Colombian Defense Minister says that Iván Márquez is wounded in Caracas

Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano assured that Luciano Marín, alias ‘Iván Márquez’, top leader of the dissidence of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) known as Second Marquetalia, would be wounded in Venezuelan territory.

Colombian President Iván Duque asked days ago for “patience” while one of two versions is confirmed, which suggest that Márquez would be dead or wounded.

“The information that has intelligence indicates that in those disputes there was a vendetta (revenge) where his integrity was affected, he is being protected by the (Nicolás) Maduro regime, and that he is in a hospital in Caracas,” Molano said on Wednesday.

According to a video where members of the Second Marquetalia appear, Márquez would have survived a alleged attack It happened on June 30 of this year.

In this regard, the minister pointed out that “second and third” leaders appear there, among them, one of the sons of Manuel Marulanda, alias ‘Tirofijo’, the late founder of the FARC, which was the oldest guerrilla in Latin America .

Molano also assured that they are still attentive to new information coming from Venezuela.

“The Maduro regime protects terrorist groups in Venezuela and we have been denouncing this situation,” he added.

Since Caracas, the Venezuelan government has not commented.

President Iván Duque, stated on Monday that it was necessary to have “patience to really find out what happened and we always keep in touch with sources who have kept reporting on the situation of these criminals.”

Márquez would be the only commander of the Second Marquetalia, recently designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization, which survives after the death in Venezuela of other of its leaders and founders, confirmed by the Colombian government.

For information leading to the whereabouts of Márquez, the United States is offering up to ten million dollars. He was indicted in 2020 by a US federal court for the Southern District of New York for conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and firearms-related charges.

[Con información de AP]

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