Colombia confirming if ex-FARC leader killed in Venezuela
BOGOTA -Colombia’s government is working to confirm whether Jesus Santrich, one of the most prominent leaders of a group of Colombia’s former FARC rebels who reject a peace deal, has been killed in Venezuela, the defense minister said on Tuesday.
Santrich, who initially backed the 2016 accord, was wanted
by the United States on drug trafficking charges and had long been thought to
be based in Venezuela.
“Intelligence information signals that alias Santrich and
other criminals were killed in supposed confrontations which took place
yesterday in Venezuela,” Defense Minister Diego Molano said on Twitter.
“Information being verified. If confirmed, it proves Venezuela harbors
narco-criminals.”
The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
In March Molano blamed fighting for control of drug
trafficking between the Venezuelan military and illegal armed groups, including
former FARC fighters, for violence which caused thousands of people to flee to
Colombia.
Colombia’s government accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro of harboring dissidents, while Maduro has said his country is a victim
of criminals.
About 13,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) demobilized under the deal, which ended the group’s part in
more than 50 years of conflict.
The group’s former members have formed a legal political
party and are participating in transitional justice proceedings, but about
1,500 former rebels refused to give up arms.
The United States said last year it was offering rewards of
up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of
Santrich, whose birth name is Seuxis Hernandez, and Ivan Marquez.
Marquez, one of the negotiators of the peace accord,
disappeared in 2018 after his nephew was arrested and bundled off to the United
States.
Santrich had been set to serve in one of 10 congressional
seats granted to former rebels. But he was indicted by the United States,
sparking months of legal wrangling, before he too disappeared in mid-2019.
Both men reappeared in an August 2019 video announcing a new
offensive against the government.
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