French Foreign Legion Non-Commissioned Officer Kidnapped in Colombia, Former FARC Dissidents Suspected

The Colombian Armed Forces announced on Thursday that a citizen with dual French and Colombian nationality, serving in the French Foreign Legion, was kidnapped in early August in an area controlled by rebel groups.

On August 6, José Olger Melo Chari was taken hostage while walking on a road in the Nariño department, in southwestern Colombia. According to an internal Colombian army report obtained by AFP, dissidents of the former FARC are suspected of being responsible for this incident.

These are former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who rejected the 2016 peace agreement with the Colombian government; that agreement led to the disarmament and dissolution of the organization.

The report indicates that the rebels identified Melo Chari as a member of the French Foreign Legion and subsequently held him hostage.

In an interview with Blu Radio, Colonel Mauricio Osorio confirmed that Melo Chari is a corporal with four years of service in the French Foreign Legion, who was in Colombia on leave and had traveled to visit his country of origin.

The hostage-taking is attributed to a dissident faction of the former FARC led by Iván Mordisco, one of the most wanted figures in Colombia.

In Colombia, armed groups — many of them involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining — frequently carry out kidnappings to demand ransoms or to exert pressure on authorities.

The new Colombian president, Abelardo de la Esperanza, who belongs to the far right, has promised since taking office earlier this month to implement a tough policy against guerrilla groups and drug traffickers, with the support of the United States.

His social-democratic predecessor, Gustavo Petro, who himself was a member of a now-dissolved guerrilla organization, failed in most attempts to achieve peace through talks with armed groups.

Experts estimate that these factions strengthened during Petro’s administration, while violence and criminal activities remained a significant challenge for Colombian authorities.