Colombia Kills Rebel Accused of Financing a Presidential Hopeful’s Murder
COLOMBIA · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia, about 53 million people, signed a peace deal with the FARC guerrillas in 2016. Several splinter groups never disarmed or later took up arms again.
- —The background Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, a right-wing presidential hopeful, was shot at a campaign event in Bogotá on 7 June 2025 and died on 11 August. Prosecutors say the Segunda Marquetalia, a FARC splinter group, ordered the attack.
- —Why now President Abelardo de la Espriella, in office since August, has put military offensives against armed groups at the centre of his government.
- —What happened On Sunday 27 September 2026, an Army, police and air force operation in rural Tello, in the southern department of Huila, killed alias “Robinson Gutiérrez”. Three other group members were captured.
- —Who is who Intelligence files cited by Colombian newspapers name him as Miguel Orlando Guzmán González, political and finance chief of one of the group’s regional units. The armed forces commander says he was accused of helping finance the senator’s murder.
- —What it means for you The operation took place in the countryside of Huila, far from Bogotá, Medellín and the Caribbean coast. For investors, it is another sign the new government favours military pressure over talks with armed groups.
- —Still open The president called the result preliminary. No evidence for the financing allegation has been published, and no court has ruled on his role.
Colombian security forces have killed a guerrilla commander accused of helping to pay for the murder of a presidential hopeful. President Abelardo de la Espriella announced the result on Sunday 27 September, calling it preliminary.
The dead man, known as alias “Robinson Gutiérrez”, belonged to the Segunda Marquetalia, a splinter of the old FARC guerrilla army. Prosecutors say that group ordered the 2025 shooting of Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay in Bogotá.
What happened in Huila
The operation took place in the rural area of El Cadillo, in the municipality of Tello. Tello lies in Huila, a department in Colombia’s south-centre that borders the jungle region of Caquetá.
Troops from the Army’s Deployment Force Against Transnational Threats led the action, supported by the air force and the National Police. Three other members of the group were captured; their names have not been released.
De la Espriella announced it on X, saying the operation had taken place “a few minutes” earlier. “This criminal is implicated in the murder of Miguel Uribe Turbay,” he wrote. “I will not stop demanding that the whole truth about that crime be established.”
He added that the result was preliminary and that he would say more once verification was complete.
Who Robinson Gutiérrez was
Intelligence files cited by the newspaper El Tiempo name him as Miguel Orlando Guzmán González. He was political and financial chief of the Teófilo Forero Castro unit, which operates in Huila and neighbouring Caquetá.
According to the same files, he had run the unit’s finances since 2024. The government accuses him of directing extortion and threats against farmers, recruiting minors and attacking civilians and security forces.
He faced an arrest warrant for criminal conspiracy aimed at murder and extortion. Some outlets called him a right-hand man of the group’s leader, but officials described him as a regional commander.
What officials allege about the senator’s murder
The claim is narrower than the headlines suggest. Nobody accuses him of pulling the trigger or giving the order.
General Erik Rodríguez Aparicio, the armed forces commander, said he was accused of “alleged participation in the financing” of the assassination. El Tiempo reported that his role lay in “the financing logistics”.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara went further, calling him “part of the criminal scheme that murdered Miguel Uribe”. No official has published the evidence behind either statement.
In March 2026 the Attorney General’s Office, which runs prosecutions, ordered seven group members arrested over the murder. His name was not on that list.
The group and the murder case
The Segunda Marquetalia was founded in 2019 by Luciano Marín Arango, alias Iván Márquez. He had been the FARC’s chief negotiator in the peace talks that ended in 2016, then returned to arms.
Uribe Turbay was a senator for the right-wing Centro Democrático party and grandson of former president Julio César Turbay. His mother, the journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel.
A 15-year-old fired the shots at a rally in the Modelia district of Bogotá. He was sentenced to seven years in a youth detention centre.
Nine people have been arrested and four convicted, according to AFP. In March 2026 prosecutors said the order came from the group’s leadership, passed down through a commander known as “El Zarco Aldinever”.
Those March warrants also named Márquez himself. Investigators say the attack was planned in Venezuelan border areas, where the group’s leaders, Márquez included, have long taken refuge.
What comes next
The government has promised a fuller account once the operation is verified. The identities of the three detainees, and whether they will be questioned about the murder, are still unknown.
The killing is part of a wider offensive. A week earlier, police killed a senior Caribbean armed-group commander near Santa Marta. The president has also said he signed 85 extraditions in six weeks.
It does not close the Uribe Turbay case. A death in a military operation is not a court finding, and the men prosecutors say gave the order are still wanted.
Nor is it the end of the Segunda Marquetalia. The group still has a leader, fighters and extortion income in Huila and Caquetá.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Miguel Uribe Turbay?
He was a 39-year-old Colombian senator for the right-wing Centro Democrático party who planned to run for president in 2026. He was shot at a rally in Bogotá on 7 June 2025 and died on 11 August 2025.
What is the Segunda Marquetalia?
It is an armed group founded in 2019 by former FARC commanders who rejected the 2016 peace deal, led by Iván Márquez. Colombian prosecutors say it ordered the attack on Uribe Turbay.
Was Robinson Gutiérrez the man who ordered the murder?
No. Officials say he allegedly helped finance it. Prosecutors say the order came from the group’s leadership, and no court has ruled on his role.
Is it safe to travel to Colombia?
The operation took place in rural Huila, away from the main tourist and business centres. Visitors should follow their government’s travel advice, which treats conflict areas in the countryside differently from the big cities.
Sources: El Tiempo, 27 September 2026, El Colombiano, 27 September 2026, Infobae, with statements by the armed forces commander and the interior minister, 27 September 2026, El Universo (AFP), 27 September 2026, NTN24, 27 September 2026, Blu Radio, 27 September 2026, El Espectador, on the March arrest warrants, 25 March 2026, El Colombiano, on the prosecutors’ case, 25 March 2026, CNN, 11 August 2025. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
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