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Now he is cutting it down</h1> </div> <div class="block block-entity-fieldnodefield-image"> <div class="field field--name-field-image field__item"> <img width="800" height="445" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/800x445/public/2024-10/17.24_1.PNG?itok=yX2nQJ-Q" /> </div> </div> <div class="block block-author"> <div class="author-info clearfix"><strong>17 11 2024</strong> | <span>08:11</span><span class="author"><a href="/el/author/luke-taylor-guardian" hreflang="el">Luke Taylor / The Guardian</a></span><span class="author-social"><ul><li><a class="icon icon-mail" href="mailto:?&Subject=A Colombian warlord became the Amazon rainforest’s most unlikely protector. Now he is cutting it down"></a></li><li><a class="icon icon-linkedin" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.e-mc2.gr/el/news/colombian-warlord-became-amazon-rainforests-most-unlikely-protector-now-he-cutting-it-down"></a></li><li><a class="icon icon-facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.e-mc2.gr/el/news/colombian-warlord-became-amazon-rainforests-most-unlikely-protector-now-he-cutting-it-down"></a></li><li><a class="icon icon-twitter" href="https://twitter.com/home?status=https://www.e-mc2.gr/el/news/colombian-warlord-became-amazon-rainforests-most-unlikely-protector-now-he-cutting-it-down A Colombian warlord became the Amazon rainforest’s most unlikely protector. Now he is cutting it down"></a></li></ul></span></div> </div> <div class="block block-entity-fieldnodebody"> <div class="field field--name-body field__item"><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Deforestation fell by a third when the guerrilla leader Ivan Mordisco violently enforced a logging ban, but now he has changed tack and is threatening Cop16 biodiversity talks</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="dcr-15rw6c2" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 7rem; line-height: 5.75rem; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: text-top; float: left; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--drop-cap);">I</span>n the Amazon states of southern<span> </span><a data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/colombia" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Colombia</a>, uniform patches of cattle pasture suddenly give way to trees so numerous and densely packed that the blots of emerald, lime green and white overlap as vines, leaves and tree trunks merge into one.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">According to official figures, this place is an international success story: the frontline of the country’s fight against deforestation, which it slashed last year<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/10/deforestation-in-colombia-falls-to-lowest-level-in-23-years" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">by 36%</a>.</p> <div id="sign-in-gate" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: medium; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><gu-island data-island-status="hydrated" deferuntil="visible" name="SignInGateSelector" priority="feature" props="{"contentType":"Article","sectionId":"environment","tags":[{"id":"environment/series/the-age-of-extinction","type":"Series","title":"The age of extinction"},{"id":"environment/cop-16","type":"Keyword","title":"Cop16"},{"id":"type/article","type":"Type","title":"Article"},{"id":"world/colombia","type":"Keyword","title":"Colombia"},{"id":"environment/environment","type":"Keyword","title":"Environment"},{"id":"world/americas","type":"Keyword","title":"Americas"},{"id":"world/world","type":"Keyword","title":"World news"},{"id":"environment/deforestation","type":"Keyword","title":"Deforestation"},{"id":"environment/conservation","type":"Keyword","title":"Conservation"},{"id":"environment/forests","type":"Keyword","title":"Trees and forests"},{"id":"world/farc","type":"Keyword","title":"Farc"},{"id":"global-development/conflict-and-development","type":"Keyword","title":"Conflict and arms"},{"id":"global-development/global-development","type":"Keyword","title":"Global development"},{"id":"environment/biodiversity","type":"Keyword","title":"Biodiversity"},{"id":"environment/wildlife","type":"Keyword","title":"Wildlife"},{"id":"world/drugs-trade","type":"Keyword","title":"Drugs trade"},{"id":"tone/features","type":"Tone","title":"Features"},{"id":"profile/luke-stephen-taylor","type":"Contributor","title":"Luke Taylor"},{"id":"tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction","type":"Tracking","title":"UK Age of Extinction"}],"isPaidContent":false,"isPreview":false,"host":"https://www.theguardian.com","pageId":"environment/2024/oct/22/colombian-emc-warlord-amazon-forest-deforestation-colombia-ivan-mordisco-logging-ban-cop16-biodiversity","idUrl":"https://profile.theguardian.com","switches":{"lightbox":true,"externalVideoEmbeds":true,"abSignInGateMainVariant":true,"prebidAppnexusUkRow":true,"prebidMagnite":true,"commercialMetrics":true,"prebidTrustx":true,"scAdFreeBanner":false,"adaptiveSite":true,"prebidPermutiveAudience":true,"compareVariantDecision":false,"enableSentryReporting":true,"lazyLoadContainers":true,"ampArticleSwitch":true,"remarketing":true,"articleEndSlot":true,"keyEventsCarousel":true,"registerWithPhone":false,"darkModeWeb":true,"targeting":true,"remoteHeader":true,"slotBodyEnd":true,"prebidImproveDigitalSkins":false,"ampPrebidOzone":true,"extendedMostPopularFronts":true,"emailInlineInFooter":true,"showNewPrivacyWordingOnEmailSignupEmbeds":true,"prebidAnalytics":true,"extendedMostPopular":true,"ampContentAbTesting":false,"prebidCriteo":true,"okta":true,"imrWorldwide":true,"acast":true,"twitterUwt":true,"prebidAppnexusInvcode":true,"ampPrebidPubmatic":true,"abUsaExpandableMarketingCard":true,"a9HeaderBidding":true,"prebidAppnexus":true,"enableDiscussionSwitch":true,"prebidXaxis":true,"stickyVideos":true,"interactiveFullHeaderSwitch":true,"discussionAllPageSize":true,"prebidUserSync":true,"audioOnwardJourneySwitch":true,"brazeTaylorReport":false,"callouts":true,"sentinelLogger":true,"geoMostPopular":true,"weAreHiring":false,"relatedContent":true,"thirdPartyEmbedTracking":true,"prebidOzone":true,"ampLiveblogSwitch":true,"ampAmazon":true,"prebidAdYouLike":true,"mostViewedFronts":true,"optOutAdvertising":true,"abSignInGateMainControl":true,"googleSearch":true,"disableFrontContainerShowHide":true,"abOptOutFrequencyCap":true,"brazeSwitch":true,"prebidKargo":true,"consentManagement":true,"personaliseSignInGateAfterCheckout":true,"prebidSonobi":true,"idProfileNavigation":true,"confiantAdVerification":true,"discussionAllowAnonymousRecommendsSwitch":false,"absoluteServerTimes":false,"permutive":true,"comscore":true,"ampPrebidCriteo":true,"newsletterOnwards":false,"youtubeIma":true,"webFonts":true,"liveBlogTopSponsorship":true,"prebidImproveDigital":false,"abAdBlockAsk":false,"ophan":true,"crosswordSvgThumbnails":true,"prebidTriplelift":true,"weather":true,"prebidPubmatic":true,"serverShareCounts":false,"autoRefresh":true,"enhanceTweets":true,"prebidIndexExchange":true,"prebidOpenx":true,"prebidHeaderBidding":true,"idCookieRefresh":true,"removeLiteFronts":false,"discussionPageSize":true,"smartAppBanner":false,"historyTags":true,"brazeContentCards":true,"remoteBanner":true,"emailSignupRecaptcha":true,"prebidSmart":true,"shouldLoadGoogletag":true,"inizio":true,"europeBetaFront":false}}" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></gu-island></div> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">But for those who live here, the future of the forest hangs in the balance. Many believe it will be decided on the whim of a violent militia leader, who last year became one of the world’s most unlikely forest protectors.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“Only one man controls these regions: Ivan Mordisco,” says Miguel Tabares, who was displaced from Guaviare state when rebels threatened his life and murdered a colleague running an ecotourism project. “He is the one who is really in charge. And he does whatever the hell he wants.”</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández – better known by the nom de guerre Ivan Mordisco – is leader of the Central General Staff (<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://insightcrime.org/es/noticias-crimen-organizado-colombia/ex-farc-mafia-estado-mayor-central/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">EMC</a>), one of the largest armed groups in Colombia.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">A list of alleged crimes, including drug trafficking, the mass killing of civilians, and the forced recruitment of children, have<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.state.gov/revocation-of-the-terrorist-designations-of-the-revolutionary-armed-forces-of-colombia-farc-and-additional-terrorist-designations/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">earned him a place</a><span> </span>on the US terrorist list and made him one of Colombia’s top military targets.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">He also became one of the Amazon’s most unexpected protectors after implementing a total ban on deforestation, and policing it with deadly force.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Now, Mordisco looks poised to derail the country’s progress. As hundreds of environmental negotiators and political leaders flood the city of Cali, Colombia, for the<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/20/cop16-colombia-prepares-to-host-decisive-summit-on-biodiversity" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Cop16 biodiversity summit</a>, his militia has<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/31/colombia-guerrillas-cop16-un-biodiversity-summit-cali-aoe" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">threatened to disrupt</a><span> </span>the proceedings, and<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.elespectador.com/politica/cop16-cali-gobierno-petro-reconocio-estar-nervioso-por-seguridad-del-evento-y-envio-mensaje-a-disidencia-de-mordisco/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">there has been a series of violent</a><span> </span>attacks outside the city, prompting a substantial police and military presence on the streets.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Speaking on the eve of the summit, President Gustavo Petro said: “We are all nervous that nothing bad happens. There are those who would like [Cop16] to be a showcase of death and there are those who want it to be a showcase of the beauty that exists in Colombia.”</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="dcr-15rw6c2" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 7rem; line-height: 5.75rem; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: text-top; float: left; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--drop-cap);">A</span>fter years of runaway deforestation, Colombia had achieved a remarkable turnaround under its first ever leftist government, bringing forest loss to its lowest level in two decades.<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/03/colombia-minister-susana-muhamad-biodiversity-cop16-fossil-fuels" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Colombia’s environment minister, Susana Muhamad</a>, hailed it as “a truly iconic year in this fight against deforestation”.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">In the Amazon, however, residents, peacekeepers and environmental experts – who remain anonymous for fear of violent reprisal – told the Guardian that Mordisco and the EMC could rapidly reverse the country’s gains.