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Colombian rebel group FARC appoints new leader
Nov 15, 2011, 21:01 GMT
Bogota - The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced the appointment of a new leader Tuesday, 11 days after its chief was killed by the country's armed forces.
Rodrigo Londono, 52, better known by the aliases 'Timochenko' or 'Timoleon Jimenez,' is to succeed Guillermo Saenz, better known as 'Alfonso Cano,' according to a statement that FARC posted on the Internet. Londono was already part of the leftist rebel group's seven-member leadership.
FARC said the appointment was decided upon 'unanimously' on November 5, a day after Cano was killed in a military raid in the southwestern Colombian province of Cauca. The designation of Timochenko, the statement said, guarantees 'the continuation of the strategic plan towards a takeover of power for the people.'
Cano had taken over the FARC leadership in March 2008, after the death of the organization's founder Manuel Marulanda. At the time, it was Timochenko who announced Marulanda's death of natural causes.
FARC has been fighting the Colombian government since its creation in 1964. It is believed to have been substantially weakened in recent years, although it remains very present in some of the country's more remote areas.
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