hUntil after 10 in the morning – Caracas time – it was not known if Iván Márquez, head of the Second Marquetalia of the FARC dissidents, would be at the beginning of the dialogue between that group and the Government of Colombia. Both delegations arrived in vehicles at Pdvsa La Estancia, a cultural center in the Venezuelan capital, but no one confirmed or denied Márquez’s presence.
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Because it was a national holiday – celebration of the 203 years of the Battle of Carabobo – all the spaces of PDVSA La Estancia, which usually enjoy the noise of their visitors, were in a sepulchral silence only interrupted by the rain .
However, it wouldn’t take an hour for the mystery to end: The commander of the Second Marquetalia was at the head of the dialogue table installed in Venezuela, and although he has remarkably recovered from the attack he suffered almost two years ago, the consequences are visible.
“Colombia and Venezuela must be one (…) Ladies and gentlemen, in the name of the Second Marquetalia, receive our greetings with the deepest desire for peace.”
Thinner than usual, with one eye affected, the thumb of his left hand mutilated and a prosthesis on his right hand, Márquez reappeared just like the scars on his face and neck, very well guarded by the Venezuelan authorities.
Foreign Minister Yván Gil greeted him with enthusiasm, and then heard him say: “Colombia and Venezuela must be one (…) Ladies and gentlemen: in the name of the Second Marquetalia, receive our greetings with the deepest desire for peace,” he read. Márquez, in a text inside his computer which was identified with a sticker of Jesús Santrich.
Márquez, who required help to turn the page of all his text, since it was difficult for him to operate the computer with one hand, confirmed that they tried to assassinate him after attacks such as those that occurred against ‘El Paisa’, Jesús Santrich and ‘Romaña’.
“Almost five years have passed since this new insurgency due to the State’s betrayal of the Havana Agreement,” Márquez read.
Venezuela: shelter for dissident Colombian guerrilla fighters?
Both the Eln guerrillas, the diFarc, as well as the Second Marquetalia and many other irregular groups, have shelter in Venezuela, that is an open secret that few dare to confirm and that the Venezuelan authorities prefer not to talk about.
In the case of Iván Márquez, he arrived at the dialogue table in Caracas with the Colombian delegation and was escorted by Venezuelans who prevented the press from getting close.
“The shelter that has been had with combatants (…) and today that shelter must be, not only in the sense that they suffer persecution from the Colombian government, that shelter must be an effort for peace,” said the peace commissioner, Otti Patiño, suggesting that the neighboring country is a shelter for these groups or at least for their leaders.
Furthermore, Patiño “lamented” the death of Elmer Guerrero, from the Pacific Guerrilla just one day before this dialogue was established. “It was fateful and we broke trust with the Second Marquetalia,” said Patiño.
“The fact that it happened yesterday and that we are here is because there is moral power and I want to give you a hug for the ability to overcome crises with events as regrettable and tragic as yesterday with the death of Elmer Guerrero,” stated the commissioner.
Create border zones of peace: a proposal that remained after dialogues between Segunda Marquetalia and the Colombian government in Venezuela
Patiño took advantage of the presence of the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, to request that work be done on the creation of “border zones of peace” which, according to the official, “means working for an institutional framework on the border,” this due to the large number of binational towns.
“We ask that there be the possibility, together with communities and even armed actors, that we can look at a new border regime,” Patiño insisted.
Given this proposal, there was no public response from Foreign Minister Gil, who in his intervention reiterated Venezuela’s support for any dialogue initiative from Colombia.
This first cycle of dialogue is scheduled to last five days, until July 29, in which the de-escalation of the conflict and the conditions for coexistence will be addressed.
ANA MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BRAZÓN – EL TIEMPO CORRESPONDENT – CARACAS
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