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Former FARC leader in Colombia assassinated in Venezuela: local media | Photos of FARC

Hernan Dario Velasquez was a negotiator in the 2016 peace agreement, but announced three years later that he was ready to do so.

Former leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who also promoted after a 2016 Peace Agreement between the group and the Colombian government, he has been killed in Venezuela, according to local journalists.

Hernan Dario Velasquez, better known as El Paisa (Farmer), announced in 2019 that he and a number of prominent FARC officials were reorganizing and forming a group called the Segunda Marquetalia. Velazquez was one of the negotiators for the 2016 peace deal.

He was killed during a raid by security forces demanding a reward for his arrest, Colombian reporters said on Sunday. The robbery took place in the state of Apure near the border with Colombia, according to reports.

Neither Colombia nor Venezuela have acknowledged Velasquez’s death, although the El Tiempo newspaper cited high-profile sources denying the Colombian government’s involvement.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has long criticized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for concealing and protecting FARC opponents, but Caracas has repeatedly denied his allegations.

Interpol’s red flag, which serves as a kind of international arrest warrant forcing member states – including Venezuela – to arrest and deport suspects, was also released in Velasquez earlier this year.

Velasquez was linked to a number of high-profile threats, including a bomb blast that killed 36 people and injured dozens more in February 2003 in Bogota.

Nearly 13,000 fighters have donated their weapons since FARC rebels reached a peace deal with Bogota in 2016. About 5,000 people have refused to do so.

According to the research agency Indepaz, about 90 troops with 10,000 members. be zealous in Colombia.

Last week, United States promotion its reference to the FARC as a “terrorist organization”, while adding two divisions – Segunda Marquetalia and the FARC-EP – is mentioned.

Speaking to local media last week, Ivan Marquetalia, the commander of the Seguna Marquetalia, called on the Colombian government to negotiate with all military forces in the country, saying the government should seek “complete peace”.




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