Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias ‘Iván Mordisco’

Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco,” leads the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC). The group, made up of multiple fronts, emerged from dissident elements of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC).

Before the 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC, Mordisco commanded the group’s First Front, known as “Armando Ríos.” In June of that year, he became the first commander to reject the peace process, earning him significant influence among other dissident leaders.

He retained command of roughly 400 fighters from the First Front and rose to the head of the EMC in 2022. His fronts now operate in the departments of Guaviare, Vaupés, Meta, Vichada, Amazonas, Putumayo, Casanare, Caquetá, Tolima, Huila, Valle del Cauca, Arauca, Nariño, and Cauca. The group also maintains a significant presence in Venezuela, particularly along the border with Colombia.

How Did Iván Mordisco’s Criminal Career Begin?

Mordisco joined the FARC in the early 2000s, starting as a low-level guerrilla before becoming a sniper and explosives expert in the Armando Ríos Front in San José del Guaviare.

His rise began in 2008, when he temporarily took command of the First Front following the capture of then-leader Gerardo Aguilar, alias “César.” In 2009, Marco Fidel Suárez, alias “Kokoriko,” assumed leadership of the front, and Mordisco became head of the Public Order Company operating in Guaviare and Vaupés. Until 2012, when peace talks began, he focused on forced recruitment and protecting illicit coca crops across both departments, before ultimately becoming commander of the First Front.

In 2015, Mordisco was captured by Colombia’s Special Counter-Narcotics Brigade, but was released shortly afterward under unclear circumstances.

By 2016, it was an open secret that Mordisco opposed the peace process. Midway through that year, he sent a letter to the FARC’s Secretariat in Havana declaring that the First Front would not demobilize. In the letter, he invited all “guerrilleros, guerrilleras, milicianos and milicianas” who disagreed with the peace deal to “join forces” and “continue the insurgent struggle.” With this, Mordisco became the first commander to officially break from the peace process as well as one of the most prominent dissident leaders in southern Colombia.

After the death of fellow dissident leader Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte,” in Venezuela in May 2022, Mordisco took over the dissident fronts previously under Duarte’s command.

In July 2022, the Colombian government claimed it had killed Mordisco in a bombing raid on a FARC dissident camp. But he resurfaced in an October video denying the reports and reaffirming the FARC’s political goals.

In 2023, Mordisco and the EMC agreed to participate in President Gustavo Petro’s flagship Total Peace (Paz Total) policy, which seeks negotiations with the country’s main armed groups. However, the assassination of an Indigenous leader in the department of Cauca in March 2024 marked the end of negotiations between the government and the group led by Mordisco. Following this, the Petro administration deployed several military operations to weaken the dissident leader’s support networks and locate him.

What Criminal Activity is Iván Mordisco Involved In?

Mordisco is known as an especially violent leader. Since taking control of the First Front in 2012, he has overseen extortion targeting business owners, farmers, and rural residents, as well as illegal mining. Colombian authorities have also accused him of recruiting minors.

Under his command, the EMC has expanded coca cultivation and cocaine production, profiting from trafficking corridors through Guaviare, Vaupés, Vichada, and southern Meta. The First Front also opened trafficking routes through northern Amazonas, particularly around Puerto Córdoba and La Pedrera, where the Apaporis and Caquetá Rivers lead into Brazil.

Where does Iván Mordisco Operate?

Iván Mordisco moves freely between the departments of Vaupés, Vichada, and especially Guaviare — namely in the municipalities of Calamar, San José del Guaviare, and Miraflores, with a notable presence in the village of Barranquillita.

He also controls territory along the Guaviare River, near the towns of Charras, Puerto Alegre, Barranco Colorado, Puerto Alvira, and Mocuare.

The EMC maintains a significant presence in other departments, including Meta, Amazonas, Putumayo, Casanare, Caquetá, Tolima, Huila, Valle del Cauca, Arauca, Nariño, and Cauca. It also operates in Colombian territories along the border with Venezuela.

Who are Iván Mordisco’s Allies and Enemies?

Iván Mordisco’s most important ally was Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte,” who led the Seventh Front before his death in Venezuela in 2022 and spearheaded efforts to unify the country’s dissident factions. After Duarte’s death, Mordisco inherited the dissident project, which includes various ex-FARC groups in Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo, and elsewhere.

In March 2024, a deadly attack by Mordisco’s forces on an Indigenous community in Toribío, Cauca, triggered the collapse of the ceasefire with the Colombian government. The incident sparked internal divisions within the EMC, leading to the formation of a breakaway faction led by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias “Calarcá Córdoba.” The two now face off in several territories, especially in Guaviare and Caquetá.

Mordisco’s faction also clashes with the Segunda Marquetalia, another FARC dissident group led by influential commander Luciano Marín Arango, alias “Iván Márquez.” The First Front is believed to have engaged in sporadic skirmishes with the Second Marquetalia.

Mordisco is suspected of orchestrating the 2021 killing of high-ranking Second Marquetalia figure Seuxis Pausías Hernández Solarte, alias “Jesús Santrich,” in Venezuela. He is also believed to have ordered an assassination attempt against Iván Márquez in June 2022, also in Venezuela.

However, both the EMC and the Second Marquetalia suffered major setbacks in 2022 following the deaths of several prominent ex-FARC commanders.

What Lies Ahead for Iván Mordisco?

Iván Mordisco is one of the top targets of Gustavo Petro’s government, and pressure to locate him is steadily increasing.

Since 2024, the Colombian government has carried out at least 12 airstrikes against Mordisco’s security circles in the south of the country. On March 23, 2026, the military launched a bombing operation in a rural area of the department of Vaupés, killing six dissidents, including, reportedly, alias “Lorena,” Mordisco’s romantic partner. Although he was initially believed to have been killed, Colombian authorities later confirmed that he escaped, though he is reportedly wounded.