Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Saturday that security forces had killed Ivan Idrobo, known by the alias Marlon, one of the country’s most senior FARC dissident commanders and the second-in-command to Nestor Vera, better known as Ivan Mordisco.
Petro said Marlon died during combat operations and described the event as the most significant strike against armed criminal organizations operating in western Colombia. Speaking after the operation, the president said he generally avoids discussing those who have died in the country’s conflict but noted Marlon’s prominent role within dissident armed groups and his alleged responsibility for violence in the southwestern Cauca region.
“I do not like to speak about the dead because they are Colombians who should not be dead if there were peace,” Petro said. He identified Marlon as the top leader of the Cauca front and stated that he had confronted the government while carrying out attacks that affected Indigenous communities and residents of Cauca.
Petro said the operation represented “the hardest blow” delivered to criminal armed structures in western Colombia. He also pointed to the seizure of weapons, arrests of suspected members, and the recovery of children from the organization as evidence that the group’s structure in Cauca had been effectively defeated.
While emphasizing that peace remains the government’s objective, Petro said security operations would continue against armed groups. “Peace is the path, but not with naivety,” he said, adding that Colombia could distance itself from illicit economies and move toward lasting peace.
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Marlon was killed during a joint operation carried out by the Armed Forces and the National Police in the village of San Isidro, a rural area of Buenaventura in Valle del Cauca department. According to Sanchez, Marlon was one of the most wanted figures in the country’s southwest.
The defense minister described him as “the most dangerous murderer, terrorist and recruiter of minors” in the region. Sanchez also stated that Marlon was wanted by authorities in the United States on drug trafficking charges and because of alleged links to Mexican cartels.
Marlon led the Jaime Martinez Bloc, one of the strongest units within the Central General Staff, known by its Spanish acronym EMC. Authorities accused him of coordinating armed attacks, overseeing extortion operations, and directing efforts to maintain territorial control across several areas of Valle del Cauca.
Security agencies said Marlon had more than 15 years of involvement in criminal activity. Before joining dissident factions that rejected the peace process, he had been a member of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Authorities said he had previously been convicted of crimes related to rebellion and arms trafficking before returning to armed activity in 2019, three years after the signing of Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement.
The announcement of Marlon’s death came just 12 hours before the start of Colombia’s presidential runoff election between far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella and leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda. Security issues have been a central topic throughout the campaign, reflecting concerns over deteriorating public order and the expanding activities of illegal armed groups across several regions of the country.
