Colombia's defence minister has announced a record reward of five billion pesos ($1.4 million) for information leading to the capture of a rebel commander known by the alias "Marlon", whom authorities hold responsible for a wave of attacks in the country's south-west — including a highway bombing that killed at least 21 people and left dozens more injured.
The deadliest incident occurred on Saturday when an explosive device was detonated on the Pan-American Highway connecting Cali and Popayán, in the restive Cauca department. Assailants first blocked traffic by stopping a bus and another vehicle on the road before detonating the bomb, which opened a crater estimated at 200 cubic metres and destroyed several buses and vans. Fifteen women and five men were among those killed, and 56 people were injured, including five children who were later reported out of danger. Three adults remained in intensive care. Cauca's governor, Octavio Guzmán, called it the "most brutal and ruthless attack against the civilian population in decades." In the two days surrounding the blast, authorities recorded 26 separate attacks across Cauca and the neighbouring Valle del Cauca department.
"Marlon" is described as a senior commander within the armed group led by Iván Mordisco — the alias of Colombia's most-wanted man and the country's most powerful dissident rebel leader. Mordisco's faction broke away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) as the guerrilla organisation negotiated a landmark 2016 peace deal with the government. The group finances its operations through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion, and has been actively disrupting stalled peace talks with the current administration. Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said the $1.4 million reward for Marlon is the highest ever offered by Colombia, though no further evidence or details linking him to the specific attacks have been made public.
President Gustavo Petro, whose term ends in August, condemned the perpetrators as "terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers" and ordered additional troops to the region. He has previously compared Mordisco to the late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. The attack lands at a deeply sensitive political moment: national elections are scheduled for 31 May to choose Petro's successor, who will be constitutionally barred — as Petro himself is — from running for a second consecutive term.
Security has emerged as the defining issue of the campaign. The assassination of conservative frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay, shot while campaigning in Bogotá last June and who died two months later, shocked the country. All remaining leading candidates have reported death threats and are campaigning under heavy security. The bombing underscores the broader challenge facing Colombia's next leader: how to contain armed groups that have long used violence to shape the political landscape — and that show no sign of retreat.