Suspected FARC dissident leader killed in Colombia as new president hardens security policy
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A man suspected of leading a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was killed in a military operation in central Colombia over the weekend, authorities said, just days after the country’s new president promised an aggressive campaign against armed groups.
The dead man was identified as Hernando Forero Mosquera, known as “El Ruso” (The Russian), a former rebel commander who military intelligence said led Frente 28, one of the many groups formed by FARC members who rejected the 2016 peace accord. President Abelardo de la Espriella confirmed the operation, saying security forces also killed five other alleged members of illegal armed groups and that the strikes sent “a clear and powerful message to all bandits that there is nowhere for them to hide.”
Forero and Frente 28 had drifted far from the political origins of the FARC, which was once Colombia’s largest left-wing rebel group. In recent years, dissident factions like his have become heavily involved in cocaine trafficking and illegal mining, and they are widely considered one of the main forces behind the resurgence of violence in the country.
The military action made for a striking early moment in the presidency of de la Espriella, a right-wing politician who was sworn in on Friday. During his campaign, he promised to go after “narco-terrorism” relentlessly and pledged to use air strikes where needed. His inauguration immediately set his administration apart from that of Gustavo Petro, his predecessor and Colombia’s first left-wing president, whose “total peace” strategy was built on negotiation rather than confrontation. Those talks repeatedly failed as armed groups broke ceasefires and abandoned the negotiating table.
Dissident rebel groups have shown little willingness to bow to the new government’s tough line. On Saturday, just one day after de la Espriella took office, two attacks rattled the country. In Cauca province, a car bomb exploded at a tollbooth and wounded two security guards. In Cesar province, a police officer was killed by explosives dropped from a drone. The attacks underscored the security challenges facing the new administration.
De la Espriella said in a video posted to social media that Forero was an explosives expert and praised the military for the operation. The president added that three more alleged members of the dissident group were killed in the rural part of Meta province where the raid took place. In a separate offensive in Antioquia province, he said, soldiers also killed two alleged members of the Gulf Clan, another powerful criminal organization.
The new government is also counting on international backing for its security push. U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed de la Espriella during the campaign, and on Friday the U.S. State Department announced plans to provide $1 billion in security assistance to Colombia. Washington also welcomed Colombia into “Shield of the Americas,” a U.S.-led alliance of Western Hemisphere countries committed to cooperating against drug-trafficking organizations and transnational crime.
With the new assistance and a more combative approach, Colombia is likely to see an intensification of military pressure on armed groups. Yet the approach carries inherent risks: it can erode the leadership of criminal networks, but it has also, at times, dispersed violence into new territories and made it harder to bring groups back to the negotiating table. Saturday’s attacks were an early sign that the country’s new president faces an adversary that is fragmented, heavily armed and unlikely to surrender quietly.