighters according to military intelligence.
In July, local media speculated that he was dead after he was the victim of an attack in Venezuela in 2022. However, the government denied the reports, and in March police announced that he was in Colombia .
Elected senator before returning to clandestinity
In a sixteen-minute video, an extract of which was published by the newspaper El País on Saturday, we see him speaking. “A Bolivarian constitution for Colombia would be an extraordinary idea,” says Luciano Marin, Marquez’s real name, in reference to Petro’s proposal to create a constituent assembly. “The winds of change are blowing, awakening the hope of the multitudes,” adds Ivan Marquez. The recording was presented in the Colombian department of Vichada (East), reports El País, during the Binational Peace Forum.
The guerrilla leader participated in negotiations in Havana that led to the 2016 treaty that demobilized most of the FARC. He briefly returned to civilian life and was elected senator, until he made his return to hiding public in August 2019.
In February, Petro’s government and Márquez’s Segunda Marquetalia announced the start of talks, although without specifying a date.