“His soul is infected with drug trafficking”: The FARC’s message to the President of Colombia
For the subversives — the newspaper El Espectador describes — Duque and Uribe are “a couple of crazy people on the loose” who act against common sense
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — People’s Army (FARC-EP) addressed a statement to President Iván Duque. In their opinion, “the highest position in the Nation has been too big for the shoes” of Alvaro Uribe’s pupil.
Months ago, a fraction of the guerrilla group took up arms after Duque decided to break with the Peace Accords signed in 2016. The president began persecuting and executing the guerrillas who had joined the disarmament process to reintegrate into society.
The main protagonist of the recent message was former senator Iván Márquez, of the Partido Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común (FARC) party.
In the communiqué, several guerrilla leaders referred to the current situation in Colombia. They took the opportunity to demand the resignation of Duque, as well as that of his vice president, Marta Lucía Ramírez.
In addition to Márquez, other leaders who signed the statement were Jesús Santrich, El Paisa, Aldinever Morantes, Walter Mendoza and Romaña. They all denounced that Duque “has a soul infected by drug trafficking, electoral fraud and vote buying; and his hands stained with blood”.
In the letter, they describe Duque’s governmental period, “on behalf of Uribe”, as a curse that is damaging the future of the country, in an irrational and absurd way.
According to Márquez and his companions, recently Colombia had the illusion about the possibility of inaugurating a new era of peace. But, “the Duque-Uribe government made the destruction of the most beautiful dream of Colombians, the main objective of its strategy”.
“Duque and Uribe are a couple of crazy people on the loose”
For the subversives — the newspaper El Espectador describes — Duque and Uribe are “a couple of crazy people on the loose” who act against common sense. Both, not only “set the country on fire”, but also seek, “under Washington’s urging”, to set the neighborhood on fire: Venezuela.
“This war that we are living is imposed by criminal minds that believe that, by diverting attention to its horrors, they will be able to sink definitively into the pit of impunity and oblivion, Álvaro Uribe’s responsibility for decades of paramilitary violence from the State; and simultaneously eclipse the truth of their alliances with drug trafficking”.
The group explains in the letter that drug trafficking and paramilitarism have clear missions in the Duque government. “To obstruct justice, steal the treasury, unleash corruption, violent dispossession of land, and the impudence to govern only for the benefit of the powerful”.
The FARC even explains that, “Uribe must have on the altar of his heart, burning candles of gratitude to Pablo Escobar, the Ochoa Vásquez, Chapo Guzmán … and the United States government that protects him”.
Along these lines, they warn that Colombia “knows very well” that Duque was elected president “thanks to money from cocaine trafficking”. They also refer to the deceased rancher investigated for drug trafficking José Ñeñe Hernández, murdered in Brazil in 2019. This character — in several leaked audios — talks about an alleged purchase of votes to benefit Duque’s election.
Likewise, the FARC denounce that Ñeñe Hernández was “a friend of Uribe, Duque, anti-narcotics generals and others who made planes from the colombian air force available to him for safe travel”.
Likewise, they condemn that the Executive persecutes “with fury” the poor coca grower peasant. While, on the other hand, it embraces the capo, “sings and dances with him, and even invites him to the Palace” of Nariño, headquarters of the Executive.
FARC: Duque must go
For all this, the FARC insist that Duque must “leave the Presidency before his time is up”. The reason? They allege that he is an “illegitimate president” -for buying votes and bribing- who “the highest office in the Nation is too big for his shoes”.
In addition, they add that Duque wants to generalize chaos by destroying the balance of powers. “By incurring in contempt and public questioning of decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice”.
The rebel group, that has been fighting for more than 60 years for political change, also refers to the Supreme Court ruling against Uribe. The former president is linked to acts of corruption, bribery and crimes against humanity. Precisely, the highest court opened an investigation in July 2018, but for bribing witnesses who link him with paramilitarism so as to change their testimonies.
The FARC also mentioned the ruling that obliges the Ministry of Defense to apologize to relatives of victims of police and military abuse. The most recent case is that of the lawyer, Javier Ordoñez, murdered by the brutality of the security officials.
In addition, they warn that the Government “wants to wipe out the social mobilizations that are shaking the country”, because “Colombia no longer wants the dictatorship”.
“No more tolerance with Iván Duque, we have to close the way to tyranny, ineptitude and bad government. The coronavirus, which had saved him from anger and popular outrage on the streets, no longer serves to appease discontent. Much less their boring and bland daily appearances on television”, says the FARC.
They add that Duque’s “hypocritical words” are “useless”. “The Government, instead of helping the poor in confinement and without food, helped the entrepreneurs who have everything. They did not even distribute free masks in the working class neighborhoods”.
Duque and Uribe only want to save the impunity
They also specify that Duque “wants Samson and all the Philistines to die”, while he can save Uribe from jail and judicial punishment. “Not so much because of his condition as the czar of false witnesses, but because of his crimes against humanity”.
The guerrillas warn Colombia that Duque, Uribe and the Democratic Center party intend to “dynamite the Court with contempt and disregard” for the institution. Between all of them, they try to impose a judicial reform that allows them to build an institutional branch that “guarantees impunity for their political boss and surrendered to his evil law firm”.
On the other hand, the FARC-EP allege that Colombia “does not want a fake government”. On the contrary, they want one “truly democratic, inclusive, of the people and for the people, of a democratic coalition that guarantees peace”.
“Without betrayal. One that gives land titles to the peasants, with a political reform and a chancellery of peace and brotherhood with Latin America”, they add.
Therefore, they defend that for this, Colombia must eradicate corruption and begin to listen to social sectors such as women, students and indigenous people.
Likewise, they maintain that the people must insist with protests, street demonstrations and the joint call for a change of government.
FARC to “turn to the streets”
“Coming out of the dark night of the pandemic”, Colombia must take to the streets with marches, sit-ins and ‘cacerolazos’ to shout its disagreement against the bad government. The FARC also warns that an end to repression, constitutional respect for social protest and punishment for those responsible for the “massacres of defenseless citizens in Bogotá” should be advocated.
It also advocates putting an end to the extermination of social leaders, peasants, indigenous people and ex-combatants, as well as the full clarification of the “ñeñepolitics”.
“Revocation of all those corrupted by the ill-gotten money of ‘Ñeñe’ Hernández today linked to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Power. It should start with the vice president, Marta Lucía Ramírez, because of her links with paramilitarism and with the mobster and money launderer, Memo Fantasma”.
“No more impunity for Álvaro Uribe, violent land stripper and author of the most horrific crimes against humanity” they specifically stated.
The guerrillas conclude their letter with a call for unity and asking for an “end to impunity with exemplary judicial punishment” for ‘political houses’ of the caliber of the Char and the Gerlein. Also for “all the criminals who have remained in politics through electoral fraud and vote buying. Jail and loss of political rights for those denounced by Aída Merlano”.
At the end of August 2019, after a year of his disappearance from the Territorial Space and Reincorporation of Miravalle (Caquetá), the former peace negotiator, Iván Márquez, reappeared to announce to the world that the FARC-EP was reborn, as a result of what he called in his speech “the betrayal of the Peace Agreement”, signed between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas, in Cuba, at the end of 2016.
