Alexander Díaz, alias “Calarcá Córdoba,” is the commander of the General Staff of the Blocs and Front (Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frente – EMBF), a Colombian criminal organization whose roots trace back to the country’s armed, leftist guerrilla movement.
History
Calarcá Córdoba joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) in 1998 at age 16, as part of the 40th Front in the town of Uribe, in the department of Meta. At the time, the FARC was the oldest and most important guerrilla group in Colombia, and more broadly, in Latin America, waging war on the Colombian government through kidnapping, extortion, and participation in the drug trade on various levels.
Calarcá Córdoba later served in the Eastern Bloc’s special troops, known as tropas especiales in Spanish. These FARC units were known for more complicated military endeavors, such as urban operations, intelligence gathering, and carrying out particularly sensitive attacks. Calarcá Córdoba steadily rose through the ranks, becoming third-in-command of the FARC’s 40th Front by 2013.
By 2016, he had entered the peace process undertaken during the government of President Juan Manuel Santos. He was initially stationed in Meta, but soon abandoned the process and took up arms again, commanded by Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte.” Duarte would go on to form the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC), a federation of FARC dissident groups that he co-led with Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco,” which controlled much of the drug trade between Colombia and Venezuela.
After Gentil Duarte was killed in 2022, Calarcá Córdoba took command of the EMC’s Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc. That same year, as rumors swirled about Iván Mordisco’s possible death, Calarcá was briefly considered his potential successor to lead the broader FARC dissident network, though those reports ultimately proved false.
When Gustavo Petro became president of Colombia in 2022, the EMC entered peace negotiations with the government under the framework of a policy known as Total Peace (Paz Total). A formal dialogue table was established in October 2023, with structures under Calarcá’s command also taking part.
However, in April 2024, Petro suspended the ceasefire with the EMC in the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, and Nariño, triggering an internal split within the organization. One faction, loyal to Iván Mordisco, refused to continue talks unless the ceasefire was reinstated across all regions. Another faction, led by Calarcá, supported continuing negotiations despite the partial suspension.
This split gave rise to a new faction: the EMBF, composed of several substructures, including the Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc, the Magdalena Medio Bloc, and the Commander Raúl Reyes Front. Calarcá leads both the Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc and the EMBF as a whole.
Criminal Activity
Calarcá and the Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc are heavily involved in drug trafficking in southern Colombia, particularly in the Amazonian departments. The region accounts for about 5% of Colombia’s coca cultivation for cocaine production and lies near key trafficking routes into Venezuela and the tri-border area with Peru and Brazil.
In addition to drug trafficking, the group is involved in illegal mining. It controls areas rich in gold and coltan deposits in the Amazon region and also operates in the mining zones of northeastern Antioquia.
The EMBF’s confrontations with rival groups have led to serious humanitarian consequences, including the recruitment of children – particularly Indigenous youth – confinement and movement restrictions on local populations, forced displacement, threats and killings of social leaders, and the contamination of territory with anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices.
Geography
The Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc, which Calarcá commands, operates primarily in the Yari Plains of Caquetá, as well as in southern Meta, and parts of Guaviare and Putumayo.
Allies and Enemies
Despite their former alliance as leaders of the EMC, Mordisco and Calarcá are locked in intense conflict across several parts of southern Colombia. The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office has issued warnings about clashes between the two FARC dissident factions in Caquetá, Amazonas, Meta, Putumayo, Guaviare, Cauca, and Huila.
Calarcá has maintained alliances with other EMBF leaders despite the geographic distance. These include a commander who uses the alias “Richard Suárez;” Javier Alonso Velosa, alias “Jhon Mechas;” and Carlos Eduardo García Téllez, alias “Andrey Avendaño;” all of whom belong to the Magdalena Medio Bloc, which operates in northern Colombia.
Prospects
Calarcá’s group is unlikely to disarm under the Total Peace process, and instead seems poised to continue its conflict with Mordisco’s faction.
The EMBF is likely to try to expand its territorial control over areas crucial for drug trafficking and illegal mining. The group also controls large swaths of forest where illegal logging is widespread, and profits from extorting loggers. While both Calarcá and Mordisco previously committed to ban deforestation as a goodwill gesture during peace talks, the resurgence of violence could cause both factions to ramp up illicit logging operations to finance their activities.