Luis Alberto Albán Burbano a.k.a. "Marcos Calarcá" or "Marco León Calarcá" is a Colombian former guerrilla member and spokesperson of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

(FARC). Calarca gained notoriety internationally when the Colombian government asked the Mexican government to shut down a legally authorized office of the FARC in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

for their violent activities in Colombia and their support network in Mexico. Calarca was a spokesperson for the FARC in Mexico from 1993 until 2002. His wife (Amparo Victoria Torres) and two sons live in Canada. Amparo Victoria Torres is the sister of a.k.a. "Pablo Catatumbo," one of the members of the FARC Secretariat. Amparo is currently an artist.

Arrest in Bolivia and extradition to Mexico

On Tuesday 24 March 1998 Calarca was arrested by in Bolivia by the Bolivian police at the airport of

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

. Calarca was deported from Bolivia to Mexico since Colombia never requested his extradition.

Kidnapping of foreigners in Colombia

In 1998 FARC kidnapped a number of foreigners including four American bird watchers. The FARC claimed that these four hostages were spies involved in counter-insurgency operations aiding the Colombian military. The United States denied this as well as then president of Colombia

Ernesto Samper Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998. From 2014 to 2017 he served as the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). He is a lawyer, economist, academic and pol ...

. Calarca mediated in the issue and was an active spokesperson for the FARC. All four Americans were eventually freed.

Expelled from Mexico

Calarca and other members of the FARC left Mexico on 17 April 2002 with Cuba or Venezuela as presumed destinations.

FARC-government peace process attempt

Calarca became part of the "thematic committee" during the FARC-Government peace process (1999-2002) along with other members of the FARC;

Iván Ríos Iván Ríos (born José Juvenal Velandia; 19 December 1961 – 3 March 2008), also known as Manuel Jesús Muñoz Ortiz, was head of the Central Bloc of the FARC-EP, Central Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the youn ...

(coordinator), Mariana Páez, Domingo Biohó, Felipe Rincón, Julián Conrado, Gabriel Angel, Fidel Rondón, Bayron Yepes and Pedro Aldana.

Wanted by Colombian authorities

The government of Colombia is offering a reward of COP$1500 million pesos for his capture or killing through the

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

services. La Nacion (Colombia): Lotería’ millonaria por las Farc
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calarca, Marcos Living people Members of FARC 1957 births