The Colombia Briefing | 25th November

🗞️ The policy of ‘Total Peace’ hit yet another roadblock this week. FARC dissident group Segunda Marquetalia has now splintered, with two major factions breaking away from the leadership of alias Iván Márquez, citing irreconcilable differences.

The Segunda Marquetalia group formed after the 2016 peace deal with the FARC, abandoning commitments and taking up arms again in 2019.

Now, the Comandos de la Frontera and the Coordinadora Guerrillera del Pacifico, both led by alias Wálter Mendoza, have declared independence - with the aim of continuing peace talks with the government.

The Comandos de la Frontera are present in the south of the country and near the border with Ecuador; the Coordinadora Guerrillera del Pacífico occupies territory in the departments of Nariño and Cauca. Neither group will continue to operate under name ‘Segunda Marquetalia.’

This rupture was supposedly initiated by Márquez himself, who sent a letter to the government claiming that the two groups were no longer part of the Segunda Marquetalia dissidence. However, the authenticity of the letter remains unverified and Márquez’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

In fact, rumours of Márquez’s death sporadically circulate: the government’s chief negotiator Armando Novoa said this week that he felt they were ‘trying to engage in dialogue with a ghost.’

All major guerrilla groups in discussions with the government have fragmented this year. While many are concerned about the chaos these fragmentations might cause, Petro announced that division in armed groups is, in his view, an ‘advance in peace.’