In Colombia, negotiators with the FARC must now deal with a particularly unexpected return. The former number two of the former guerrilla, Ivan Marquez, whose death had been announced, reappeared on Saturday in a video, expressing his support for the proposals of the government of President Gustavo Petro.
Ivan Marquez, who took up arms again after signing the historic 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), leads a faction known as Segunda Marquetalia, which has more than 1,600 fighters according to intelligence military.
Marquez defends “a Bolivarian constitution for Colombia”
In July, local media speculated that he died after he was the victim of an attack in Venezuela in 2022. The government, however, denied the reports, and in March police announced that he was in Colombia .
In a 16-minute video, an extract of which was published by the newspaper El País Saturday, he is seen wearing glasses. “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,” he adds. The recording was presented in the Colombian department of Vichada, reports El Paísduring the Binational Peace Forum.
The guerrilla leader participated in negotiations in Havana that resulted in the 2016 treaty that demobilized most of the FARC. He briefly returned to civilian life and was elected senator, until he made public, in August 2019, his return to hiding. In February, Petro’s government and Márquez’s Segunda Marquetalia announced the start of talks, although they did not specify a date.