FARC confirms that rebel leader is dead

Sign up for email newsletters now!

Never miss a McClatchy story

By Tyler Bridges | Miami Herald

CARACAS — The longtime leader of Colombia's FARC guerrillas is dead, a rebel leader confirmed Sunday, plunging Latin America's oldest and most powerful insurgency into an uncertain future at a time when a government offensive already had the Marxist group on the run.

Manuel "Sure Shot" Marulanda died on March 26 of natural causes, guerrilla senior commander Timoleon Jimenez said, in a video broadcast by the Venezuela-based Telesur network. Marulanda was 78 or 80 years old.

Jimenez corroborated a statement from the Colombian Ministry of Defense on Saturday that many found hard to believe because Marulanda's death has been reported frequently over the years. Marulanda died "in the arms of his companion, surrounded by bodyguards and all the units who comprised his security," Jimenez said, adding that Marulanda's death came after an undisclosed illness.

Read the full story at MiamiHerald.com.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

We welcome comments. To post one, you must sign in using either your McClatchyDC login or your login for Facebook, Twitter or Disqus. Just click the appropriate box below.

Please keep your comment civil, short and to the point. Obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. If you find a comment abusive or inappropriate, please flag it for the moderator by placing your cursor on the comment, then clicking the "flag" link that appears. Thanks for your participation.