FARC insurgent leader of Colombia demands guerrilla unity in opposition to US interventionism
The leader of the largest dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group urged other rebel groups to unite against U.S. interventionism in the region, in a video message that was verified as genuine by the group on Friday.
The call from leader Nestor Gregorio Vera, also known by his nom de guerre “Ivan Mordisco,” comes in the wake of the U.S. incursion into neighboring Venezuela, which led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. “The shadow of the interventionist eagle looms over everyone equally.” “We encourage you to set aside these differences,” Vera stated in a video where he was dressed in camouflage and flanked by two heavily armed guerrillas.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla committed to achieving peace in a nation long plagued by over sixty years of internal armed conflict, is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington this February, as announced by Trump on Friday.
The upcoming meeting is scheduled shortly after Trump issued a military threat towards Colombia. Trump has consistently alleged, without providing evidence, that Petro’s administration is facilitating a continuous influx of cocaine into the U.S., leading to the imposition of sanctions on the Colombian leader in October.
“Fate beckons us to come together.” We are not a disjointed group; we are united as successors to a common purpose. “Let us come together in action and create a powerful insurgent bloc that will stand against the adversaries of our greater homeland,” Vera stated in the video directed at the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Second Marquetalia, and the Bolivarian Army Guerrilla Coordinating Board, which also originated from the former FARC.
Nonetheless, it excluded the second-largest FARC dissident faction, referred to as the Central General Staff, which separated from Vera’s group in 2024.
The groups suggested by the insurgent leader for joining collectively boast over 11,000 members. According to security sources, their main criminal activities involve drug trafficking and illegal gold mining.
Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that Vera’s call for rebel unity was a strategy to safeguard himself from being pursued by the armed forces.
