FARC Splinter Clash Kills 52 in Colombian Jungle Days Before Vote

COLOMBIA · SECURITY

A Colombia FARC dissidents clash in the southeastern jungle has produced the country’s deadliest single confrontation in months. At least 52 fighters from two rival factions died near Barranco Colorado in Guaviare department, days before Colombians vote in the May 31 presidential first round. The defense ministry has confirmed the toll, and the violence underlines how unfinished the 2016 peace process remains.

What the Colombia FARC dissidents clash involved

A faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish acronym FARC, announced the death toll in a Thursday statement. The unit is one of two rival splinter groups that rejected the 2016 peace deal under which roughly 13,000 fighters laid down arms. The other side has not formally commented on casualties.

The combat unfolded in dense jungle terrain in Guaviare, a southeastern department on Colombia’s Amazon edge. The area is one of the country’s principal coca-growing and cocaine-trafficking corridors. The president of the San José del Guaviare city council, Willy Rodríguez, said the zone was difficult to reach and that bodies remained on the ground awaiting recovery.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed details of the confrontation. The fighting pitted the group commanded by Néstor Gregorio Vera, widely known as Iván Mordisco, against forces under Alexander Díaz Mendoza, known as Calarcá Córdoba. Both leaders broke from the original FARC after the 2016 accord.

Why the two factions are fighting each other

The Calarcá and Mordisco groups had originally operated together inside the same umbrella structure, the Estado Mayor Central. That structure split in 2024 over the question of negotiating with the Petro government. Calarcá’s faction chose to engage in peace talks; Mordisco’s wing refused and stayed in armed confrontation with the state.

Territorial control of coca-producing zones and trafficking routes underpins the dispute. The Guaviare department sits at the southern end of an interconnected corridor that ties together the Amazon basin, the Pacific coast and the border with Brazil. Whichever group controls Barranco Colorado and the surrounding river network controls a significant share of regional cocaine flows.

Last week the larger Mordisco bloc announced a partial truce. The faction said it would suspend offensive operations against state security forces between May 20 and June 10 to allow Colombians to vote in the May 31 first round. The truce did not extend to combat against rival splinter factions.

The Petro government and the Colombia FARC dissidents clash

President Gustavo Petro entered office in 2022 committed to a paz total, or total peace, with the country’s armed groups. The strategy has produced uneven results. Some groups have engaged in formal negotiations, others have rejected the process and the security environment in several regions has deteriorated through 2025 and 2026.

Local authorities have described the current wave of violence as one of the most serious in more than a decade. The Cauca region saw a bombing earlier this year in which the Mordisco faction was implicated. Defense Minister Sánchez offered a five-billion-peso reward for the suspect known as Marlon.

The Petro administration has continued talks with the Calarcá wing through the violence. Government negotiators argue that progress on disarmament with willing factions is the only durable path. Critics counter that splinter groups exploit the openings to consolidate territorial control rather than to wind down.

The May 31 election backdrop

Colombians vote on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election to replace Gustavo Petro. The campaign has unfolded against a backdrop of deteriorating security in several departments and a separate institutional fight over the autonomy of the central bank, the Banco de la República. Insecurity has been a top voter concern across the major polling firms.

Two members of a campaign team for conservative candidate Abelardo de la Espriella were killed in Meta department in early May. The Espriella campaign blamed armed groups linked to the FARC splinters. The string of incidents has put pressure on the Petro government in the final stretch of the campaign cycle.

The Colombian armed forces have stepped up checkpoints and patrols in major cities. Reuters has reported soldiers manning posts near Jamundí, on the outskirts of Cali, in the run-up to the vote. Election monitors have warned that voter turnout in remote rural areas could fall sharply if the violence continues.

Regional read on the Colombia FARC dissidents clash

The Guaviare violence ties directly into the broader regional security debate. Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador signed the Compromiso Regional de Santiago on Thursday, committing to coordinate against transnational organized crime. Colombia did not sign that pact but is a primary node in the cocaine value chain it targets.

Brazil holds an extensive border with Colombia along the Amazon basin. The Brazilian Federal Police signed a new institutional cooperation memorandum with Suriname this week on cross-border crime and arms trafficking. The Suriname-Brazil corridor is part of the same northern South American security map.

United States policy toward armed groups in the region has hardened. The State Department this week designated Brazil’s PCC and Comando Vermelho as foreign terrorist organizations. The Colombian splinters are not on the FTO list, but the broader policy shift is reshaping how Washington engages with Latin American security partners.

The Rio Times — Friday, May 29, 2026 — 05:00 BRT — By Sofia Gabriela Martinez