Colombia detains guerrilla captain, fighter deserts

Colombian troops caught near Venezuela a member of the outlawed National Liberation Army (ELN), a fighter dubbed Diego or el Gringo sought by Interpol for suspected activities including sedition, extortion and criminal conspiracy, media reported on 14 July. The 26-year-old was described as a go-between for ELN chiefs in two Colombian departments; he was caught in the district of Saravena in the north-eastern department of Arauca, Spain's EFE agency reported. A member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) separately surrendered to troops in southern Colombia "recently," explaining he fled soon after the FARC forced him to execute a 17-year-old companion, the daily Perú 21 reported on 13 July. The desertor, a fighter dubbed Chispa from the FARC's Front 48, reportedly spent three days in the jungle and surrendered in the district of La Tagua in the Putumayo department. He told the army that one of the Front commanders, a man dubbed Robinson Cucarro, had ordered shot the teenager for losing a "wooden rifle used in training." He was said to have forced Chispa to shoot him for opposing the decision, Perú 21 reported, citing a statement by the Colombian navy.