In the Miraflores Palace, the epicenter of power in Venezuela, a fissure is brewing that touches Nicolás Maduro and that arouses interest among intelligence agencies because it would be the first that is known in the central core of the regime.
And everything was uncovered after the alleged fall of the Colombian peace deserter, Iván Márquez, who would have been murdered last Friday in an attack perpetrated by dissident gangs and drug traffickers in Venezuelan territory; although this Tuesday the version emerged that he is injured and treated in Caracas.
The reason? While there is a sector that tends to maintain the protection of illegal Colombians, and that Maduro leads, there is another that has already begun to question the benefits of that illicit association and that is coordinated by Diosdado Cabello, the number two of the regime.
The genesis of the dispute
In Venezuela, “Márquez” was hiding, even near the border with Colombia, given the impossibility of returning to national territory to remain in charge of the “Second Marquetalia”, an illegal group that he armed in 2019.
What is known is that Márquez, in the first quarter of this 2022, unsuccessfully tried to fly to Cuba or Nicaragua, countries in which he had contacts and where he managed to establish relations with people close to those governments due to his time in talks with the FARC. (2016).
But he did not manage to leave the border zone. On the one hand, he got involved in a war with the dissidence that at the time was managed by “Gentil Duarte”, another who was killed in May in the border region and whose death was pinned on “Iván Márquez”.
This was done, according to sources on the ground and in intelligence, by the successor of “Duarte” and who is known as “Iván Mordisco”. There is even an unofficial version that realizes that the latter tried to kill “Márquez” in retaliation for the murder of his immediate boss.
In addition, as EL COLOMBIANO revealed at the time, “Márquez” and “Duarte” had an appointment at the end of 2021 to try to forge a criminal alliance for control of the illegal economy on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, but the former was He wanted to impose the second, which led to a harsh clash that would have had its epilogue with the death of both in the middle of the war that was declared.
First crack in the regime?
It is at this point that the possible fissure jumps. On the one hand, Maduro is adamant that the tacit support for the criminal activity of Colombian gangs on the border, such as dissidents and the ELN, gives him room to maneuver to influence Colombia’s internal affairs.
The reason is that any attempt at rapprochement or persecution needs their support and that of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (Fanb) which, thanks to its permissiveness, has its top commanders like the new rich Venezuelans. This has guaranteed loyalty to the regime and, in contrast, is one of the reasons why the United States has Maduro and, among others, his Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, under investigation for drug trafficking.
All have illegal businesses, according to the United States, and are responsible for trafficking cocaine to North America and Europe.
And that’s where the regime’s number two comes into play. Diosdado Cabello, whom intelligence reports point to as one of the people who has allegedly told Maduro that it is time to remove support from Colombian dissidents and drug gangs who barricaded themselves in Venezuelan territory with the approval of Miraflores.
Although Cabello is also papered in the United States and a reward of 10 million dollars is offered for his capture – for Maduro and Padrino there are similar offers – he is of the thesis that by removing the support from the Colombian groups he is lowered. to the pressure they have from Washington and would allow them to more easily normalize the relationship with the incoming government of Gustavo Petro.
But, in addition, unofficially, the thesis is being considered that another reason is that it would allow them to have more direct control over the illegal economies that move along the common border.
That, in addition, would leave them room for maneuver to maintain relations with illegal sectors such as Hezbollah – also for this reason the United States prosecutes them – and alleged Russian mafias that are arriving in that country and have a broader illicit market.
successors
Therefore, there is an expectation about who would assume command of the “Second Marquetalia” and what kind of relationship they would have with the regime. There is talk of “Jhon 40”, a former guerrilla who had been supporting the criminal activity of “Márquez” and whom some sources place in Venezuela. And, on the other, from “Aldinever”, another dissident who also has a red Interpol circular.
Any of them will not only have to relate to the Maduro regime to continue in Venezuelan territory, but will also have to avoid the war that “Márquez” left open with “Mordisco” and see how they deal with the ELN, the other group that wants their slice of border illegality.
And, in the end, if Petro normalizes relations with Caracas, that Maduro-Diosdado fissure would be a diplomatic front to address and prevent that process from being affected.
The versions about the fall of “Márquez”
There are two hypotheses about the discharge of “Iván Márquez”. On the one hand, it is said that he was killed in the border area with Colombia due to the dispute he had with the “Iván Mordisco” dissidence. And, on the other hand, there was talk that a commando came to El Callao, in the State of Bolívar, far from Colombia, to kill him. Both are still being verified and this Tuesday it was said that he is injured in Caracas.