'Orlando La Muerte', head of the 10th front of the FARC dissidents, captured in Meta

President Iván Duque reported on Sunday that they captured the alleged head of the FARC dissidents, Juan Gabriel Granados, known as 'Orlando La Muerte'. According to the president, the operation was carried out in Meta, Villavicencio, in a “new blow to organized crime” and assured that the defendant belongs to the Martín Villa group or the 10th front of the dissidents.

“In Villavicencio (Meta), thanks to the joint and coordinated work of our Public Forces, the capture of Juan Gabriel Granados, alias “Orlando La Muerte”, head of the Arsecio Niño del Gao-r E10 Company, was captured,” said the president.

Duque claimed on his social networks that alias 'Orlando La Muerte' had a criminal trajectory of more than 10 years and, apparently, led the Arsecio Niño company of the 10th front. He was “one of the main drivers of criminal activities related to drug trafficking, extortion, kidnappings and targeted homicides in the department of Arauca,” the head of state wrote on his Twitter account.

It should be recalled that the Martín Villa dissent at the time ignored the Peace Agreement and is now on the border between Venezuela and Colombia. Front 10 would have been created by Germán Briceño Suárez, alias' Grannobles', also known as the brother of the head of the FARC secretary, alias 'Mono Jojoy'. Currently, it is known that the Organized Armed Group (GAO) is led by Jorge Eliécer Jiménez Martínez, alias 'Arturo'.

Authorities reported that the 10th front would have joined other dissidents to form the Joint Command of the East and thus operate together. The alliance would include the 28th front in Casanare and the 45th front in Norte de Santander and Arauca. The three groups would be “waging a war on both sides of the Colombian-Venezuelan border that has cost hundreds of lives and caused the forced displacement of thousands of people.”

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Humanitarian crisis in Arauca due to the armed conflict in 2022

The Periferia organization, in collaboration with the Joel Sierra Foundation and the Ministry of Defence, presented a report with figures on the situation of the armed conflict in Arauca. As of February 21 of this year, 45 cases of homicide had been filed in the municipality of Saravena alone.

“The data indicate that around 9,000 soldiers, police, navy and foreign forces are present in Arauca, (...), a figure that is four times the national average. However, the increase in the foot of force has not meant improvements in security, nor the loss of economic and war capacity of armed groups,” said Jorge Mantilla, an analyst at the Ideas for Peace Foundation.

These figures are alarming, because so far this year, in the department, 130 have been killed and another 3,000 have been displaced.

A commission made up of the United Nations (UN) and the Colombian Catholic Church recently visited the department. The entities called on the national Government and the authorities to strengthen violence prevention policies.

They also called for “encouraging assertive and respectful dialogues, the need to create and strengthen institutional spaces to respond to the humanitarian situation and protect civilians.” On the other hand, they called for the implementation of the Peace Agreement, signed with the extinct FARC guerrilla group.

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