In the explosion recorded in his camp in the state of Zulia on the territory of Venezuela, Miguel Botache Santillana, alias Gentil Duarte, powerful leader of the guerrilla opposition, after his demobilization As part of the peace process with the FARC, he failed to deliver on his commitments and took up arms in mid-2016.
EL TIEMPO confirmed with sources on both sides of the border that the ex-guerrilla, who managed to become the FARC’s representative in Havana, was the target of an attack in his camp. mother who waited 40 years for the body of her son).
According to the sources consulted, the events were recorded in the countryside of Casigua El Cubo, municipality of Jesús María Semprún in the state of Zulia.
‘Gentil Duarte’ would have arrived there in November last year while trying to escape persecution by the Colombian authorities. In March 2021, the head of the opposition, who was offered a reward of up to two billion pesos, managed to escape a bombing in the forests of Guaviare that killed 12 people, and then in July escaped a new policeman with injuries. The operation was carried out this time in the village of El Camuya, in the rural area of San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá. This newspaper revealed that the former guerrilla was seriously injured and operated on one of his arms, but that limb lost his mobility.
EL TIEMPO learned privately the details of his flight to Venezuela, and Botache Santillana’s distrust of his own men that caused him to flee the country, and the attack in which he would lose his life. your emotional partner.
It has been learned that the ex-guerrilla sought protection from Javier Alonso Veloza García, under the pseudonym Jhon Mechas, who was the head of the opposition of the 33rd front, which carried out the bomb attack on a police station in the south of Bogotá. Committed at the end of March and cost the lives of these two minors.
According to sources, ‘Jhon Mechas’ found him in a camp in Venezuela, about 14 kilometers from the Colombian border line. There the former guerrilla remained with a small boy named ‘Salomé’ who would become his emotional partner and was protected by about 40 members of the opposition.
That camp was infiltrated by unidentified persons in the early hours of Wednesday, May 4, and the area where the camp was located, ‘Gentil Duarte’ and ‘Salomé’, was detonated. This could cost their lives as well as other dissidents.
EL TIEMPO has obtained exclusive photos of the explosion site, where the damage to the hut where the former guerrilla was sleeping can be seen. The traditional hat he always wore, a few personal belongings, clothes, toiletries and a uniform badge were found. with the first SLThe nickname S corresponds to part of the Salomé uniform. Photographs show these elements, on which the explosion burned, and the mattress and pillow of the former guerrilla’s resting place. Opponents would take the bodies of those killed in the explosion.
This newspaper consulted top sources who stated that verification of facts in Colombia had been carried out. However, the version known to EL TIEMPO coincides with the silence found in the communications traditionally carried out by this illegal organization, in which the orders of the leader of the criminal network were transmitted.
Various hypotheses are woven against the group responsible for the explosion in which Botache Santillana will die, since it is not the first time that ex-Colombian guerrillas have died in the neighboring country, even in similar situations.
Opponents of ‘Gentil Duarte’ are fighting a battle with the ‘Iván Márquez’ group, which calls itself the ‘Second Marquetalia’, and the ELN for control of illegal revenues such as drug trafficking and illegal mining. This conflict takes place on both sides of the border, and in Colombia three groups are persecuted by the authorities, while in Venezuelan territory some enjoy the protection of the Nicolás Maduro regime.
In fact, in March of last year, Venezuelan authorities launched a massive operation against FARC opponents in the province of Apure, which resulted in a massive migration of thousands of people to Colombian territory. The operation focused on hitting the associates and tokens of ‘Iván Mordisco’, who was part of the ‘Gentil Duarte’ group and competed directly with the ‘Iván Márquez’ group for control of the region.
The war between the two dissidents and the Eln intensifies to the point where envoys from Mexico’s drug cartels seek mediation to stem the conflict that affects the illegal trade and the outflow of drug shipments to international markets.
According to official figures, about 1,100 men from Eln, less than 200 from ‘Iván Marquez’ and about 350 men from ‘Gentil Duarte’ would have committed crimes in the neighboring country. They are constantly in conflict.
After the attack on the latter, Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, nicknamed Iván Mordisco, was the former head of the guerrilla’s first front, the first member of the FARC to ignore peace agreements and presented awards on his behalf. more than two billion pesos.
Last year, three members of the first line of command of the ‘Second Marquetalia’ of former guerrilla leader ‘Iván Márquez’ died on Venezuelan soil.
In May 2021, former guerrilla Seuxis Pausias Hernández Solarte, alias Jesús Santrich, died in the neighboring country withdrawing from the peace process and avoid a refund request She sought him out from United States courts on drug trafficking charges.
Opponents confirmed his death in a recorded shootout in the Venezuelan part of the Perijá mountain range, between the areas known as El Chalet and the village of Los Laureles.
The description of the opposition states that ‘Santrich’ will be attacked with rifles and artillery while he is driving in a truck and that the group that carried out the action was supposedly taken by a helicopter.
In December of the same year, the death of Henry Castellanos under the pseudonym Romaña and ‘Paisa’ Hernán Darío Velásquez, considered two of the most “bloody” leaders of the disappeared guerrilla, became known.
The two deaths occurred on the other side of the border, where former guerrillas were hiding from the persecution of Colombian authorities.
‘Paisa’ died with Lulo, the man she trusted when they returned to their camp. As he passed, explosives placed on the road destroyed his truck, causing his immediate death.
And ‘Romaña’ died in conflict with an armed group that would become another chapter of the battle for territorial control in the neighboring country and the management of drug trafficking routes to the United States.
@JusticiaET
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Source: Exame
