The head of one of Colombia’s largest guerrilla forces, Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández – alias Iván Mordisco – has called for a coalition with rival rebel groups in response to Washington’s intervention in Venezuela.
Mordisco, who heads the Central General Staff, or Estado Mayor Central (EMC), an offshoot of the now-defunct FARC rebel group, called for an alliance with other guerrilla armies and the Venezuelan military in a video statement dated as being recorded on Wednesday.
The video was shared on multiple Colombian media outlets and Latin America Reports could not independently verify its authenticity.
The proposal fuels fears of a wave of rebel violence in Colombia as retaliation for Maduro’s removal, with many Colombian groups historically using Venezuela as a strategic base.
“The roar of US imperialism is once again ringing out against our sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” said Mordisco in his speech directed at the National Liberation Army (ELN), Segunda Marquetalia, Popular Liberation Army (EPL), and the Venezuelan army.
“We call on you to put our differences aside… let us forge the great insurgent bloc that will drive back the enemies,” added the rebel leader.
Mordisco is one of Colombia’s most wanted rebels, with the government offering a COP$4.45 billion (roughly USD$1 million) reward for information leading to the rebel commander’s capture.
Right now, the EMC and other rebel groups are engaged in localized conflicts to control key drug producing, illegal mining, and transport corridors across the country.
“The announcement… adds a new and volatile dynamic to a security situation in Colombia that already looks very fragile,” Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director at International Crisis Group, told Latin America Reports.
However, it is unclear how Mordisco’s proposal will be received by other rebels.
“A coalition like this has never worked in Colombia, even when it involved groups that were truly ideologically similar in the 1980s and 1990s,” Laura Bonilla, deputy director at the Ideas for Peace Foundation (FIP), a Colombian think tank, told Latin America Reports.
While the ELN has also used Washington’s intervention to play up its role as an anti-imperialist bulwark, it is also engaged in conflict with the EMC in multiple areas of Colombia for control of illicit economies.
There is little trust between the warring groups, and analysts point out that Mordisco may have ulterior motives for proposing an alliance with his rivals.
“It could be possible that, among pressure from a range of rival groups, Iván Mordisco is looking to form temporary alliances,” Dickinson explained.
The EMC may be looking to free up resources and manpower through a truce, especially given a government offensive against the group beginning on January 1 which has killed one of its senior commanders.
Regardless of the real motive behind Mordisco’s proposal, the announcement underscores how U.S. intervention in Venezuela is beginning to impact Colombia’s internal conflict, which saw its deadliest year in over a decade in 2024, according to humanitarian organizations.
Groups like the EMC and ELN have taken advantage of U.S. military aggression to justify themselves as political entities, rather than simply criminal organizations.
“For them, [the intervention] is evidently good news because they were quite short on narratives before this,” said FIP’s Bonilla.
Dickinson also noted how the ELN, with support from the Maduro regime, has strengthened its control of the Colombia-Venezuela border in recent months to ward off its possible use as a “backdoor for U.S. military operations.”
While the rebel groups may not go as far as forming an alliance against Washington’s interference in the region, U.S. intervention in Venezuela already appears to be reshaping Colombia’s internal conflict.
Featured image: Screenshot of alleged video of Iván Mordisco calling on rebel groups, including the ELN, to unite in response to U.S. intervention in Venezuela.
Image credit: Blu Radio via X.
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