Four years ago, the Farc and the Colombian government ended the decades-long conflict. But numerous earlier guerrillas returned underground. According to a secret service report, the organization is getting more and more support.
Bogotá (dpa) - Four years after the historic peace treaty between the Colombian government and the left-wing guerrilla organization Farc, splinter groups of the rebels have thousands of members again, according to a secret service report.
The illegal groups had doubled their strength to around 4,600 members within just one year, the renowned newspaper "El Tiempo" quoted from a confidential report by the military secret service. The remains of the Farc are again the second strongest guerrilla organization in the country after the ELN rebel group.
Among the dissidents are the former powerful Farc commanders Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich, who had negotiated the peace treaty and were to enter Congress for the new Farc party. They have apparently formed an alliance with the pro-Venezuelan crime syndicate "La Piedrita" and are involved in drug smuggling and illegal mining.
El Tiempo report