A mid-level commander of the FARC, allegedly involved in the 2002 mortar attack on the inauguration ceremony of former President Alvaro Uribe, has been arrested in central Colombia, said authorities Saturday.
Jaime Aguilar, known in the rebel organization as “Dionisio Rayo,” was arrested in the Meta department while allegedly driving a Hummer H3 truck to the capital Bogota for medical treatment.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Rayo was involved in the August 2002 mortar attack on Uribe’s inauguration in central Bogota. The mortar attack failed to hit the ceremony held on the central Bolivar square, but killed at least 14 in a nearby slum.
The arrested rebel commander is the brother of “Cesar,” a former rebel commander who was arrested in 2008 during a military operation successfully rescuing former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three American military contractors and 11 members of the armed forces.
According to the authorities, Rayo had been with the FARC for 27 years.
