Colombia’s Defence Minister, Pedro Sánchez, says that he is finally offering a record reward for the information leading to the capture of a rebel leader known as “Marlon”. “Marlon”, whose real name is Iván Jacob Idrobo Arredondo, is suspected of having ordered Saturday’s bomb attack on the Pan-American Highway, in which 20 people were killed. This attack is one of the deadliest attacks that people have seen. It’s targeting many civilians and is coming in just over a month before the presidential elections that have been scheduled for May 31st.
Sánchez said the 5bn ($1.4m) peso reward for “Marlon” which has been the highest that has been offered by Colombia alone. The defence minister had accused “Marlon” of being the one Saturday’s attack as well as numerous of other attacks in the provinces of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, in the part of south-western Colombia, over the weekend. There was no evidence or details that have been released to the people.
In the deadliest of these incidents, a little over 15 women and five men were killed when the explosive device was detonated on the motorway connecting the cities of Cali and Popayán, the governor of Cauca province said. Several buses and other vehicles were destroyed in the blast that it had given off, which had opened up a huge crater “Marlon” that belongs to an armed group led by a bunch of dissident rebel known by the alias of Iván Mordisco, Colombia’s most wanted man. These men are only here to cause trouble, and do nothing good. Mordisco had once formed part of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) but had parted away from the rebel group as it had negotiated the 2016 peace deal with the government. He is considered to be Colombia’s next most powerful dissident rebel leader. His group of people engages in very illegal mining and extortion as well as drug trafficking.
Cauca Governor Octavio Guzmán described Saturday’s explosive attack as the “most brutal and ruthless attack against the civilian population in decades”. President Gustavo Petro described those behind it as “terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers” and ordered additional troops to the region. Petro’s term ends in August of this year. Barred by the constitution from running for a second term, he has given his backing to the left wing candidate, Iván Cepeda. Opinion polls suggest that Cepeda, who has called for more negotiation efforts with the rebels, that is currently ahead of several candidates from the right wing opposition, who are calling for a way tougher approach. The new president who is due to be chosen on the 31 of May, with a possible run off scheduled for the 21 of June.
