"Sureshot" FARC leader dies, Nikolaj Nielsen

Nikolaj Nielsen — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:42:26 +0000

The leader and founder of Latin America's largest and oldest running left-wing militia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), died of a heart-attack. Colombian intelligence sources claim Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, died on March 26. This has now been confirmed by FARC who will replace Marulanda with Alfonso Cano, a man considered more politically savvy than the former military strategist.

The toD verdict: Under Marulanda, FARC became a 17,000 member-force able to launch successful attacks against a better equipped and US-funded Columbian army. During the 1990's FARC began to lose its insurgent allure as it seized control of the narcotics trade. Through drugs, FARC financed a war that has led to 40,000 dead and has displaced nearly three million people.

Nonetheless, with Marulanda gone, it seems likely that the FARC will come under greater pressure to compromise. Two months ago, FARC's second-in-command, Raul Reyes, was killed in a Colombian air strike at a base inside Ecuador. FARC's failed attempt to recapture its historic La Julia stronghold in December 2006 was followed by a series of arrests that landed FARC members in jail in an area that traditionally supports the movement. Coupled with six years of intense security operations under Columbian President Alvaro Uribe, the four decades of fighting may be nearing an end.

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"Sureshot" FARC leader dies, Nikolaj Nielsen