The alleged murder of a guerrilla commander near the Colombia-Venezuela border suggests that a fragile criminal alliance which until now had controlled criminal savings and a strategic territory in the southern border region has been fractured.
José Manuel Sierra Sabogal, alias “Zarco Aldinever», Second commander of the second Marquetalia (Segunda marquetalia), would have been killed in an ambush of August 5 in the southern part of the Colombia-Venezuela border, according to a statement from the group. The second Marquetalia is a dissident group of veterans from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Stuff) also known as Ex-FARC Mafia.
The declaration accused the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – Eln) to conduct the attack using explosives and said it also cost the life of four other fighters. However, the Colombian authorities have so far been unable to check the complaints independently.
The second Marquetalia accused “Pedro Pablo” or “Covete”, commander of the José Daniel Pérez Carrero Front of the Eln Eastern War Front, of orchestrating the ambush. He would have invited high -ranking members of the second Marquetalia to a meeting to attract them into the ambush.
“The ELN acted with wickedness and betrayal. They led premeditated simultaneous attacks against other second units of Marquetalia located in the region,” the group said in the press release.
The murder is linked to a series of recent armed confrontations between the ELN and the second marquetalia in the municipality of Maroa in the state of Amazonas of Venezuela, which local sources began to realize the crime on August 3.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed the armed confrontation between the two guerrilla groups. “The ELN participated in the war with the second Marquetalia and their conflict extends to Venezuela, where they have already killed people”, the president, the president said in a post on X.
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Before these fights, the Eln's eastern war front and dissident Acacio Medina FrontAn ally of the second marquetalia, had maintained certain financial agreements and territorial divisions along this part of the border. This allowed them to each manage the area and supervise the illegal extraction in Amazonas, as well as the drug trafficking paths that crossed this area.
Zarco Aldinever was in the reticle of the Colombian authorities. They accused him of being one of the main suspects behind the June shot of the senator and pre-presidential candidate Miguel Uibe Turbay in the capital of Bogotá.
An analysis of insightful crime
The decomposition of the guerrilla alliance in this strategic border region can lead to new military advances from the ELN and trigger a new conflict with major implications for Colombia and Venezuela.
After Hugo Chávez became president of Venezuela in 1999, he welcomed Many FARC commanders in the country who have continued to establish operations in several border states. However, when President Nicolás Maduro reached power in 2013, he established more favorable relations with the ELN. With the tacit support of its regime, the ELN began to expand their operations across the border, ultimately moving some of the dissident Farc factions still there.
The last escape between the ELN and the ex-Mafia of Farc occurs about eight months after the start of another conflict between the guerrilla groups. In January 2025, the ELN launched a violent assault on the 33rd front of the former FARC in the disputed region of Catatumbo, which is one of the best world areas producing cocaine.
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The ELN also controlling the key territory of the Venezuelan side in the state of Zulia, this cemented the guerrilla group as the highest armed actor in the northern part of the border, granting them access to the drug trafficking tracks leading to distribution points in Venezuela.
The last confrontation of the ELN with the second Marquetalia in the South suggests that this could be the next key battlefield for border control.
Unlike previous fights, this conflict can develop more on the Venezuelan side. This is largely because the Front of the Acacio Medina of the old mafia has more military capacity on this side and can count on more than a decade of Operation experience there. The illegal mining in Amazonas and the drug trafficking corridors near Brazil represent extremely important financial resources for the two groups, which makes one or the other unlikely to give up controlless control.
There is also the risk that the confrontation can develop further north in the state of experience of Venezuela, which borders the Colombian departments of Arauca and Vichada. The second Marquetalia maintains a strong presence there, in particular in the city of Elorza in the municipality of Rómulo Gallegos. It has long been the favorite place for former FARC commanders, and they have taken up the ranks and installed camps in the region.
The alleged murder of Zarco Aldinever would add it to a growing list of Farc dissidents killed in Venezuela. The other infamous commanders killed there are included Miguel Botache Santanilla, alias “Nice Duarte”; Seuxis Pausías Hernández Solarte, alias”Jesús Santrich“; Hernán Darío Velásquez Saldarriaga, alias”El Paisa“And Henry Castellanos Garzón, alias”Romaña. “The second leader of Marquetalia, Luciano Marín Arango, alias”Iván MárquezAlso was seriously injured in Venezuela.
Featured image: Second Marquetalia Leaders Iván Márquez and Zarco Aldinever Sit up side by side on the Colombia-Venezuela border. Credit: second video marquetalia
