The second Marquetalia is a group made up of former FARC guerrillas who refused to demobilize the group's peace agreement with the Colombian government in 2016.
It is led by one of the former most influential revolutionary armed forces in Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Farc), Luciano Marín Arango, alias “Iván Márquez”, who took up arms in 2019 after abandoning the peace process.
The group operates mainly in mountainous regions along the Colombia-Venezuela border, apparently with the tacit approval of the Venezuelan government, but it is not known how many men it has at its disposal.
The second marquetalia (segunda marqualia) is in a curious position because its leaders are Among the best known And the criminal leaders sought in Colombia, but there are few things about his size, his geography or the criminal economies in which he is involved.
On May 18, 2021, one of the second most senior figures in Marquetalia, Séuxis Pausías Hernández Solarte, alias “Jesús Santrich”, was killed in Venezuela. After that, two other senior leaders, Hernán Darío Velásquez, alias “El Paisa“And Henry Castellanos Garzón, alias”Romaña,” were killed in Venezuela, probably in clashes with the 10th frontalso dissidents of the FARC.
Márquez would have gone to the ground in December 2021, seeking to avoid a similar spell. It was not heard in July 2022, when generalized rumors surfaced according to which it had been killed During an operation in Venezuela. The group's leadership would have now been taken over by the Farc veteran commander, José Vicente Lesmes, alias “Walter Mendoza”.
History
In August 2019, a number of former FARC commanders, led by Márquez, published a YouTube video announcing their return to arms and the creation of the second Marquetalia, alleging that the Colombian government had betrayed the 2016 peace agreements.
Next to him, a number of well-known mafia heads appeared, including “El Paisa“”Jesús Santrich,” And “Romaña“, As well as a number of commanders from various fronts and mobile columns.
The group claimed to continue the political difficulties of the FARC and said that they were the “heirs of the inheritance of Manuel Marulanda Vélez”, the former leader of the demobilized guerrilla group.
El Paisa abandoned The FARC training and reincorporation camp to which he was based in Miravalle, Caquetá, around April 2018 and seems went to Venezuela. In August 2018, Márquez disappeared From the same camp after the arrest of Santrich for drug trafficking, which would have been committed after the demobilization of the FARC.
Romaña has disappeared In March 2019, after having failed to appear during a compulsory court appearance.
As for Santrich, after his arrest in 2018 for drug trafficking, he faced potential extradition for the United States. This extradition request was denied For lack of evidence and he was released in May 2019. He briefly took place at the Congress which had been reserved for members of the FARC political party, but he fled Shortly after In Venezuela and joined her former comrades. He was killed in May 2021 in Venezuela.
Additional death of El Paisa And Romaña In December 2021, as well as unconfirmed information that Márquez was on the run, seems to have left the group a little without rude, although always capable of bringing significant profits from its current territorial control of coca plantations and drug trafficking paths in Colombia and Venezuela.
In July 2022, the Colombian authorities tried to confirm if Márquez had also been killed in Venezuela.
Criminal activity
In the August 2019 video, Márquez and his commanders said that their group would continue to “collect taxes which serve as funding for rebellion … and which are applied to illegal economies and multinationals that plunder our wealth”.
The second Marquetalia has maintained solid operations along the Colombia-Venezuela border, controlling a large part of the cocaine traffic between the Colombian department of Arauca and the Venezuelan department of Apure. Although he sought to extend his influence in other parts of the two countries, he failed to recover a large part of the criminal territory left by the FARC.
Direction
The main chief of the second marquetalia is Luciano Marín Arango, alias “Iván Márquez”, who was a member of the FARC secretariat and the second commander of the guerrilla group at the time of his demobilization.
A close ally of Márquez was Seuxis Pausías Hernández, alias “Jesús Santrich», An ideologist who was the group's public relations key with other potential allies, before His death in May 2021.
The other eminent leaders included Hernán Darío Velásquez, alias “El Paisa», Former commander of the mobile column of Teófilo Forero de Farc, and Henry Castellanos Garzón, alias«Romaña», Former Leader of the FARC 53RD Before and probably played a key role In the second military strategy of Marquetalia, until their death in December 2021.
With the rumor death of Márquez in Venezuela in July 2022, the group command may have gone to another Farc veteran commander, José Vicente Lesmes, alias “Walter Mendoza.”
Allies and enemies
In the video announcing the creation of the second marquetalia, Márquez called the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) to “coordinate efforts” with the new group inside Colombia. In doing so, Márquez suggested reforming the late Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinatting Board (Coordinadora Guerrillera Simón Bolívar), a movement created In the 1980s and 1990s by the FARC, the ELN and the popular Liberation Army (Popular Ejercito of Liberación – EPL) to carry out joint operations.
18th The front of ex-FARC Mafia also has recognized The management of Márquez. But to date, it is the only front made up of Farc veterans to have sworn allegiance to Márquez.
In 2018 and 2019, the group's leaders met twice with members of the ELN in the Venezuelan state of Apure, according to to a number of media reports. The discussion would have turned around the coordination of cocaine expeditions between Colombia and Venezuela, in particular in the Colombian department of Arauca, in which the ELN has a strong presence.
Beyond these links with the ELN, the second marquetalia has planned to unify the former Farc Mafia groups, including those led by Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Nice Duarte. “However, such a unification seems distant.
This rivalry seems to have worsened in 2021 with the ex-FARC 10th front which would have been faced with the second forces of Marquetalia in Apure, Venezuela, as well as may have been involved in the death of Santrich, El Paisa and Romaña.
Geography
The second marquetalia seems to operate mainly along the border between Colombia and Venezuela, in particular in the state of clever in Venezuela and the Department of Arauca of Colombia.
With membership From the 18th front of the former Farc Mafia, the Márquez group acquired a presence in the municipalities north of Antioquia, like Ituango, and the southern part of the department of Córdoba. But for the moment, this seems to be the only satellite group of the second marquetalia in other regions of Colombia.
Prospects
Márquez seems to try to make the second marquetalia a unifying force for former FARC mafia groups across Colombia, but he must also increase his number of combatants and criminal income to stay afloat.
From their high level announcement In August 2019, the leaders of the second Marquetalia remained largely underground. It seems that most of their influence was along the sections of the Colombia-Venezuela border, in particular in Apure and Arauca. In 2021, reports sporadic clashes between The second combatants of Marquetalia and the members of other ex-FARC factions seemed to confirm this.
It seems that their best chance of bringing together the guerrillas who refused to demobilize would be to ally with Nice Duarteanother former Farc commander who has try To bring together disparate brightness groups. But Clashes Between the two groups seem to have excluded this.
In Venezuela, the group may have received help from the Venezuelan government after President Nicolás Maduro welcomed Márquez and Santrich to come to the country in 2019. Like the ELN, the second Marquetalia probably uses Venezuelan territory as an operational base sheltered from the Colombian armed forces.
The murder of Jesús Santrich inside Venezuela in May 2021, however, seems to indicate a change of fortune for the group. The death of one of their most eminent leaders in uncertain circumstances suggests that Venezuela is no longer the refuge it was in the past.
The group was left more weakened following a series of bitter reverse against the 10th front in Venezuela at the end of 2021 and at the beginning of 2022. Although it still controls the enviable criminal real estate tracks and drug trafficking, it may no longer have the chance to achieve its initial objective: the unification of the ex-manufacture.
If it is confirmed that Iván Márquez was also killed, the group can quickly fragment into disparate and smaller criminal gangs with little or no links with the former political ideology of the FARC.
