FARC dissidents claim attacks against President Iván Duque and a military brigade | CNN

(Credit: SCHNEYDER MENDOZA / AFP via Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) -

A commander of the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) assumed responsibility for an attack with a car bomb against an Army brigade in Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, and for the attack against a helicopter carrying the president of Colombia, Iván Duque, registered in June of this year.

In an interview broadcast this Thursday on the television channel Tercer Canal by Hollman Morris, a journalist and opposition politician, the commander whose alias is “John Mechas”, whom the authorities designate as head of the 33rd Front, said that “the coups will be forceful before the machinery of the oligarchy ”. Morris indicated that he went into the jungle of the Catatumbo region to interview "John Mechas" in person. Dressed in an olive green suit with a black beret and surrounded by several heavily armed guerrillas, he indicated that the intention was to go against the US personnel who were at that military base and the brigade's leadership.

CNN contacted the Presidency for comment on the matter and they asked us to refer to the Ministry of Defense. From this portfolio, they indicated that "John Mechas" planned his operations from Venezuela and "sought to affect the stability of democracy and the security forces in Colombia." They indicated that the dissident is a "protégé" of the government of the questioned President Nicolás Maduro and that they will fight and neutralize him "with all force". For its part, the Venezuelan government reported on more than one occasion this year that it is fighting irregular groups on the border with Colombia. CNN also contacted the US Embassy in Colombia and indicated that they would not comment because the Colombian government had already singled out "John Mechas" for the attacks.

The June 15 attack on the Army's 30th brigade left some 36 injured, according to authorities.

Days later, on the 26th of that month, the helicopter carrying President Duque was hit by rifle bursts in that same city.

The aircraft in which Duque was traveling;

the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano;

the Minister of the Interior, Daniel Palacios;

the Governor of Norte de Santander, Silverio Serrano;

and the mayor of Cúcuta, Jairo Yáñez, among others, received 6 hits, reported General Ramsés Rueda, commander of the Colombian Air Force (FAC).

All people on board were unharmed.

The government attributed to the 33rd Front, which it says operates in Venezuela, the attack for which 10 dissidents and a retired Army captain have been arrested, whom it accuses of being the ideologue of the attack.

Juan Carlos López contributed to this report

DissidenceFarcIván Duque