COLOMBIA — Three and a half weeks into his presidency, Abelardo de la Espriella has overseen the deaths of four senior guerrilla commanders in a rapidly intensifying military campaign against Colombia’s FARC dissident factions — even as an ELN car bombing near the Venezuelan border killed a civilian and wounded eleven, underscoring how far from resolved the country’s security crisis remains.
The Latest Killing: “Felipe” in Valle del Cauca
De la Espriella announced on X early Saturday, August 29, that Colombian Army forces had killed alias “Felipe,” also known as “Arcadio,” during an offensive operation in Valle del Cauca.
Felipe led the Rodrigo Arias company of the Ricardo Velásquez column, part of the Jaime Martínez structure within the FARC dissident faction commanded by Néstor Gregorio Vera, better known as “Iván Mordisco.”
De la Espriella identified Felipe as the structure’s regional chief and held him responsible for multiple attacks on police stations in Dagua and El Queremal using drone-dropped explosives.
Defense Minister Jorge Mora called Felipe’s death “a hard blow to a structure responsible for explosive attacks, drone use, extortion, and threats against the security forces and the population.”
De la Espriella said the encirclement around Iván Mordisco himself continues tightening, warning that the offensive would continue against anyone who attacks Colombia’s security forces or civilian population.