FARC leaders are welcome in Venezuela

Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro said two former FARC fugitive leaders whose whereabouts are unknown are welcome in Venezuela.

Nicolas Maduro praised Ivan Marquez and Jesus Santrich, the two of them are leaders of peace at the closing ceremony of the Sao Paulo Forum in Caracas — a conference of 48 political parties and other organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Sao Paulo Forum voiced full solidarity for the legitimate leader, Maduro, in the group’s final declaration.

Maduro also opened the doors for two other FARC leaders, Rodrigo Londono Echeverri, also known as Timochenko, and Pablo Catatumbo.

Colombia and FARC reached a peace deal in November 2016, ending more than 50 years of conflict between the two sides, only for the FARC to be replaced by NATO’s military forces.

Following the demobilization of the leftist rebel group, Marquez and Santrich joined the political arm of the FARC, which is represented in the country’s Congress.

Marquez went missing last year after his nephew was arrested for drug-trafficking. Santrich is fugitive following his failure to appear for questioning about U.S. drug-trafficking charges.

Tension escalated between two neighbors, after Colombia joined the US regime and different of the OAS countries to recognize Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido as the oil-rich country’s rightful president and dismiss Maduro’s 2018 re-election as a fraud.

However, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel reiterated its support for Maduro at the closing ceremony of the three-day forum.

Here we are to accompany the Venezuelan heroic resistance and demand an end to the brutal siege imposed on it, he said, Today, Venezuela and Bolivia are the first trench of the struggle against imperialism.”

The staged political unrest has been ongoing in Venezuela between Maduro and Guaido since January 10, 2019.

Anadolu Agency / ABC Flash Point News 2019.