The head of the oldest leftist Colombian rebel group was killed by the military over the weekend. President Juan Manuel Santos called it “the hardest blow to this organization in its entire history,” according to media reports.
“I want to send a message to each and every member of this organization: demobilize. Because if you don’t, as we’ve said so many times and as we’ve shown, you will end up in jail or in a tomb,” Santos said, according to The Associated Press.
Alfonso Cano was discovered dead in a remote area in the southwestern state of Cauca, the news agency said.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, confirmed the death of its leader Alfonso Cano but said it would not relent in putting pressure on the Colombian government. “There is a political line which will be continued,” reads a statement from the rebel leadership, according to Colombia Reports.
FARC, a Marxist-Leninist group, is the largest and oldest separatist group in Colombia, having been accused by rights groups of violations and atrocities. Human Rights Watch has accused the group of killing civilians and indigenous people, of using child soldiers, and carrying out extrajudicial executions.
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