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“The EMC is in control in some of the most critical states with respect to protecting the Amazon from deforestation and they are currently expanding even deeper into the rainforest,” says Francisco Daza, a researcher at the Bogotá-based peacebuilding thinktank Pares. “They are a huge obstacle to the government’s environmental plans.”</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">A slight, bespectacled figure, Mordisco has more the appearance of an office worker than a jungle combatant, but his ruthlessness has helped the group of guerrillas, who are former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) fighters, tighten its control of vast swathes of southern Colombia.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Mordisco joined the Farc as a teenager and rose quickly through the ranks. Founded in 1964, the group conducted the longest insurgency in the western hemisphere until its<span> </span></span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/colombia-farc-weapons-war-government" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">more than 7,000</a><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><span> </span>Marxist combatants disarmed in 2016 in a landmark peace deal with the government. Until that peace deal few had heard of Mordisco.</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The rebel commander caused a stir when he became the first to abandon the peace process, forming a breakaway army. By 2022, Mordisco had amassed a force of more than 3,000, according to the Colombian military.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“He is a very competent leader who knows how to employ violence tactically for his own gain,” says Gerson Arias, a researcher at the Bogotá-based thinktank Ideas for Peace Foundation, who has studied Mordisco’s rapid rise.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">In July 2022,<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-military-kills-farc-dissident-leader-mordisco-2022-07-15/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">the Colombian government announced</a><span> </span>it had killed Mordisco in a bombing raid on a camp deep in the jungle. “The last great leader of the Farc has fallen,” said then-defence minister, Diego Molano.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">But in October 2022, Mordisco re-emerged, seemingly from the dead. He claimed he was a changed man, telling local media “we can begin to build the roadmap that will help Colombia to eradicate the causes that gave rise to the armed conflict.”</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Mordisco’s resurrection coincided with the election of Colombia’s first leftist president, and Petro’s ambitious plan to negotiate peace with armed political groups.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">To secure a seat at the negotiating table, Mordisco set strict annual deforestation limits of a few hectares per person in deforestation hotspots along Colombia’s agricultural frontier where the plains meet the Amazon rainforest. Those who cleared more faced fines, forced labour or death.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The bans worked. “Their orders restricting slash and burn were the biggest influences in the reduction in deforestation,” says Pedro Arenas, from the environmental organisation Viso Mutop.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">When the government cut off negotiations with the EMC earlier this year, however, after its combatants<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2024-05-21/el-cauca-se-desangra-ante-la-ineficiencia-del-estado.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">bombed a police station and murdered an Indigenous leader</a>,<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/colombian-amazon-deforestation-surges-armed-groups" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Mordisco revoked the ban</a>. In the first three months of this year, deforestation was<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-amazon-deforestation-forecast-down-25-35-last-year-ministry-says-2024-04-08/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">40% higher</a><span> </span>than in 2023.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“The EMC have not only allowed deforestation, they have pressured farmers to make new roads and clear the forest for agriculture,” says Angelica Rojas, a liaison officer for Guaviare state at the Foundation for<span> </span><a data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/conservation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Conservation</a><span> </span>and Sustainable Development, a Colombian environmental thinktank.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/andes/colombia/b52-rebel-razing-loosening-criminal-hold-colombian-amazon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">A report by the International Crisis Group</a><span> </span>adds that the EMC is preventing rangers from entering national parks and tightening its grip on the areas under its control.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Civilians are trapped in the middle of the conflict – and resolving it has been further complicated by fractures within the EMC, with<span> </span></span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/paz-y-memoria/por-que-hay-divisiones-en-la-disidencia-de-ivan-mordisco-calarca-cordoba-dice-las-razones/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">another dissident front</a><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><span> </span>splintering off in April.</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">A source inside a rival Farc dissident faction says Mordisco had “started behaving more and more like a cartel than a guerrilla group [leader]”.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“It’s one thing growing some coca for farmers to live off but it’s another thing filling entire mountains with it,” the source says. “They are a paramilitary group, but a lot of people have been tricked into thinking they are something else.”