Luciano Marín Arango, alias “Iván Márquez,” is a former guerrilla commander who rejected a 2016 peace agreement and formed a dissident group known as the Second Marquetalia (Segunda Marquetalia).

Márquez, as the former second-in-command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), attracted many ex-guerrillas back to criminality in the wake of the peace accords, and received pledges of loyalty from certain ex-FARC mafia groups.

After Colombian President Gustavo Petro launched his Total Peace (Paz Total) policy, which aims to negotiate with the country’s armed and criminal groups, Márquez and the Segunda Marquetalia have shown interest in negotiating with the government. However, the talks have not progressed beyond the initial stages. 

History

Iván Márquez was born on June 6, 1955, in Florencia, the capital of Colombia’s southern Caquetá department. Like many of the FARC’s oldest members, Márquez was part of the Colombian Communist Party Youth Organization (Juventud Comunista Colombiana – JUCO), joining in 1977.

As a member of the JUCO, he supported the FARC in part by taking provisions to the group in the countryside. He joined the FARC in 1985 as a political commissioner for one of the rebels’ most active units, the 14th Front in Caquetá.

In the early 1980s, as part of a peace process between the Colombian government and the FARC, Márquez became a top emissary for the rebels’ nascent political party, the Patriotic Union (Union Patriótica – UP). He was later elected as a city council member and then as an alternate congressman for Caquetá. 

In 1987, as the persecution of UP members by right-wing paramilitaries intensified, the FARC recalled Márquez and other top rebel emissaries in the party. The rebels named him commander of the Southwest Bloc for his efforts with the UP.

In the 1990s, Márquez was transferred to the northwestern part of the country, where he took part in a bloody battle for control of the Urabá region along the Colombia-Panama border.

This earned Márquez respect within the FARC as a strong military commander, complementing his political skills. The combination of these two abilities contributed to his trajectory as an international representative of the organization. 

His activities and influence spread far and wide. He became the guerrillas’ top foreign emissary, and intelligence officials in Colombia said he headed efforts to infiltrate universities and create student federations to support the FARC’s political and military strategy in Colombian cities.

Thanks to his political and diplomatic skills, Márquez was chosen to head the FARC’s delegation for peace talks with the Colombian government in 2012. He continued to head the guerrillas’ negotiating team after the talks moved to Havana, Cuba in November of that year.

After four years at the negotiating table, the FARC and the government signed peace accords in 2016. Márquez joined the body created to monitor implementation of the deal, and took a leadership position within the political party that replaced the rebel group.

However, the peace process was beset by turmoil in April 2018 after US drug charges led to the arrest of FARC leader Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte, alias “Jesús Santrich.” Márquez protested the arrest of his fellow former guerrilla and refused his post as a senator in the Colombian congress, which had been granted to him as part of the accords. He also ramped up his criticisms of the peace process and demanded that the government comply with stipulations in the agreement that had not been fulfilled, such as funding projects for ex-FARC members.

Amid this uncertainty, Márquez moved to a reintegration camp headed by former FARC commander Hernán Darío Velásquez, alias “El Paisa,” who previously led the militant Teófilo Forero Mobile Column.

Sometime later, he fled from the camp along with El Paisa and went into hiding. He was not heard from until May 2019, when he sent a message via Twitter saying that the FARC guerrillas made a “grave error” when they put down their weapons.

A few months later, in August 2019, Márquez — wearing fatigues and carrying a pistol — declared in a video published on YouTube that the Colombian government had “betrayed” the peace accords. He said his group, dubbed the Second Marquetalia in reference to the FARC’s original stronghold, would return to war.

Márquez set up a base of operations in Venezuela, capitalizing on opportunities to get involved in drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and contraband. However, he faced significant setbacks in his attempts to gain control of the border region. At the end of 2021, three of his senior commanders were killed in Venezuela, leaving Márquez dangerously alone and exposed.

In December 2021, after the deaths of some of his closest allies, Márquez allegedly went into hiding. He was injured in an attack in 2022, and reports surfaced in 2023 that he had died from those injuries. But in 2024 he appeared in a video and later at a public event, confirming that he is still alive.

Criminal Activities

Iván Márquez has overseen the FARC’s drug policies, directing and controlling the production, manufacture, and distribution of cocaine. He also commanded FARC units accused of kidnapping, extortion and murder.

As the head of the Second Marquetalia, troops under his command control much of the drug trafficking along the border between Colombia and Venezuela, specifically in the Colombian department of Arauca and the Venezuelan state of Apure.

Geography

Before heading up the FARC’s peace negotiating team, Márquez primarily operated in northern Colombia. As commander of the Caribbean Bloc, his zones of influence included the Serranía del Perijá mountain range, the departments of La Guajira and Cesar, and some regions along the Colombia-Venezuela border.

While groups associated with the Second Marquetalia operated elsewhere in Colombia, its base of operations since 2019 has been the Venezuelan state of Apure. 

Allies and Enemies

Historically, the main enemies of FARC leaders like Márquez have included extreme right-wing elements of Colombia’s political elite, some of whom have had ties to paramilitary groups.

However, the FARC has seen its share of infighting as well. A rift formed in its ruling body when Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias “Timochenko,” assumed leadership of the FARC.

The division became most evident as the FARC transitioned into a political party. Márquez earned more votes than Timochenko to be elected to the party’s national directorate after running on a more critical line regarding the implementation of the peace agreement.

Following his return to criminality and the creation of the Second Marquetalia, Márquez made numerous enemies. His troops frequently clashed with other ex-FARC mafia groups, like those commanded by Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte,” as well as the biggest remaining rebel group in Colombia, the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN). 

The Second Marquetalia also came under sustained pressure from Colombian and Venezuelan authorities, as three top commanders, El Paisa, Jesús Santrich, and Henry Castellanos Garzón, alias “Romaña,” were all killed in Venezuela in 2021.

Prospects

Following the deaths of most of the Second Marquetalia leadership, Márquez’s power and that of his group had significantly weakened ahead of Total Peace talks with the Gustavo Petro administration. The progress of peace negotiations with the Segunda Marquetalia has been impeded by the lack of clarity regarding the group’s status as a politically motivated insurgent group and their previous demobilization under the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC.