In just a few days, former FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, known within that guerrilla group as “Timochenko,” has suffered three major setbacks. First, a 2019 statement he made before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) was revealed, in which he claimed that his armed group had criteria to guarantee the “good treatment” of kidnapped people, while also appearing to smile.
This Wednesday, it became known that the political party that emerged from the demobilization of the FARC, called Comunes, of which Londoño Echeverri is president, lost its legal status for failing to meet the requirements established to retain its recognition as a political party. According to the National Electoral Council (CNE), that political group failed to surpass the threshold required for its recognition.
Third, an event occurred that transcends national borders and once again places Londoño Echeverri’s name on the radar of international justice. This Thursday, October 8, an amended formal indictment updating the allegations made by the United States prosecution in the criminal case against former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, established links with Londoño Echeverri.
Former FARC leader allegedly met with Maduro
The document submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, under the legal instrument known as a Superseding Indictment, directly mentions Londoño Echeverri and states that he allegedly participated in a meeting with Maduro and other guerrilla leaders at which an alleged debt related to drug trafficking was discussed.
It specifies that shortly after the death of Hugo Chavez, in March 2013, Maduro and Flores attended a meeting with members of the FARC leadership, including, in addition to Londoño Echeverri, Luciano Marin Arango, alias “Ivan Marquez,” and Seuxis Pausias Hernandez Solarte, alias “Jesus Santrich.”
According to the U.S. prosecution, the purpose of that meeting was to discuss money that Maduro allegedly owed the FARC as a result of an alliance related to drug trafficking. To cover part of that debt, Maduro allegedly agreed to sell oil illegally to the guerrilla group, an operation that would also have helped strengthen its financial resources, the indictment states.
U.S. authorities claim that Maduro, who has also been charged with torture in his country, knew that the FARC could use those revenues to finance its armed activities in Colombia.
Alex Saab may have provided clues
The document adds that the oil sales allegedly continued until approximately 2015 and that Maduro also allegedly facilitated operations involving gold mines for the benefit of the guerrilla organization.
The case file also contains references to alleged operations that would have benefited the ELN guerrilla group. It maintains that around 2007, Flores allegedly offered contracts from the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to groups aligned with the ELN, with the aim of facilitating negotiations with that armed organization. In addition, the FARC, the ELN and other criminal structures allegedly obtained resources through extortion in Venezuela, where they exercised control.
For some specialists, this new indictment against Maduro may have been informed by what Colombian businessman Alex Saab might have said. Saab, identified as an alleged front man for Maduro, pleaded guilty in mid-September to conspiracy to commit money laundering and illegal financial transactions before a federal court in Miami.
Saab, who went on to serve as a minister in Maduro’s government, changed his previous plea from “not guilty” to “guilty” after reaching an agreement with the prosecution. Under the agreement, he also committed to cooperating by providing relevant information to the authorities, as well as surrendering US$195 million that he allegedly obtained through illicit operations related to a corruption scheme.