Colombian Seuxis Pausias Hernandez, alias Jesus Santrich, 53, was killed on Monday (May 17th) in Venezuela, in the border region of Serrania de Perija. Former commander of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), ex-negotiator of the 2016 peace agreement, which led to the demobilization of the guerrillas, the man had resumed arms in 2019, considering that the government did not keep his word. The death of Jesus Santrich was confirmed on Tuesday by a statement from the Segunda Marquetalia, the rebel group he had founded in the company of Ivan Marquez, the chief negotiator of the FARC also “dissident”. The dissidents are the ex-guerrillas who have taken over the maquis, or have not left it.
“Heartbroken, we inform Colombia and the world of the sad news of the death of Commander Jesus Santrich, member of the FARC Segunda Marquetalia leadership, in an ambush carried out in Venezuelan territory by a Colombian army commando” , said the press release, specifying that the operation was carried out “By direct order of President Ivan Duque”. The text was published in the late afternoon on a website, the authenticity of which is not questioned by the Colombian authorities.
A few hours earlier, Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano had said his services had information to confirm that Jesus Santrich had been killed in Venezuela during a clash between rival gangs. For the Minister, “The death of Jesus Santrich proves that narco-criminals find refuge in Venezuela”.
Several hypotheses
The dissidents, who have not reconstituted a single armed structure, are divided into several groups which, depending on the region and the circumstances, cooperate, ignore or fight each other. All of them live on illicit trafficking.
Colombian media and social networks have raised several hypotheses about Santrich’s death. He could have been killed by the Colombian army, as the statement from the Segunda Marquetalia says, or by a rival gang, as the minister says, but also by a group of mercenaries wishing to receive the reward of 3 billion dollars. pesos (650,000 euros) offered by Bogota, or by the Venezuelan army. Further south, the latter has been carrying out for a month and a half unusual fighting against Colombian rebel camps installed on its territory, causing population displacements.
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