Is the FARC Political Experiment Dead in the Water? By Tristan Clavel - InSight Crime
The FARC political party appears in disarray as it celebrates its first birthday, and the internal fracture rocking the political movement one year after its inauguration could seriously damage the ongoing implementation of peace.
Concern is growing over the absence of several top leaders of the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común – FARC), Colombia’s El País reported on September 3, a day after the political party, held its second-ever national congress.
Dozens were absent from the three-day summit, but the no-show of the party’s second-in-command Luciano Marín Arango, who still goes by his nom de guerre “Iván Márquez”, and two emblematic figures of the former guerrilla group, Hernán Darío Velásquez, most commonly known as “El Paisa,” and Henry Castellanos, alias “Romaña”, were particularly noticed and could spell serious trouble for the FARC…