Photo taken from: RCN News
During the installation of the negotiating table between the government and the Second Marquetalia held in Caracas, the head of the Colombian delegation, Otty Patiño, lamented the death of members of the Second Marquetalia in Nariño. He emphasized one of them, Hermes Guerrero. He referred to this fact as follows: “I deeply regret the events of yesterday, events that cannot be called incidents because that is making them light and insignificant. It is something fateful and we have mistreated the trust that we have been creating since February with the Second Marquetalia.”
This brought the high peace commissioner very strong criticism from the opposition sector. Hermes died this Sunday, June 23, after a confrontation with members of the Public Force. Alias Hermes, as he was known, was the fourth leader of the Alfonso Cano Bloc of the FARC dissidents. In these events, a minor carrying a rifle was captured and three other guerrillas were wounded and fled.
“Hermes” was 50 years old, he belonged to the 29th front of the FARC for eight years. He believed at some point in the peace process that the then president Juan Manuel Santos was able to bring to a successful conclusion. He handed over his weapons and joined the transitory Normalization zone of Betania. As it turned out, Hermes never stopped committing crimes and was wanted for several crimes.
In 2019, both Jesús Santrich, alias “El Paisa” “Romaña” “Walter” and Iván Márquez himself abjured the peace agreements alleging that they had been breached and returned to the armed struggle. On August 29, 2019, in a video Iván Márquez, accompanied by Jesús Santrich, told the country through a video that they were returning to the armed struggle. Little by little the leaders of the Second Marquetalia were being diminished. “El paisa” and “Romaña” who also signed the peace agreement and even managed to lead productive projects. Soon disenchantment and an alleged persecution by the then prosecutor Néstor Humberto Martínez made them return to the old slogans.
Santrich was murdered in May 2021. Around that time, Iván Márquez suffered an attack that had been speculated about the consequences it would leave on his physical appearance. Apparently in Caracas the former guerrilla is feeling relatively well. The negotiation table with the Second Marquetalia is part of this government’s interest in making Total Peace with the armed groups that plague the country.
The guarantors at this negotiating table are the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Norway, in addition to the special representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations Carlos Ruiz Massieu. In a communication they expressed their “satisfaction with the beginning of the table.”
