Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva announced this Thursday, August 3, that the head of the second Marquetalia, alias “Iván Márquez”, is alive, thus contradicting the statements of the intelligence agencies that had reported his death almost a month ago.
“I always knew he was alive, he was never in mortal danger. At the time it was reported that he was dead, he was perfectly alive.” The foreign minister relieved Luciano Marín, alias “Iván Márquez”.
According to Leyva, he had previously hinted that “Márquez” was still alive, but his statements had not been correctly understood. These statements come one day after Caracol Radio revealed an audio recording in which Luciano Marín Arango is heard sending a message to members of the FARC-EP Segunda Marquetalia dissidence.
“August 2023. Comrades in arms and ideas, receive the embrace of my heart as a greeting. I begin this speech taking from the golden pages of our universal Caribbean vallenato the certainty of the Magdalen minstrel that ‘Abel Antonio has not died yet. Abel Antonio dies when God needs him’, I hope with these words I can dispel some doubts”, heard on the recording.
In this way, the top leader of the Second Marquetalia confirmed that he was alive, despite the news that circulated at the beginning of June 2023.
It should be noted that, on July 6, intelligence sources assured that “Márquez” had died in Venezuelan territory, due to injuries to his leg and head after an action against him.
“Iván Márquez” is one of the deserters of the peace agreement signed between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the extinct FARC guerrilla. In 2019, the dissident appeared in a video from the jungle where he announced the creation of “La Segunda Marquetalia” together with aliases “Romaña”, aliases “El Paisa”, aliases “Jesús Santrich” and aliases “El Zarco Aldinever”.
Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva was the first high-ranking member of the national government to question the death of “Iván Márquez.” In mid-July, Leyva questioned the veracity of the news of the guerrilla leader’s death. “The confirmation of the death has not been made, it is news from a medium that was never confirmed”, assured.