Colombian authorities gun down guerrilla leader Cholinga

Cholinga had links to drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel

Colombian Army troops gunned down Wilmar Pazu Rivera, alias “Cholinga,” a leader of the FARC dissidents’ Isaías Pardo Bloc within the Central General Staff (EMC), during a Joint Command of Special Operations (CCOES) mission in the hamlet of Las Dalias, in the municipality of Paez (Cauca), President Gustavo Petro announced.

“The CCOES neutralized alias ‘Cholinga’, ringleader of the Isaías Pardo bloc of the Jacobo Arenas Western Bloc, of the EMC in Cauca, in the central mountain range, municipality of Páez, vereda Las Dalias,” Petro wrote on his X account.

The head of State highlighted Cholinga’s role in civilian deaths, injuries, and recruiting minors, with a reward of 500 million Colombian pesos (about US$ 119,000) for information leading to his capture. His killing was thus a significant blow to the EMC, the most powerful FARC dissident faction, amid escalating violence in Cauca and Valle del Cauca, where 19 attacks, including car bombs and armed harassment, killed eight people, including two policemen.

The Defense Ministry described the attacks as a desperate response to intensified military operations targeting the group’s structures and illicit economies, linked to drug trafficking and cartels like Sinaloa. The region remains volatile due to the presence of FARC dissidents, residual paramilitary groups, and the ELN guerrillas.

The death of alias “Cholinga” comes in the midst of a terrorist escalation that Tuesday left at least eight people dead in nineteen attacks with explosives and armed harassment in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, authorities reported.

This is a strong blow to the structures led by alias “Ivan Mordisco”, one of the main leaders of the Central General Staff (EMC), the most powerful faction of the FARC dissidents.

Cholinga had links to drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, and was deemed one of the possible successors to Leider Johany Noscué, alias Mayimbú, also killed in combat in 2022.