One of the high command of the rebel dissidents of the FARC, who departed from the 2016 peace process, died during a military operation in southwestern Colombia, President Iván Duque announced Monday.
Euclides España, known by the alias Jhonier, was “neutralized,” the president said in a public statement reported by AFP.
He also added that “this is one of the most important blows that is propitiated against the FARC dissidents. And we are talking about a criminal with more than 25 years of murderous and criminal history.
Alias Jhonier had a 29-year career in the ranks of the extinct FARC. He was sent to the south of Colombia, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño to control the income from drug trafficking.
Killed high command in Colombia
Duque also pointed out that “we will reach the lair of these bandits. I want to highlight the actions of the Public Force to combat crime. Alias Jhonier was the one who fueled the criminal actions of alias Mayimbú, whom we are going to fall for sooner rather than later.”
For its part, diego molano, Minister of Defense of Colombia, highlighted that alias Jhonier participated in the Taking of Mitú, in 1998, and the kidnapping of several foreign soldiers.
Likewise, the dejected man was in command of seven structures with more than 1,000 men, with influence in the departments of Cauca and Nariño.
Generally, the territory was disputed with ELN subversives and FARC dissidents linked to the Second Marquetalia.
They intended to generate a monopoly on income from drug trafficking and illegal mining in the Colombian Pacific, expanding their ranks to generate more control of the area, according to the Colombian media outlet El Espectador.
Molano, on his Twitter account, also confirmed the news and said that “with the fall of alias ‘Jhonier’, our Public Force neutralizes one of the greatest threats that commit crimes in Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño. The expansion plans of the FARC dissidents in the southwestern part of the country are truncated. #SinTregua in defense of Colombians »he highlighted on the social network.
Good news for the Valley! I congratulate the Minister of Defense, @Diego_Molano already ours @ForcesMilCol for the operation that neutralized Euclides España, alias ‘Jhonnier’, top leader of the FARC dissidents in the southwestern part of the country. #ManoFirme#He who lives by the sword will die by the sword https://t.co/luHCAtUIOY
— Milton Angulo CD #113 (@miltonhav) January 25, 2022