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News > Latin America

Colombian Minister: Sinaloa Cartel Behind Guacho's Group

  • Family and friends of the three murdered journalists protesting violence. April 19, 2018.

    Family and friends of the three murdered journalists protesting violence. April 19, 2018. | Photo: EFE

Published 2 May 2018
Opinion

Colombia's Defense Minister Villegas says he doesn't believe the Oliver Sinisterra Front has been operating on its own.

The Colombian defense minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, says he's certain that Oliver Sinisterra Front led by “Guacho” will be defeated, but that what really worries him is the international criminal organization behind it.

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Colombian military intelligence estimates Guacho's forces at about 80 people, which makes them think it's not possible that they are operating by themselves, and Villegas suggested that a Mexican drug cartel might be using them to carry out criminal activity in the region.

Addressing the Colombia Senate, Villegas said the communiques Oliver Sinisterra Front released announcing the murder of the three Ecuadorean journalists kidnapped at the border were “beyond” Guacho.

“We still think the communiques are beyond Guacho, that he didn't write them. What I really want to say is: taking into account their preparation and their political opportunism, these actions are beyond the capacities of that group,” said Villegas.

“Guacho has less than 100 people armed and it doesn't represent a big force. We will certainly defeat him. The problem is that, even though he will surely be put to justice, there's a much bigger organization behind him that could be related with transnational organized crime in Mexico, at least,” Villegas said.

But Villegas failed to present evidence to back such declarations, saying only that the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the strongest criminal organizations in Mexico, is trying to “pressure international markets for a product, routes and financing.”

The Oliver Sinisterra Front kidnapped three journalists in March and later executed them when the Ecuadorean government failed to meet their demands. They later kidnapped a couple and there has not been much information about them except speculations.

In a video sent directly to Ecuadorean authorities, kidnappers ask the government to meet their demands using their two victims. “Mr. President, they tell you to help us, to lend a hand, to avoid what happened to the journalists, we have nothing to do with this war,” says one of the kidnapped, while the man and woman are tied by the neck and hands with chains and flanked by two armed men.

On Monday, the Oliver Sinisterra Front asked the Colombian and Ecuadorean government for a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor in return for giving the authorities the bodies of the murdered journalists and releasing the couple, whose current condition is still unknown.

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