A top FARC commander has vowed that the guerrilla group will turn over all assets obtained during the armed conflict through illegal activity.
In an interview with the newspaper, Delix Antonio Muñoz, a.k.a. “Pastor Alape” told newspaper El Espectador said that the FARC has been composing a list of their assets and properties that they had gathered for their war efforts.
This inventory will now be turned over to authorities to be used for the peace process, including victim reparations and the reincorporation of ex-combatants back into society.
Pastor Alape
The rebel commander’s word signal is a reversal from previous positions in the past, when the group claimed that it was broke and didn’t have any assets to surrender.
The government and most independent observers accuse the FARC of being worth millions, or even billions, following decades of heavy involvement in the drug trade, extortion and illegal mining.
In the context of the peace process, the FARC commanders assurances come as the group has met a revised deadline to surrender 30% of its weapons to the United Nations, meeting the first of three deadlines that will ultimately lead to the FARC’s complete disarmament.
By June 20, the FARC should be entirely disarmed, and by September 1, all the FARC’s former arms must have been removed from the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) camps.
FARC meets revised first disarmament deadline: UN
In February 2017, Colombian authorities seized $98 million worth of assets belonging to the demobilizing FARC rebel group.
During Colombia’s half-century armed conflict, 8 million hectares, the equivalent of 15% of Colombia’s national territory, was stolen or illegally changed owner.
In September of last year, Colombian Prosecutor General Nestor Humberto Martinez said the FARC must declare all illicit assets, or they will risk being charged for money laundering.
Colombia prosecutors seize $98M in FARC assets
In the peace deal, the FARC agreed to surrender its assets while the government vowed to prosecute officials and private parties accused of having stolen land.