New evidence reveals strong military link between FARC dissidents and Nicolás Maduro dictatorship

More and more tests and evidence confirm the close connection between FARC dissidents and the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. This weekend, the Colombian magazine THE WEEK revealed the contents of the information found by the armed forces and the police on the personal computer of Miguel Botache Santilla, alias “Gentil Duarte”, within the framework of the operation “San Miguel V” which was carried out last month in Caquetá to stop one of the most dangerous guerrilla leaders, who eventually managed to escape.

Documents compiled by Colombian authorities confirm military cooperation between FARC dissidents and the Chavist dictatorship, as well as the insurgents’ geopolitical efforts to expand their ties with other regimes like North Korea and Iran.

In the military field, communications between the parties confirm “joint operations of a strategic nature”. According to reports, the group led by “Gentil Duarte” asked dictator Maduro to allow them to stay and transit through the border territory of the states of Zulia, Táchira, Páez, Apure, Bolívar and Amazonas, “Comply with protocols, routes and mechanisms agreed between the parties, preserving the principles of secrecy and national security for the joint development of operations.”

Likewise, FARC dissidents proposed to the Chavista regime “to neutralize the intelligence and counterintelligence operations of the Colombian and North American intelligence services, paramilitary groups and Venezuelan counterrevolutionary sectors”.

But what was most scandalous and revealing was the Venezuelan dictatorship’s express demand for arms. Specifically, “5,000 rifles, 500 point 30 or point 50 machine guns, 60-millimeter mortars, anti-tank systems, night systems, short weapons, ammunition for these weapons, hand grenades, portable or infantry ground-to-air anti-aircraft systems, and all as regards the fuel crews (quartermaster) ”.

In the emails exchanged between the parties, the guerrillas indicate that the dissidents number 7,000 men, and that their intention is to “triple” this number throughout the national territory.

The guerrillas also raised an agenda of outstanding issues, such as establish links with a general of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) of Venezuela, as well as to “manage and process releases from prison”, and communication with Bolivia.

The “Gentil Duarte” faction also proposed to create the Raúl Reyes International Front, led by Arturo Ruiz, the man who researchers say manages direct relations with the Maduro dictatorship.

Although it was always assumed that Maduro was closer to the dissidents led by Iván Márquez, these emails show that the dictator plays on both sides and does not intervene in the divisions that exist between FARC dissidents, which functions as an irregular army in the service of the chavist president.

A communication dated December 3, 2020 indicates that in terms of finance, it is “essential to strengthen and prioritize the work of Venezuela, since a direct link is established with sectors of trust with the current president”.

For “Gentil Duarte”, who has a request for arrest by Interpol, the Colombian government is offering a reward of just over half a million dollars for the information leading to his capture.

He is one of the guerrillas who participated in 2015 at the negotiation table between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC in Havana (Cuba). But some time later, on his return to Colombia, he took up arms again and isolated himself in the jungles of the east of the country.

At the end of July, the Colombian National Army announced that, despite having found the location of the guerrilla leader in the department of Caquetá and deployed troops to surround him, the Armed Forces indicated that the leader of the dissidents of the FARC had managed to escape.

As the Armed Forces reported in a statement, Miguel Botache Santillana was located in a house in the village of El Camuya, in the rural area of ​​the municipality of San Vicente del Caguán, in Caquetá, while coordinating drug trafficking operations.

Evidence of links between the FARC and the Venezuelan dictatorship is not new. On the contrary, they are getting old. In recent months, there have been clashes on the Venezuelan side between dissidents and members of the Venezuelan military. The information provided by the Maduro regime was not clear and, as the opposition and some social organizations denounced, the fighting is said to have developed for the control of drug trafficking.

Last May, in dialogue with Infobae, the retired colonel of the Bolivarian National Guard, Antonio Semprun, affirmed that the Chavista leadership “has laid a red carpet for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)”. He directly pointed the finger at “Nicolás Maduro, Padrino López and other members of the Venezuelan secretariat who gave them a safe-conduct, to the FARC, so that they use Venezuelan territory as a demilitarized zone in which they can intimidate families. Venezuelans and hiding from Colombians. justice after the fact for committing criminal acts on their territory ”.

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