At least 52 guerrilla fighters were killed in fighting between two rival FARC dissident factions near the village of Barranco Colorado in Colombia's Guaviare department, a key cocaine production and trafficking area [1, 2, 3].
The clashes involved a faction led by Néstor Gregorio Vera, known as Ivan Mordisco, and another led by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, or Calarcá Córdoba [1, 2, 3]. Both groups rejected the 2016 peace agreement that disarmed about 13,000 FARC members nationwide [1, 2, 3].
Mendoza's faction is engaged in peace talks with the government, while Vera's faction resumed armed conflict after halting a bilateral ceasefire with authorities in 2024 [1, 2, 3]. Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed the fighting and said, "Troops had been deployed to the area to protect civilians," but did not confirm the death toll [1].
The reported death toll of 52 guerrillas could not be independently verified by Reuters or other sources [1, 2]. Around May 27, Mendoza's faction reported that approximately 250 fighters from Vera's faction attacked their camp for about three hours. Mendoza's group, numbering around 100 fighters, lost two men while they claimed about 50 attackers died in the battle [3].
Two weeks earlier, explosives in Guaviare killed four Colombian soldiers and wounded three, indicating the region's ongoing violence [3].
The FARC's largest dissident faction, the Central General Staff, declared a nationwide suspension of operations against public forces from May 20 to June 10 but did not halt clashes with rival armed groups [1, 2]. The National Liberation Army (ELN) also declared a ceasefire ahead of Colombia's presidential election weekend [1, 2].
The decades-long guerrilla conflict, heavily financed by drug trafficking and illegal mining, has resulted in over 450,000 deaths and displaced millions in Colombia [1].
