On October 25, Attorney General Francisco Barbosa announced that next week the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, will be summoned to testify to explain why he met with Luciano Marín Arango, alias ‘Iván Márquez’, commander of the dissident group of FARC Second Marquetalia. It should be noted that ‘Iván Márquez’ had an arrest warrant against him, and even if he returned to the country, he would have met with the peace commissioner.
In dialogue with La W, prosecutor Barbosa decided whether these meetings could be an illegal act on the part of the high commissioner.
In this regard, the head of the prosecuting body assured that there are several criminal proceedings open against ‘Iván Márquez’ in the Attorney General’s Office, as well as an arrest warrant for extradition purposes with a request from the United States.
For this reason, he stated that, if it is confirmed that the High Commissioner for Peace has publicly indicated that he met with ‘Iván Márquez’ in Colombia, it is believed that there will be a resolution indicating the start of a process of peace dialogue with the Second Marquetalia. However, he assured me that the prosecutor’s office is not aware of that resolution.
“We have resolutions with other organizations, and (on that basis) I suspended the arrest warrants for people from the Central General Staff of the FARC dissidents and also from the ELN (…) in the case of’Iván Márquez’, We are talking from one of the negotiators of the 2016 peace agreement where there are specific rules. There is no resolution of the Second Marquetalia and no arrest warrant requested by the National Government,” he explained.
In that sense, the prosecutor added that within the framework of the process and the functions of the high commissioner as a public servant, the call was made to Danilo Rueda to “indicate precisely under what conditions (the meeting took place), why the conversation happened with that person, and where they are.”
He also assured that this call was made within the framework of his functions as Attorney General of the Nation and that Rueda will go before the accusing body to present a statement because “this is not an interrogation. ”
Will the high commissioner meet with ‘Iván Márquez’?
When asked about whether or not the high commissioner could meet with ‘Iván Márquez’, Barbosa replied, “That will be determined by the autonomous and independent prosecutor, if he can do it.”
Regarding this, he added: “I am not competent to determine this, because what will be done is a situation within a criminal process, so it is an autonomous and independent prosecutor who says whether Danilo Rueda can meet or not, whether there are crimes or not, whether there is obstruction of justice or not.”
Because of this, he stated that “he has no idea what could happen; it’s any scenario”, as it should be clarified in the coming days with Danilo Rueda’s statements.
Can ‘Iván Márquez’ get a second chance?
Considering that ‘Iván Márquez’ is a fugitive from justice and failed to fulfill a peace agreement he signed, Barbosa answered whether or not he had the possibility of a second chance.
In relation to this, the prosecutor assured that until now no request has been sent to revoke the arrest warrant, so the Prosecutor’s Office must analyze this particular case because “it has not been studied yet.”
“He is a person who has an arrest warrant for extradition purposes, has a request from the North American authorities, and is the chief negotiator in Havana. No case like this has been studied by the Prosecutor’s Office in more than 60 people we have analyzed from those sent to us by the National Government. All this will depend on the legal analysis; I do not expect anything because I do not know the content of the request when it is presented to the national government,” he revealed.
The summoning of Prosecutor Barbosa
Prosecutor Barbosa announced that he will summon him to testify before High Commissioner for Peace Danilo Rueda about his meetings with Luciano Marin Arango, alias ‘Ivan Marquez’, commander of the Farc dissident group Second Marquetalia.
“We will call Mr. Danilo Rueda next week to explain to us the circumstances of the time, manner, and place in which he had contact with this subject outside the law,” the attorney general said in a press conference when warned of the need for the official to give all the explanations about ‘Iván Márquez’.
In addition, the head of the prosecuting body said that the officers “cannot do what they consider appropriate,” but instead have an obligation to report this type of situation and “more so when it concerns people who are outside the legal system to bypass the judicial authorities or deliver the relevant information.”
It should be remembered that last August, during the installation of the Participation Committee on the dialogue table between the government and the ELN guerrillas, High Commissioner Danilo Rueda spoke about the information that ‘Iván Márquez’ is believed to be dead. “The last time I had direct contact, he was alive; he was fine. “After being informed of possible death or death, I also had corroboration that he was alive.”
Weeks before these statements, information spread about the alleged death of the guerrilla leader in a hospital in Caracas (Venezuela) due to his failure to heal the wounds he received after the attack.
