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FARC

The FARC were the largest guerrilla group in Latin America until they agreed to disarm in 2016 after a lengthy peace process.

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Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 for 2023

ELN / 16 FEB 2023

InSight Crime has developed its own methodology to rank Venezuela's organized crime groups. Here, we present the strongest.

Record Cocaine Seizures in Colombia as Government Negotiates With Traffickers

COCAINE / 3 FEB 2023

Colombia's negotiations with a range of criminal groups, as part of the Total Peace plan, will be complicated by record…

Pablito’s Plan: Rise of the ELN in Venezuela

COLOMBIA / 3 OCT 2022

One of the ELN's most infamous leader, alias Pablito, has been crucial in helping the Colombian guerrilla group move its…

How Venezuela Became a Cemetery for the ex-FARC Mafia Leadership

COLOMBIA / 3 OCT 2022

Colombian guerrillas evolved from seeing Venezuela as a safe place to retreat to seeing it as a full-blown expansion of…

Venezuela, Colombia, and the ELN at the Crossroads of Peace

COLOMBIA / 3 OCT 2022

While now comfortably established in two countries, the ELN have a chance to return to the negotiating table, according to…

Rebels and Paramilitaries: Colombia’s Guerrillas in Venezuela

COLOMBIA / 3 OCT 2022

Colombian rebels had long been welcome in Venezuela but now, they have arrived in force, bringing conflict with them.

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Investigations

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Femicides in Tibú, Colombia: Cocaine, Gunmen, and a Never-Ending War

COCAINE / 16 NOV 2022
INVESTIGATIONS

The Battle for Apure: Chavismo and the ex-FARC

EX-FARC MAFIA / 13 OCT 2021

Chapters

Inviting War into Venezuela

Apure's Proxy War

The Venezuelan Military: Outfought and Outmatched

The Fallout from Apure and the Enemy Within

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Key Actors

Seuxis Pausías Hernández, alias 'Jesús Santrich'

COLOMBIA / MAY 18, 2021

Seuxis Pausías Hernández Solarte, alias “Jesús Santrich,” was a senior former FARC commander who participated in that guerrilla group's demobilization process before taking up arms again in 2019 to form…

Hernán Darío Velásquez Saldarriaga, alias 'El Paisa'

COLOMBIA / DECEMBER 9, 2021

Hernán Darío Velásquez, alias "El Paisa," was a top former leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Miguel Botache Santillana, alias 'Gentil Duarte'

COLOMBIA / MAY 26, 2022

Miguel Botache Santillana, better known as "Gentil Duarte," was Colombia's most wanted criminal until his death in May 2022.

Géner García Molina, alias 'John 40'

COLOMBIA / JUNE 14, 2021

Géner García Molina, better known as "Jhon 40," is the one who connects the cocaine that leaves southern Colombia with its buyers in Venezuela. If there is one example…

Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias 'Iván Mordisco'

COLOMBIA / OCTOBER 17, 2022

Nestor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco,” was one of Colombia’s principal former FARC commanders until his death in July 2022.

Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias 'Timochenko'

COLOMBIA / JANUARY 28, 2020

Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias "Timochenko," is only the third commander-in-chief in the FARC's nearly 50-year history. Of the three, Timochenko has the most mysterious past. …

Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, alias 'Mono Jojoy'

COLOMBIA / 2017-03-10 00:05:16

Until his death in September 2010, Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, alias "Mono Jojoy," was the top military commander of Colombian rebel group the FARC, head of the feared Eastern Bloc and…

Luciano Marín Arango, alias 'Iván Márquez'

COLOMBIA / SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Luciano Marin Arango, alias “Iván Márquez,” was a senior member of the FARC Secretariat and founded the Second Marquetalia.

Guillermo Leon Saenz Vargas, alias 'Alfonso Cano'

COLOMBIA / 2017-03-10 03:22:31

Guillermo Leon Saenz Vargas, alias Alfonso Cano, was the supreme commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the hemisphere's oldest and deadliest insurgency. He was killed on November 4, 2011.

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Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

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InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

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Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…

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