</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Petro has since admitted the talks with the<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://caracol.com.co/2023/11/07/petro-asegura-que-negociacion-de-paz-con-disidencias-farc-fue-prematuro-2/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">EMC were premature</a>. As Cop16 approached, Mordisco again made international headlines for threatening to sabotage the meeting, where presidents and ministers from across the world are discussing how to save the world’s biodiversity.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“[Cop16] will fail even if they militarise the city with<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span> </span>gringos</em>,” Mordisco said in a press release. An EMC spokesperson subsequently said<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/nosotros-no-tenemos-ningun-plan-para-atentar-contra-la-cop16-sebastian-martinez-vocero-de-las-farc-de-mordisco/202441/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">there was no plan</a><span> </span>to directly attack the summit, but recent weeks have been<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.elespectador.com/judicial/disidencias-ahora-utilizan-munecos-como-senuelos-para-atacar-en-el-plateado-cauca-noticias-de-hoy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">marked by a series of violent clashes<span> </span></a>, including bombing a police station just 12 miles (20km) from Cali.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">So far, the EMC has used the negotiations with the government to strengthen itself and extend its illicit business tentacles into the Amazon, a member of a team supporting the peace process in Guaviare has told the Guardian.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The Colombian government now has two options, the source says: offer Mordisco something in exchange for protecting the rainforest, or declare all-out war and attempt to cut off the armed group’s revenue streams.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“The EMC do not care about deforestation,” he says, “but they sure do care about money.”</p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Cover photo: </span> <span class="dcr-1qvd3m6" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(112, 112, 112); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Ivan Mordisco is leader of the Central General Staff (EMC), one of the largest armed groups in Colombia.<span> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(112, 112, 112); font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Photograph: Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group/Getty Images</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(112, 112, 112); font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><img alt="j" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9ed1261b-cf62-4118-b56e-49938a849d90" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/the%20guardian_464.jpg" /></span></p> </div> </div> <div class="views-element-container block block-views-blockrelated-artices-block-1"> <h2>Σχετικά Άρθρα</h2> <div><div class="row js-view-dom-id-cdeadcc1d5f07bc981bfc3802e443ac8ed37615d72fe92c84f3137ce5c65f6e4"> <div class="col views-row"><div class="teaser-image has-overlay"><div class="teaser-image-overlay"> <a href="/news/indigenous-forests-are-some-amazons-last-carbon-sinks" hreflang="und"><img width="255" height="140" alt="" typeof="Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/255x140/public/2024-10/151.24.PNG?itok=-_PwTTb0" /> </a> </div></div><div class="teaser-datetime"><strong>12 11 2024</strong> | 19:58</div><h2 class="teaser-title"><a href="/news/indigenous-forests-are-some-amazons-last-carbon-sinks" hreflang="und">Indigenous Forests Are Some of the Amazon’s Last Carbon Sinks</a></h2></div> <div class="col views-row"><div class="teaser-image has-overlay"><div class="teaser-image-overlay"> <a href="/news/britains-tropical-rain-and-parched-amazon-are-new-norms-messed-climate" hreflang="und"><img width="255" height="140" alt="" typeof="Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/255x140/public/2024-10/surb.PNG?itok=xHSPo_NG" /> </a> </div></div><div class="teaser-datetime"><strong>09 10 2024</strong> | 13:40</div><h2 class="teaser-title"><a href="/news/britains-tropical-rain-and-parched-amazon-are-new-norms-messed-climate" hreflang="und">Britain’s tropical rain and parched Amazon are new norms in a messed-up climate</a></h2></div> <div class="col views-row"><div class="teaser-image has-overlay"><div class="teaser-image-overlay"> <a href="/news/amazon-rainforest-could-reach-tipping-point-2050-scientists-warn" hreflang="und"><img width="255" height="140" alt="" typeof="Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/255x140/public/2024-02/landscape.PNG?itok=KYnaTee1" /> </a> </div></div><div class="teaser-datetime"><strong>20 02 2024</strong> | 05:39</div><h2 class="teaser-title"><a href="/news/amazon-rainforest-could-reach-tipping-point-2050-scientists-warn" hreflang="und">Amazon rainforest could reach ‘tipping point’ by 2050, scientists warn</a></h2></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-5 right"> <div class="block-region-sidebar"><div class="block block-block-content158c7941-79f5-4f6b-abd5-6b3b0061e888"> <div class="field field--name-body field__item"><script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> <div id="div-gpt-ad-1521539404943-0" class="ad"> <script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> </div></div> </div> <div class="block block-block-content79c1764a-39d8-40ad-a979-37894b975eae"> <div class="field field--name-body field__item"><script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> <div id="div-gpt-ad-1521539360375-0" class="ad" style="height:250px; 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