Colombia’s FARC dissident branch leader calls for guerilla unity to fight US interventionism
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Head of a dissident branch of FARC Nestor Gregorio Vera speaking in 2023. He said recently: “The shadow of the interventionist eagle looms over everyone equally.”
PHOTO: AFP
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BOGOTA – The head of the largest dissident branch of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerilla group called on other rebel groups to band together to fight US interventionism in the region, in a video message confirmed by the group as authentic on Jan 9.
The call from leader Nestor Gregorio Vera, better known by his nom de guerre “Ivan Mordisco”, follows the US incursion into neighbouring Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of its president Nicolas Maduro
“The shadow of the interventionist eagle looms over everyone equally. We urge you to put aside these differences,” Mr Vera said in a video in which he appeared dressed in camouflage and surrounded by two heavily armed guerillas.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro – a former guerilla who vowed to bring peace to the country after more than six decades of internal armed conflict – is set to meet US President Donald Trump
The planned meeting comes days after Mr Trump threatened Colombia with military action. The US leader has repeatedly accused the administration of Mr Petro, without evidence, of enabling a steady flow of cocaine into the US, imposing sanctions on the Colombian leader in October.
“Destiny is calling us to unite. We are not scattered forces; we are heirs to the same cause. Let us weave unity through action and forge the great insurgent bloc that will push back the enemies of the greater homeland,” Mr Vera added in the video addressed to the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Second Marquetalia and the Bolivarian Army Guerrilla Coordinating Board, which also emerged from the former FARC.
However, it did not include the second-largest FARC dissident group, known as the Central General Staff, which broke away from Mr Vera’s group in 2024.
In total, the groups the insurgent leader proposed joining have more than 11,000 members. Their primary criminal activities are drug trafficking and illegal gold mining, according to security sources.
Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said that by calling for rebel unity, Mr Vera was looking to protect himself from being hunted down by the armed forces. REUTERS
