Ivan Mordisco, the FARC dissident leader returning to the Colombian arena

The decision of Gustavo Petro’s Government to end the ceasefire with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissidence known as Estado Mayor Central puts the spotlight back on alias Ivan Mordisco.

The guerrilla leader climbed positions in the FARC since 2003 and was the first to reject the peace accords signed in 2016.

Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, better known by the alias Iván Mordisco, is again in the eye of the hurricane following the deaths of four indigenous minors who FARC dissidents allegedly killed after escaping forced recruitment conditions.

The Colombian Government accuses Iván Mordisco of being the leader of the Central General Staff (EMC-FARC), one of the dissident groups of the demobilized FARC that did not adhere to the 2016 peace agreement signed under the administration of former President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018).

Mordisco is considered one of the dissidents’ main unifiers, having become the first commander to establish differences with the peace process.

While his role gained greater notoriety since he rejected the accords in 2016, the leader has been in command of the 1st Front ‘Armando Rios’ since 2012.

His history in the guerrillas dates back to 2003 when he joined the FARC as a recruited guerrilla.

A profile prepared by the organization Insight Crime states that within the armed group, he specialized as a sniper and explosives specialist for the First Front in San Jose del Guaviare (in the south-central region of the country).

Mordisco’s role changed in 2009 when the capture of leader Gerardo Aguilar, alias Cesar, forced him to become his front commander temporarily.

He would hold that position until the First Front was left in the hands of Marco Fidel Suarez, alias Kokoriko, allowing Ivan to become the head of the First Front’s Public Order company in Guaviare and Vaupes.

In this context, Mordisco specialized, until 2012, in forced recruitment activities and the protection of illicit crops in these two departments.

Although Ivan Mordisco’s relevance in the internal was growing, the guerrilla remained faithful to the orders given by the FARC Secretariat, which enabled the negotiations that would end the peace agreement signed with Santos.

On the other hand, the leader disagreed, and “his criticism of the peace talks between the guerrillas and the National Government in Havana, Cuba, increased over time,” according to the organization dedicated to the study of organized crime.

Following the death of Miguel Botache Santillana, alias Gentil Duarte, in Venezuela in May 2022, Ivan Mordisco became the commander of the EMC-FARC, assuming leadership and filling the power vacuum left by Duarte.

“We are the same Farc of 1964″, he had assured in a video in October 2022, when he vindicated the guerrillas’ historical actions and recalled why he rejected the agreement proposed by Santos.

Ivan Mordisco often claims the Clandestine Communist Party of Colombia (PCCC or PC3), a political organization without legal recognition and related to FARC dissidents.

In addition to remaining mobilized, the EMC maintains a confrontation with the Segunda Marquetalia, the other FARC dissident group led by alias Ivan Marquez.

Mordisco was declared killed by the Colombian Government on July 11, 2022, allegedly after the Colombian Army attacked the camp commanded by Mordisco in the department of Caquetá (central-south).

“The last great leader of the FARC has fallen, and the final blow has been dealt to the dissidents,” wrote the then Minister of Defense, Diego Molano.

However, the leader denied his death with a new appearance in April 2023, when he expressed the EMC’s willingness to join the new peace process promoted by the Government of Gustavo Petro.

In that sense, the EMC had subscribed to the ceasefire negotiated with the Executive, waiting to start peace talks.

The last appearance of Mordisco had been in April in an act before 6,000 people in the savannas of Yari.

According to El Espectador, Mordisco ratified that delegates had already been appointed to dialogue with the Government and remarked his “full conviction and hope that from this starting point, we can begin to build the road map that will help Colombia to eradicate the causes that gave rise to the armed conflict”.

Also, at that meeting, he called on the National Liberation Army (ELN) to end confrontations with FARC dissidents.

The link changed again with the death of the four minors on May 21 in the department of Putumayo (southwest).

For Petro’s administration, this was “a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law” by “this illegal organization”, leading to the ceasefire’s end.

With information from Sputnik

News Colombia, English news Colombia, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)