Former FARC guerrilla number two Ivan Marquez, who returned to arms after the 2016 peace accord, has told Colombia's leftist government of his interest in resuming peace talks, he said on Thursday. September 15 a senior government official.
In an interview with local TV, Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda said he had received proposals for talks from several groups, including ex-FARC dissidents commanded by Marquez from neighboring Venezuela, according to military intelligence.
“
We can say that he (Ivan Marquez) is among those who sent messages
,” said Danilo Rueda.
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According to this government official, the leader of one of the two major factions of the Marxist FARC dissidence (the "
secunda Marquetalia
"), returned to hiding after the 2016 agreement, wishes to explore the "
possibilities of a dialogue towards peace
”.
This agreement had ended nearly 60 years of internal war with the Marxist Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, now a legal political party represented in parliament.
"
Total Peace
"
Danilo Rueda has dispelled doubts about the fate of Marquez, given for dead in early July by part of the Colombian press, which then claimed the guerrilla leader had been killed in Venezuelan territory.
A few days later, the Minister of Defense at the time, Diego Molano, said that he was receiving medical treatment in a hospital in Caracas.
Without referring to Marquez's state of health, the Commissioner for Peace stressed that Ivan Marquez expressed "
his desire to be part of ''total peace''
".
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First left-wing president in the history of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, elected in the summer, intends to negotiate with the dozens of armed groups that are rampant in the provinces and are still fueling the internal conflict in the country, in connection with the trafficking of dope.
The return to arms of Ivan Marquez was one of the most serious blows to the 2016 peace process which made it possible to reintegrate some 7,000 FARC combatants into civilian life.
Since then, several dissident leaders have been killed by the army or rival factions.
Other organizations, such as the Guevarist guerrillas of the ELN, responded positively to Gustavo Petro's proposal, as well as groups of drug traffickers like the Clan del Golfo.
“
It is possible to think that we could be on the verge
” of a multilateral ceasefire, added the man appointed by the first Colombian leftist president to sit at the table of negotiations with the armed groups .