Colombia: 12 dead in fighting between dissident FARC factions

Fighting between two dissident factions of the defunct FARC has left at least twelve dead since Saturday in southwest Colombia, we learned from a local official source on Monday.

“Twelve people have been killed in fighting since November 30” in the Putumayo department, Yovani Cortes, an official in the Puerto Guzman municipality, said on local radio.

The clashes pit men under the command of alias Calarca, who is currently leading peace negotiations with the government, against members of the Segunda Marquetalia, a military source told AFP.

Coca fields

In Putumayo, a border region with Ecuador, these two armed groups are competing for territories of coca fields, the main component of cocaine. According to national media, the death toll could be higher.

Calarca is one of the main leaders of a FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) splinter group that has been negotiating with delegates of President Gustavo Petro since October 2023.

Segunda Marquetalia was founded by ex-FARC demobilized after the historic 2016 peace agreement but who have since taken up arms again. It itself is now divided, after its leader Ivan Marquez disavowed ongoing peace negotiations with the government at the end of November.

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