Colombia opens a new dialogue table with the FARC dissidents led by Iván Márquez

The Government of Gustavo Petro has launched a negotiation with the Second Marquetalia, the group of dissidents of the extinct FARC guerrilla headed by Iván Márquez, in what will be the third round of talks within the framework of total peace. “We agree on the need to carry out an orderly, agile, rigorous and respectful peace process, which provides tranquility and certainty to Colombian society in the genuine commitment to a political solution and the construction of peace,” says the joint declaration which was known this Friday. It is signed by Márquez, who has been presumed dead on more than one occasion, and by the Peace Commissioner, Otty Patiño.

The parties ask Cuba, Norway and Venezuela for their good offices to develop the process, which adds to the ongoing dialogues with the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and with the other large group of dissidents that left the agreement. of peace with the extinct FARC, the self-proclaimed Central General Staff (EMC), headed by Iván Mordisco. To begin with, the Second Marquetalia commits in the document, dated February 1, to renounce extortive kidnapping, as both the ELN and the EMC have already done formally. The announcement comes while the UN Security Council visits Colombia to reaffirm its support for the implementation of the 2016 agreement, and also for the talks with the ELN and the EMC, which have achieved progress such as bilateral ceasefires.

The former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, disarmed and converted into a political party renamed Comunes, no longer exist as an armed group. More than 90% of the 13,000 ex-combatants who signed the peace are making progress in their reintegration into civilian life. This is even recognized by the United States, which when it removed the FARC from its list of foreign terrorist groups, designated in its place the two main dissidents of the dissolved guerrilla: the now called EMC, which brings together the structures that distanced themselves from the dialogues. of Havana, and the Second Marquetalia, led by commanders who took up arms after the signing.

The origin of the Second Marquetalia dates back to the moment when Iván Márquez, who was chief negotiator in the dialogues with the Government, announced in August 2019 that he was taking up arms together with other leaders of the former FARC who had deviated from their commitments. with the transitional justice system. Although there was never a rout of peace signatories, as was initially feared, the fire of dissidents has been fueled by new dynamics of forced recruitment, often of minors. “The percentage of repeat offenders and dissidents varies greatly within each group, but the bulk of the rank-and-file combatants in these structures are new recruits,” highlights the analysis by the Ideas for Peace Foundation.

The fit of dissidents into total peace has from the first moment been one of the biggest challenges of the Petro Government's flagship policy. In plural, since several structures departed at different times from the Havana dialogues. It is an archipelago of groups that are difficult to classify. The currents of Iván Mordisco and the now decimated Second Marquetalia of Iván Márquez consolidated themselves as the most notable, a kind of large umbrellas. Both engaged in a war to the death against each other, in which several leaders fell into confusing confrontations – often on the other side of the border with Venezuela – among them Gentil Duarte, who had been the most visible face of the Central General Staff, and several of Márquez's lieutenants, such as Romaña, El Paisa and Jesús Santrich.

Seven internal armed conflicts persist in Colombia, and four of them involve dissident factions of the FARC, according to the annual balance sheet of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). While the Government has packaged the Border Commandos operating in the department of Putumayo as part of the Second Marquetalia, the ICRC so far considers it an independent group.

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