BOGOTÁ: Dissidents of the now-disarmed FARC guerrilla group on Wednesday denied they were behind alleged threats against the family of the four Indigenous children rescued last week after surviving in the Amazon for 40 days.
The children wandered the Amazon for weeks after the small plane in which they were traveling with their mother crashed. Their mother and the two other adults on board died.
The children’s father Manuel Ranoque (pix) later said his family had been fleeing threats from members of an armed group.
Dissidents who rejected the 2016 agreement that demobilized the FARC, said Wednesday it was not them.
“It is not true, and we do not know the reasons for the statements of the father of the children,“ the group that calls itself the Central General Staff (EMC), with about 3,500 active fighters, said in a statement.
Colombia’s Amazon plays host to numerous armed groups fighting over access to drug routes and other illegal commerce.
The South American country continues to be plagued by violence despite the 2016 peace pact with the FARC that was meant to end decades of internal conflict.
Colombia’s first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro is seeking to negotiate with the remaining armed groups in a quest for “total peace.” -AFP