Colombian Military Forces Commander Freddy Padilla denied the reports and stressed that rumours originated in Venezuelan media reports and not in a Colombian Army informant.’That version is unfounded,’ Padilla said. ‘With the investigations that we have carried out, we conclude that this version is not true.’Hours earlier, President Álvaro Uribe had called upon the country’s security forces to investigate reports to that effect.According to various Colombian media, an alleged informant of the Army said a top FARC boss died near the border with Venezuela – it wasn’t clear on which side – in clashes with Colombian or Venezuelan troops.’Iván Márquez’ and ‘Timotchenko’, two members of the seven-member FARC leadership, are believed to be active in the area.’I have no information on that, we are going to investigate it,’ Uribe told reporters in Cali.Márquez met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in November in Caracas, when Chávez was charged with mediating between the rebels and the Colombian government in search of an exchange of hostages held by the rebels for imprisoned members of FARC.Timotchenko was in charge of confirming in a video the death of FARC founder and top boss Manuel Marulanda Velez of a heart attack on March 26.
Colombia denies death of Márquez
