Manuel ‘Sureshot' Marulanda, the founder and top commander of Colombia's FARC insurgency, has died of a heart attack after more than four decades fighting a fierce guerrilla war, his FARC group said.
Mr Marulanda organised the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as a communist army in 1964.
His death is its heaviest setback of the war and could push the already weakened rebels to the negotiating table.
Colombia's military had said that intelligence sources showed Mr Marulanda died in late March, and the news was confirmed by rebel commander Timoleon Jimenez in a video played on Venezuelan-based television channel Telesur.
‘Our maximum leader, Manuel Marulanda Velez, died of a heart attack on March 26... in the arms of his companion,’ Mr Jimenez said, dressed in combat fatigues and standing before a Colombian flag in an unknown location.
Alfonso Cano, already a member of its seven-man leadership, will replace Mr Marulanda as its chief, the FARC said.
Mr Cano, 59, a former student activist, is known as more of a political leader and negotiator than a hardline military strategist.
Mr Marulanda, whose real name was Pedro Antonio Marin and was nicknamed ‘Sureshot' by comrades, was one of Colombia's most hunted men.
He was a reclusive figure and was last seen in public more than five years ago.
Under his command, the FARC grew into a 17,000-member force controlling large parts of the country.
