FARC dissidents say "Santrich" is dead 4:21
(CNN Spanish) -
Alias Jesús Santrich left without answering for alleged drug trafficking crimes in the United States and without answering for his crimes during the years when he was a guerrilla of the now defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.
His real name was Seuxis Paucias Hernández Solarte, but everyone knew him as "Jesús Santrich."
And a few days before the FARC dissidents affirmed his death, the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia ruled in favor of the insurgent's extradition to the United States.
There he had to answer for alleged drug trafficking crimes in federal court.
Santrich's whereabouts were unknown, since since June 30, 2019 he abandoned his protection scheme derived from the Peace Agreement and appeared in a video along with other leaders such as alias Iván Márquez and alias "El Paisa", in which they announced announcing the return to war, according to them, to begin "a new stage of struggle for the awakening of consciences."
Against 'Santrich' a red Interpol circular was weighed against him for his location and arrest in 194 countries, according to the National Police.
Accusations against him
Santrich has been in the middle of the controversy since April 2018, when he was captured on drug trafficking charges, with an extradition request by the United States, which is investigating him for the alleged conspiracy to send 10 tons of cocaine. to that country.
He has always maintained his innocence.
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Hernández Solarte was one of the FARC delegates in the dialogues with the Colombian government.
Santrich joined the FARC when he was 21 years old and joined the 19th Front of that guerrilla and thanks to his political training, he became head of the FARC's Caribbean Bloc and to occupy a position in the FARC General Staff, the highest organ decision-maker of that armed group, according to the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, PARES.
Local media describe Santrich as "the rebel" and as one of the most "radical and intransigent" members of the negotiating group during the peace process and highlight that in recent years he has made "inappropriate comments", such as the what he did about minors recruited by the FARC.
Following the Havana peace accords, Santrich took office as a representative to the Chamber after regaining his freedom on May 30, by order of the Supreme Court of Justice in the drug trafficking case.
Your role in the peace process negotiations
'Jesús Santrich' was a member of the FARC General Staff and was one of the key elements of the FARC guerrillas in the peace process with the Government of Colombia, according to the Colombian authorities.
His image remained in the collective memory of Colombians, when, at the installation of the peace talks in Oslo, Norway, in October 2012, he responded full of cynicism and mockery, many say, to the question of whether the FARC would apologize to them. to the victims.
"Maybe, maybe, maybe," he said with a laugh, remembering a popular Cuban song, dressed in a gray jacket, scarf and dark glasses, hugged by one of his companions, Iván Márquez.
He said no more and left.
He never apologized to the victims and today we Colombians have the good fortune to see him behind bars.
Not thanks to the management of the Santos government, of course.
Perhaps perhaps Perhaps;
good melody for a jail in the US pic.twitter.com/gz20VVYnqA
- Natalia Bedoya (@natiibedoya) April 10, 2018
Santrich was part of the Commission for Monitoring, Promotion and Verification of the Implementation of the Peace Agreement, CSIVI and is one of those designated by the FARC to occupy one of the 10 seats in Congress, according to the peace agreement.
Local media describe 'Santrich' as "the rebel" and as one of the most "radical and intransigent" members of the negotiating group during the peace process and highlight that in recent years he has made "inappropriate comments", such as for example, the one he did about minors recruited by the FARC.
In June 2017, Santrich joined the hunger strike of more than 1,500 guerrillas who declared in disobedience, demanding the freedom of 2,500 guerrillas who remained in jail and who should be released on account of the signed agreement.
His arrest was possible in accordance with the Havana agreements, according to President Juan Manuel Santos, who maintains that "whoever commits a crime after the signing of the final agreement will be subject to ordinary jurisdiction for the new crimes committed."
According to the United States Court for the Southern District of New York, if Santrich is convicted, he could pay a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison for each charge he is charged with.
Personal life
He was born in Tuleviejo, Sucre, on July 30, 1966, according to the Interpol red circular.
From a young age he had an affinity with the Communist Party, joining the youth of that party, and studied Social Sciences and a postgraduate degree in History, according to a short profile of his published on the page of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation.
Santrich, 54, lost his sight very young due to a degenerative disease known as Leber Syndrome: "I was losing it little by little, many years ago," Santrich himself told Colombian journalist Daniel Samper Ospina.
"That was like when evening falls: slowly," he told journalist Jorge Enrique Botero in an interview in August 2016 about his blindness.
“When I was 14 years old, I couldn't see very well and I had to wear glasses, but when I was already in college, the visual field was closing in both eyes.
Until about six years ago my right eye totally went out ”.
Their names, Seusis Pausivas, come from two Greek painters from the 4th century BC, as he told W Radio.
He also likes to paint through a high relief technique that he uses and thanks to the memory of the color he has, as he explained to that medium.
Local media report that he joined the FARC when he was 21 years old and joined the FARC's 19th Front, which operated on the Colombian Caribbean coast, in the north of the country.
Thanks to his political training, he became the head of the FARC's Caribbean Bloc and to occupy a position on the FARC General Staff, the highest decision-making body of that armed group, says PARES.
The ex-guerrilla was a key element in the FARC's relations with Venezuela, because before the start of the talks in Cuba, he lived on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, according to La Silla Vacía.
Santrich was "a faithful follower of Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian Movement," added that outlet.
- With information from Florencia Trucco and Melissa Velásquez from CNN en Español.
Jesus Santrich