Letters sent by the former head of the FARC show Colombia’s largest guerrilla group may have been responsible for the mysterious death of a conservative politician in 1995, local media reported Monday.
The death of Alvaro Gomez, a conservative journalist, politician, and the son of a president, has long been a subject of contention in Colombia. Some theories held that he was killed by members of the far left, while others asserted it was the work of the far right.
Now, four exerpts drawn from 1,200 pages of letters sent by late FARC chief Pedro Antonio Marin Marin between 1993 and 1998 suggest the leftist guerilla group was behind the attack.
Marin, alias “Manuel Marulanda,” wrote about Gomez’s assasination in the months immediately following his death. “As for bringing Gomez to justice, we can exchange views with the Secretariat, to see how long we should keep [the information] in reserve, and when we should say it,” he said on Nov. 3, 1995, the day after Gomez died.
One month later, Marulanda seemed to have chosen to make use of the uncertainty surrounding Gomez’s death. “We must keep it a secret,” he said in a Dec. 4 letter, “to see how we can help deepen the contradictions, while killing others.”
More detailed exerpts from Marulanda’s letters can be found at the Colombian online magazine Kien&Ke, which said the 1,200 pages of letters provided an in-depth look at the way in which the ex-FARC chief made decisions and gave orders.